Read down to the last two sections to see what I'm talking about with command structures and such (meaning protocols). Too much was left in the various manufacturers hands. It took years until many finally agreed on what to do.
Again, this is not supposed to happen, but the lax standards do allow it.
While I can't find early technical articles now, there are enough articles in Google about FW compatibility problems to show it's real.
I've got to get to bed now but I couldn't resist checking those links out. Not one of them has anything to do with the standard. They touch on communications problems between TI and peripheral makers in one case, propietary design problems in another, poor chipset design in another etc.
Not one of them claims that the firewire standard is the root cause of any firewire problems.
As I haven't read the standard I can't really say if firewire standards can be considered lax or not. However, I can't find anything online that suggests that firewire is insufficiently designed/defined etc from a standards perspective.
Oh, I dunno. Hit stop in the living room. Go into the bedroom. Bring up the movie in the bedroom and press yes when prompted "start where you left off?". What on earth does this scenario have to do with FW?
Zero.
I don't have a media centre so I'm interested in seeing how your setup plays out. You have a media centre in your living room that is connected to the TV in your living room. Am I right on that point or is it somewhere else?
If I'm right, your media centre is connected to the TV right next to it (it doesn't matter by which means). How are you reaching the other TVs in your house?
This is FW/HANA related. It doesn't matter if you actually have a media centre or not I just want to hear the theory.
these are old arguments that have even been deconstructed by Mr USB2 himself
who used faulty arguments to try and say that firewire is on the decline
(but as he helpfully pointed out still in the majority)
Yes, virginia, in the real world dropping from 85% to 77% is a decline. When you do that in a single year...it's called free fall...and that was 2 years ago.
Today even HD camcorders come with USB2 only...
Quote:
even the statistics he used (seen here in Macworld) say that
"In terms of deployment, FireWire's peak year may be 2008,
with decline setting in by the end of 2009, these analysts warn."
so we haven't seen the peak yet - it's not recorded
and the decline is being predicted - again it hasn't arrived or been measured
The decline was predicted over a year ago. With the removal of FW on the MB and Jobs' comments it has become almost a certainty.
Yes, virginia, in the real world dropping from 85% to 77% is a decline. When you do that in a single year...it's called free fall...and that was 2 years ago.
Today even HD camcorders come with USB2 only...
The decline was predicted over a year ago. With the removal of FW on the MB and Jobs' comments it has become almost a certainty.
yes sherlock - but a decline in only one area of the overall market
why don't you pick just one brand and use that to extrapolate a worldwide trend... oh wait you did !
so you used only part of the research (the camcorder part)
research which had overall conclusions stating that FW was not in decline... but might end up in decline over 2 years in the future
which you used to go and predict the absolute death of firewire
an interface which the same manufacturer you have been using to predict it's death - has just put on it's current flagship offering
and no, one single model of one manufacturer's product line - which still uses that interface in it's latest products
will not be enough to topple an interface technology which reaches far beyond personal computers
(much less notebooks)
if you're not too scared of being swamped by marketing people
have a look at the 1394 website and see what other uses it has...
versatile is one aspect, robustness is another (both describe USB and FW)
but neither of those cover speed and intelligence (p2p)
try again...
ubiquitous and inexpensive - that sounds like windows... and that obviously hasn't won you over
1) I got my MCSE a couple times over because of the ubiquity of Windows.
2) In comparison to FW, I wouldn't call USB versatile or robust.
3) If the words common words fast and intelligent don't work for you make up your own. After all, all words are made up. If you want a single word to descirbe something as fast and smart, then how about velocituitive?
1) I got my MCSE a couple times over because of the ubiquity of Windows.
2) In comparison to FW, I wouldn't call USB versatile or robust.
3) If the words common words of r fast and intelligent don't work for you make your own. After all, all words are made up. If you want a single word to descirbe something as fast and smart, then how about velocituitive?
not only do we have a financial crisis but all our electronic companies are choosing to release new models
using dying technology
ps spot the irony here (and i'm not talking about my sarcasm...)
