FireWire Keeps Plugging Away

Jan 13 by David Lux | 4 comments

FireWire logoFireWire, the largely forgotten interface standard, has been alive and well. While most of us probably haven’t noticed, the 1394 Trade Association has announced that over two billion FireWire ports have shipped worldwide. That’s quite a feat, although FireWire still isn’t as fast as USB 3.0.

“The two billion ports represents a significant new milestone for 1394,” said Max Bassler, chairman, 1394 Trade Association. “Just as impressive is the innovative and creative application of FireWire in new generations of advanced industrial automation, vision systems, and production equipment. FireWire will continue its steady, stable growth during 2011, as we migrate to the first products operating at 1.6 Gigabit/second bandwidth — and as 1394 proves itself superior to competitive interfaces in a variety of sectors.”

FireWire was created by Apple back in 1995. It has also gone by the brand names i.LINK (Sony) and Lynx (Texas Instruments). While the FireWire aficionados at the 1394 Trade Association see “steady, stable growth” in 2011, USB 3.0 is expected to prevail as it becomes more widely available this year.

WRITTEN BY DAVID LUX

David is a blogger, marketer, and spends copious hours devouring content concerning autos, tech, and then more autos. You can follow him on Twitter: @autocontent

COMMENTS
  • B Man

    I find it weird that they mention that USB is at it’s 3rd version, where FireWire is on it’s second version. The 3rd version of FireWire is being pushed for production. Apple is already working on 4th and 5th generation of FireWire.
    ———
    On a side note, if you are transferring large quantities (roughly 5GB and higher) of data, the USB’s speed slows down while the FireWire stays at it’s native speed. Also, the FireWire performance while handling simultaneous transfers surpass the USB ( as soon as there is a second transfer in progress, the USB is less responsive)

    I only use USB when the data is lower then a gig.

  • Optamizm

    In my opion, the reason why FireWire is still going strong is because of home music studios. USB has faster speeds, but the is dependant on what your computer is doing. The speeds of FireWire are constant, which makes it the better option for music recording.

  • Optamizm

    In my opinion, the reason why FireWire is still going strong is because of home music studios. USB has faster speeds, but the is dependant on what your computer is doing. The speeds of FireWire are constant, which makes it the better option for music recording.

  • http://www.nursingwire.com/user/wilhelminarussell/history/ Valentina Flowers

    Great job here. I really enjoyed what you had to say. Keep going because you definitely bring a new voice for this subject.