The ProHD is not a consumer-grade camera! It sucks that FW has been removed, but put the MB into the context of who is Apple sell almost all their MBs to. FW is not dead, but it's non-existent to the average consumer. It's a shame that Apple didn't market it better and more cheaply, and that they didn't make the 400 port interface compatible with the 800+ port interface without an physical adapter. But for the consumer market which has mostly moved away from MiniDV, IEE1394 is an dying interface. At least there are still options for a new, cheap Mac notebook if you want FW400.
Quote:
Originally Posted by otwayross
good point. i'm being silly - i'll stop straight away.
firewire's dead anyway.
Now you're being sardonic (and I'm not talking about sarcasm...)
I've got to get to bed now but I couldn't resist checking those links out. Not one of them has anything to do with the standard. They touch on communications problems between TI and peripheral makers in one case, propietary design problems in another, poor chipset design in another etc.
Not one of them claims that the firewire standard is the root cause of any firewire problems.
As I haven't read the standard I can't really say if firewire standards can be considered lax or not. However, I can't find anything online that suggests that firewire is insufficiently designed/defined etc from a standards perspective.
Perhaps you don't see it because you don't get the purpose of a standard. The purpose is to assure that parts made by different manufacturers will all exist without incompatibilities, which is something FW never had, either from the beginning, or now.
We don't hear of anywhere near these many problems with USB, we hear of pretty much none with Ethernet. We hear of pretty much none with SATA.
But, I understand, you have a device that needs FW, and the new MB doesn't have it, so you are frustrated.
i'm trying to find a word to describe the interface
which covers a combination of speed and intelligence
ironically (or maybe not) my word of choice when used on an intelligent interface
describes what your computer needs less of...
Ok. but it doesn't matter whether your computer is a five year old model, or one that will come out next year, it will still have vastly more power than needed. so will the devices on the market. The chips inside them have what they need to do the job. FW isn't needed for that to cut down on the processing power. CPU power has become the cheapest part of any device, by far.
What's your point in this? Where every device that can be connected, and needs to have a minimum of intelligence to function on a media network, already has that intelligence, the network doesn't need anything over what a network already provides, which is basically routing control, precedence control, and collision control.
All of this is already taken care of.
If you read the specs of Apple's own equipment, such as the aTv, the Airport Express, Airport Extreme, etc., you will see that all of the networking involving media files and distribution is being done.
By the way, as of now, Apple's store is down because of an update. Wonder what's going on.
another company has turned belly up by choosing firewire for it's top miniDV model
we've got our work cut out convincing these guys that they're headed down the wrong road
how could so many big companies keep making this same mistake?
I own a couple of SL2's and an H1 as well. By no means are these cameras involved in this discussion.
We are talking about consumer cameras, and these are anything but.
As I've now said several times, professional equipment like this will be keeping this interface for a while to come. But then, while I know plenty of people who have these, I know of only one who uses it with a Macbook.
not only do we have a financial crisis but all our electronic companies are choosing to release new models
using dying technology
ps spot the irony here (and i'm not talking about my sarcasm...)
Why don't you stick to our discussion, and pick cameras under about $750? That's already on the high side for consumer camcorders today? If you really find it neccessary, go to $1,000.
But you have to list all the models from that company that DON'T have FW as well. Picking one or two misses the point entirely. And try to find something that isn't about to be discontinued.
Why don't you stick to our discussion, and pick cameras under about $750? That's already on the high side for consumer camcorders today? If you really find it neccessary, go to $1,000.
But you have to list all the models from that company that DON'T have FW as well. Picking one or two misses the point entirely. And try to find something that isn't about to be discontinued.
dons flame proof suit
ok so let's summarizzzzzze...people here are arguing that:
- firewire is dead
- camcorders are moving towards USB
- firewire is a technology which is in decline
- firewire can easily be replaced by USB2 since CPU power has increased dramatically
- the majority of camcorders are USB (!?)
- the majority of audio peripherals are USB (!?)
- the fact that Apple left it off one notebook model is a sure sign for the whole market (!?)
- USB 3 will replace firewire
- Esata replaces firewire
- GigE will replace firewire
- USB3 replaces firewire
- USB2 replaces firewire (!!?)
- firewire will replace firewire (just seeing if you're awake)
- they don't (personally) need firewire (my favourite)
- battery power is a constraint
but at the same time people are arguing that
- apple only represents a small portion of the consumer market (i think the words were "microsoft dominates the market")
- the consumer market does not buy expensive equipment (eg camcorders over $750 are on the high side apparently)
- that the release of one single model of apple notebook computer (despite the "lack of domination" point) is indicative for the entire market
- that with future technologies (USB3) while attempting to transfer more date at 10x the current rate, we'll be fine in terms of CPU and heat release rates.
- any sound arguments indicating that FW might have a technological edge over current or near future tech is labelled 'marketing'
- any arguments that FW architecture might not be able to be replaced are met with guarantees of future CPU power over non-proven connection methods
yet what we also see/know is that:
- firewire is still the choice of professionals (audio and visual)
- firewire is still used on the latest release of the current Apple flagship notebooks
(anyone's call as to whether the 15" alu is the flagship - either way there's not doubt that the 17" alu will carry FW)
- firewire is still used on the latest middle to upper releases of all the top camcorder companies
(where USB is strangely absent and interestingly the choice of tech seems independent of pc CPU 'advances' - odd)
- statistically firewire is still in growth mode (from the same report used to highlight the decline of firewire as a percentage of all camcorders)
- the price of the alu MB has increased significantly over the last model and is now well into the "expensive for a notebook" range
(yes, around double that of what people count as expensive for a camcorder - different uses but hey put it in the thinking pot and let it stew for a while)
- USB3 is nowhere to be seen for the forseeable future
- there is no other current equivalent technology which can replace FW for power, hot-swap, speed and architecture features
- in the majority of the tech market there is a burgeoning lower class of items, which will naturally skew statistics (unless you examine those statistics properly)
- camcorder and other peripheral manufacturers do not base their product sales or choice of technology on the smallest of markets
- apple has not managed to increase speed or general CPU performance on it's latest MB
- heat is a major issue in notebooks, and intel obviously see this as an important constraint to be overcome to continue increasing CPU load
- host controlled tech (USB) gives us no realistic alternative as to how they are going to increase the speed 10 fold without creating more problems than they solve
- USB3 is no guarantee of its advertised speed, any more than USB2 was a guarantee of its advertised speed.
so where does all this leave us ?
- firewire is nowhere near dead (even people who don't like it better hope it isn't - there isn't a proven replacement either now or in the foreseeable future)
- firewire is still being deliberately chosen by (big) manufacturers, some of whom are deliberately aiming their products at the lower end of the market
- firewire cannot be currently replaced (even if we wanted to - and some people obviously do - no idea why)
- increasing CPU load is a problem, not just based on silicon costs, but heat, space and battery power constraints
- one cannot draw marketwide conclusions based on the release of one model of notebook computer from one small (albeit our favourite) manufacturer
- one cannot draw conclusions based on the swelling super low price market any more than Steve takes any notice of the sub $500 notebook market
it leaves us with the idea apple is still a small player in the pc market (albiet a growing player - which could be good), who has issued one notebook in their line without firewire, most probably for the reasons SJ himself said - that the consumer market is going low end (using video as an unfortunate example - having just totally upgraded the video features of the MB to well beyond the needs of the market he was talking about)
all this would be fine... except that at the same time as removing features to make it entry level, apple have increased the price way beyond what most people in that low end market can afford
it's your call as to whether this was a good move
either way I find no decent arguments to state that FW is either dead or dying, or being adequately replaced by another tech in the realm it has always been - which includes (but is not limited to) middle to upper class computers and peripherals
...strangely the same demographic which has the funds to purchase a $1300 entry level notebook
Comments
I'll provide a few links to more current problems with compatibility problems here and there. Finding 15 year old articles isn't easy.
One problem has always been the poor physical layer specs. Some of these problems show that.
http://www.rme-audio.com/english/tec...fw800alert.htm
Read down to the last two sections to see what I'm talking about with command structures and such (meaning protocols). Too much was left in the various manufacturers hands. It took years until many finally agreed on what to do.
http://www.synthetic-ap.com/products...eosupport.html
This is an interesting thread to read. It shows some of the FW problems we experienced on our Macs.
http://discussions.apple.com/thread....6860&tstart=12
Check the very bottom of this page.
http://eshop.macsales.com/Descriptio...softraid3.html
These problems were not supposed to happen at all, we were assured, but they did.
https://rainrecording.co.uk/support/article?id=109
Again, this is not supposed to happen, but the lax standards do allow it.
While I can't find early technical articles now, there are enough articles in Google about FW compatibility problems to show it's real.
I've got to get to bed now but I couldn't resist checking those links out. Not one of them has anything to do with the standard. They touch on communications problems between TI and peripheral makers in one case, propietary design problems in another, poor chipset design in another etc.
Not one of them claims that the firewire standard is the root cause of any firewire problems.
As I haven't read the standard I can't really say if firewire standards can be considered lax or not. However, I can't find anything online that suggests that firewire is insufficiently designed/defined etc from a standards perspective.
Oh, I dunno. Hit stop in the living room. Go into the bedroom. Bring up the movie in the bedroom and press yes when prompted "start where you left off?". What on earth does this scenario have to do with FW?
Zero.
I don't have a media centre so I'm interested in seeing how your setup plays out. You have a media centre in your living room that is connected to the TV in your living room. Am I right on that point or is it somewhere else?
If I'm right, your media centre is connected to the TV right next to it (it doesn't matter by which means). How are you reaching the other TVs in your house?
This is FW/HANA related. It doesn't matter if you actually have a media centre or not I just want to hear the theory.
these are old arguments that have even been deconstructed by Mr USB2 himself
who used faulty arguments to try and say that firewire is on the decline
(but as he helpfully pointed out still in the majority)
Yes, virginia, in the real world dropping from 85% to 77% is a decline. When you do that in a single year...it's called free fall...and that was 2 years ago.
Today even HD camcorders come with USB2 only...
even the statistics he used (seen here in Macworld) say that
"In terms of deployment, FireWire's peak year may be 2008,
with decline setting in by the end of 2009, these analysts warn."
so we haven't seen the peak yet - it's not recorded
and the decline is being predicted - again it hasn't arrived or been measured
The decline was predicted over a year ago. With the removal of FW on the MB and Jobs' comments it has become almost a certainty.
I was responding to your use of the word powerful. I assumed that you used it because you meant it.
powerful as in the interface... not the computer
i'm trying to find a word to describe the interface
which covers a combination of speed and intelligence
ironically (or maybe not) my word of choice when used on an intelligent interface
describes what your computer needs less of...
i'm trying to find a word to describe the interface
Just grab a thesaurus. The words that come to mind are versatile and robust.
On the other hand, USB brings to mind ubiquitous and inexpensive, which usually wins.
Yes, virginia, in the real world dropping from 85% to 77% is a decline. When you do that in a single year...it's called free fall...and that was 2 years ago.
Today even HD camcorders come with USB2 only...
The decline was predicted over a year ago. With the removal of FW on the MB and Jobs' comments it has become almost a certainty.
yes sherlock - but a decline in only one area of the overall market
why don't you pick just one brand and use that to extrapolate a worldwide trend... oh wait you did !
so you used only part of the research (the camcorder part)
research which had overall conclusions stating that FW was not in decline... but might end up in decline over 2 years in the future
which you used to go and predict the absolute death of firewire
an interface which the same manufacturer you have been using to predict it's death - has just put on it's current flagship offering
and no, one single model of one manufacturer's product line - which still uses that interface in it's latest products
will not be enough to topple an interface technology which reaches far beyond personal computers
(much less notebooks)
if you're not too scared of being swamped by marketing people
have a look at the 1394 website and see what other uses it has...
oh wait what's that on the front page?
Sony's flagship video camera ?
gee those guys are idiots - they're just about to release a camera with firewire on it - dang at least it's only at pre-order stage
they should have consulted vinea first.... pfff sony's obviously going to hit the dust pretty soon
Just grab a thesaurus. The words that come to mind are versatile and robust.
On the other hand, USB brings to mind ubiquitous and inexpensive, which usually wins.
not quite
versatile is one aspect, robustness is another (both describe USB and FW)
but neither of those cover speed and intelligence (p2p)
try again...
ubiquitous and inexpensive - that sounds like windows... and that obviously hasn't won you over
why don't you pick just one brand and use that to extrapolate a worldwide trend.
[...]
oh wait what's that on the front page?
Sony's flagship video camera ?
gee those guys are idiots - they're just about to release a camera with firewire on it - dang at least it's only at pre-order stage
they should have consulted vinea first.... pfff sony's obviously going to hit the dust pretty soon
That is not a consumer-grade camera, and it's MiniDV.
Now, what was that about one brand?though you choose one model from one brand?and extrapolating a trend?
another company has turned belly up by choosing firewire for it's top miniDV model
we've got our work cut out convincing these guys that they're headed down the wrong road
how could so many big companies keep making this same mistake?
not quite
versatile is one aspect, robustness is another (both describe USB and FW)
but neither of those cover speed and intelligence (p2p)
try again...
ubiquitous and inexpensive - that sounds like windows... and that obviously hasn't won you over
1) I got my MCSE a couple times over because of the ubiquity of Windows.
2) In comparison to FW, I wouldn't call USB versatile or robust.
3) If the words common words fast and intelligent don't work for you make up your own. After all, all words are made up. If you want a single word to descirbe something as fast and smart, then how about velocituitive?
1) I got my MCSE a couple times over because of the ubiquity of Windows.
2) In comparison to FW, I wouldn't call USB versatile or robust.
3) If the words common words of r fast and intelligent don't work for you make your own. After all, all words are made up. If you want a single word to descirbe something as fast and smart, then how about velocituitive?
oh shoot
another company has turned belly up by choosing firewire for it's top miniDV model
we've got our work cut out convincing these guys that they're headed down the wrong road
how could so many big companies keep making this same mistake?
Again, you are finding cameras that the average MB user isn't likely to buy.
That is not a consumer-grade camera, and it's MiniDV.
Now, what was that about one brand?though you choose one model from one brand?and extrapolating a trend?
arrrrrgghhhhh somebody help
this is an epidemic of monumental proportions !!!
not only do we have a financial crisis but all our electronic companies are choosing to release new models
using dying technology
ps spot the irony here (and i'm not talking about my sarcasm...)
Again, you are finding cameras that the average MB user isn't likely to buy.
good point. i'm being silly - i'll stop straight away.
firewire's dead anyway.
arrrrrgghhhhh somebody help
this is an epidemic of monumental proportions !!!
not only do we have a financial crisis but all our electronic companies are choosing to release new models
using dying technology
ps spot the irony here (and i'm not talking about my sarcasm...)
The ProHD is not a consumer-grade camera! It sucks that FW has been removed, but put the MB into the context of who is Apple sell almost all their MBs to. FW is not dead, but it's non-existent to the average consumer. It's a shame that Apple didn't market it better and more cheaply, and that they didn't make the 400 port interface compatible with the 800+ port interface without an physical adapter. But for the consumer market which has mostly moved away from MiniDV, IEE1394 is an dying interface. At least there are still options for a new, cheap Mac notebook if you want FW400.
good point. i'm being silly - i'll stop straight away.
firewire's dead anyway.
Now you're being sardonic (and I'm not talking about sarcasm...)
I've got to get to bed now but I couldn't resist checking those links out. Not one of them has anything to do with the standard. They touch on communications problems between TI and peripheral makers in one case, propietary design problems in another, poor chipset design in another etc.
Not one of them claims that the firewire standard is the root cause of any firewire problems.
As I haven't read the standard I can't really say if firewire standards can be considered lax or not. However, I can't find anything online that suggests that firewire is insufficiently designed/defined etc from a standards perspective.
Perhaps you don't see it because you don't get the purpose of a standard. The purpose is to assure that parts made by different manufacturers will all exist without incompatibilities, which is something FW never had, either from the beginning, or now.
We don't hear of anywhere near these many problems with USB, we hear of pretty much none with Ethernet. We hear of pretty much none with SATA.
But, I understand, you have a device that needs FW, and the new MB doesn't have it, so you are frustrated.
powerful as in the interface... not the computer
i'm trying to find a word to describe the interface
which covers a combination of speed and intelligence
ironically (or maybe not) my word of choice when used on an intelligent interface
describes what your computer needs less of...
Ok. but it doesn't matter whether your computer is a five year old model, or one that will come out next year, it will still have vastly more power than needed. so will the devices on the market. The chips inside them have what they need to do the job. FW isn't needed for that to cut down on the processing power. CPU power has become the cheapest part of any device, by far.
What's your point in this? Where every device that can be connected, and needs to have a minimum of intelligence to function on a media network, already has that intelligence, the network doesn't need anything over what a network already provides, which is basically routing control, precedence control, and collision control.
All of this is already taken care of.
If you read the specs of Apple's own equipment, such as the aTv, the Airport Express, Airport Extreme, etc., you will see that all of the networking involving media files and distribution is being done.
By the way, as of now, Apple's store is down because of an update. Wonder what's going on.
oh shoot
another company has turned belly up by choosing firewire for it's top miniDV model
we've got our work cut out convincing these guys that they're headed down the wrong road
how could so many big companies keep making this same mistake?
I own a couple of SL2's and an H1 as well. By no means are these cameras involved in this discussion.
We are talking about consumer cameras, and these are anything but.
As I've now said several times, professional equipment like this will be keeping this interface for a while to come. But then, while I know plenty of people who have these, I know of only one who uses it with a Macbook.
arrrrrgghhhhh somebody help
this is an epidemic of monumental proportions !!!
not only do we have a financial crisis but all our electronic companies are choosing to release new models
using dying technology
ps spot the irony here (and i'm not talking about my sarcasm...)
Why don't you stick to our discussion, and pick cameras under about $750? That's already on the high side for consumer camcorders today? If you really find it neccessary, go to $1,000.
But you have to list all the models from that company that DON'T have FW as well. Picking one or two misses the point entirely. And try to find something that isn't about to be discontinued.
Why don't you stick to our discussion, and pick cameras under about $750? That's already on the high side for consumer camcorders today? If you really find it neccessary, go to $1,000.
But you have to list all the models from that company that DON'T have FW as well. Picking one or two misses the point entirely. And try to find something that isn't about to be discontinued.
dons flame proof suit
ok so let's summarizzzzzze...people here are arguing that:
- firewire is dead
- camcorders are moving towards USB
- firewire is a technology which is in decline
- firewire can easily be replaced by USB2 since CPU power has increased dramatically
- the majority of camcorders are USB (!?)
- the majority of audio peripherals are USB (!?)
- the fact that Apple left it off one notebook model is a sure sign for the whole market (!?)
- USB 3 will replace firewire
- Esata replaces firewire
- GigE will replace firewire
- USB3 replaces firewire
- USB2 replaces firewire (!!?)
- firewire will replace firewire (just seeing if you're awake)
- they don't (personally) need firewire (my favourite)
- battery power is a constraint
but at the same time people are arguing that
- apple only represents a small portion of the consumer market (i think the words were "microsoft dominates the market")
- the consumer market does not buy expensive equipment (eg camcorders over $750 are on the high side apparently)
- that the release of one single model of apple notebook computer (despite the "lack of domination" point) is indicative for the entire market
- that with future technologies (USB3) while attempting to transfer more date at 10x the current rate, we'll be fine in terms of CPU and heat release rates.
- any sound arguments indicating that FW might have a technological edge over current or near future tech is labelled 'marketing'
- any arguments that FW architecture might not be able to be replaced are met with guarantees of future CPU power over non-proven connection methods
yet what we also see/know is that:
- firewire is still the choice of professionals (audio and visual)
- firewire is still used on the latest release of the current Apple flagship notebooks
(anyone's call as to whether the 15" alu is the flagship - either way there's not doubt that the 17" alu will carry FW)
- firewire is still used on the latest middle to upper releases of all the top camcorder companies
(where USB is strangely absent and interestingly the choice of tech seems independent of pc CPU 'advances' - odd)
- statistically firewire is still in growth mode (from the same report used to highlight the decline of firewire as a percentage of all camcorders)
- the price of the alu MB has increased significantly over the last model and is now well into the "expensive for a notebook" range
(yes, around double that of what people count as expensive for a camcorder - different uses but hey put it in the thinking pot and let it stew for a while)
- USB3 is nowhere to be seen for the forseeable future
- there is no other current equivalent technology which can replace FW for power, hot-swap, speed and architecture features
- in the majority of the tech market there is a burgeoning lower class of items, which will naturally skew statistics (unless you examine those statistics properly)
- camcorder and other peripheral manufacturers do not base their product sales or choice of technology on the smallest of markets
- apple has not managed to increase speed or general CPU performance on it's latest MB
- heat is a major issue in notebooks, and intel obviously see this as an important constraint to be overcome to continue increasing CPU load
- host controlled tech (USB) gives us no realistic alternative as to how they are going to increase the speed 10 fold without creating more problems than they solve
- USB3 is no guarantee of its advertised speed, any more than USB2 was a guarantee of its advertised speed.
so where does all this leave us ?
- firewire is nowhere near dead (even people who don't like it better hope it isn't - there isn't a proven replacement either now or in the foreseeable future)
- firewire is still being deliberately chosen by (big) manufacturers, some of whom are deliberately aiming their products at the lower end of the market
- firewire cannot be currently replaced (even if we wanted to - and some people obviously do - no idea why)
- increasing CPU load is a problem, not just based on silicon costs, but heat, space and battery power constraints
- one cannot draw marketwide conclusions based on the release of one model of notebook computer from one small (albeit our favourite) manufacturer
- one cannot draw conclusions based on the swelling super low price market any more than Steve takes any notice of the sub $500 notebook market
it leaves us with the idea apple is still a small player in the pc market (albiet a growing player - which could be good), who has issued one notebook in their line without firewire, most probably for the reasons SJ himself said - that the consumer market is going low end (using video as an unfortunate example - having just totally upgraded the video features of the MB to well beyond the needs of the market he was talking about)
all this would be fine... except that at the same time as removing features to make it entry level, apple have increased the price way beyond what most people in that low end market can afford
it's your call as to whether this was a good move
either way I find no decent arguments to state that FW is either dead or dying, or being adequately replaced by another tech in the realm it has always been - which includes (but is not limited to) middle to upper class computers and peripherals
...strangely the same demographic which has the funds to purchase a $1300 entry level notebook