That is a perfect example of what I've mentioned a couple of time on the last few pages.
Why do people feel the urge to play with comments. I said it wasn't a 'pro' machine. It's not a 'pro' machine.
Why do you qualify the word consumer with the word 'average' in bold?
This machine is perfect for a group of enthusiasts and many will find the unit for less than $400. Even it was $400 where is the problem? Imagine a band (teenagers) who could buy this device for the group at $100 each or less.
Remember: 'not pro'.
BTW, the reason I wrote 'pro' like that was because nowadays consumer equipment is often used by pros. In fact it's part of my reasoning for not eliminating FW from the new MBs.
"Enthusiasts" are typically not grouped with "consumers" as a market segment. Why is this so hard to understand? When folks say "consumers" they DO mean average consumers. He bolded it because you seem to like pushing the term to include "enthusiasts". Which is a teeeny tiny market segment and a different one at that.
yes, but the list given by mraslove shows that people on his film set only use their MBs for relatively lightweight tasks (excel, scheduling, prod software, photos etc)
it is the indie producers, prosumers & advanced hobbyists who'd actually need to connect their notebook to a video camera... i know it's like that in the audio world - most people in upper professional environments would be using much bigger machines.
still it's difficult to argue that apple hasn't lost a certain market segment by reducing connectivity
No one has said that apple hasn't lost a PORTION of a certain market segment. Just that the market segment was small to begin with and even then not all will be hurt or be "lost".
For indie producers, prosumers and advanced video hobbyists, the MB is at most one camera generation away if they aren't already using a flash or HDD camera. FCE 4 supports AVCHD as does iMovie (but you probably want to use FCE 4).
"Enthusiasts" are typically not grouped with "consumers" as a market segment. Why is this so hard to understand? When folks say "consumers" they DO mean average consumers. He bolded it because you seem to like pushing the term to include "enthusiasts". Which is a teeeny tiny market segment and a different one at that.
au contraire on enthusiasts / prosumers being a "teeeny tiny market segment"
not sure where you get that idea - particularly for the public that typically buys a notebook in the $1000+ price range
... since FW is moving from FW800 to FW3200, which uses the same port interface.
This is the core of the problem though.
Jobs' silly, premature cancellation of FW on the MacBook has now set back the entire standard. It is no longer a sure thing that users and peripheral makers will join the 3200 bandwagon, since the MacBook intro has given new life to the "Firewire is dead" narrative.
Whether you care about Firewire or not, this was done in a truly incompetent way.
au contraire on enthusiasts / prosumers being a "teeeny tiny market segment" not sure where you get that idea
I dunno...the numbers maybe?
Quote:
- particularly for the public that typically buys a notebook in the $1000+ price range
just look at the explosion of the DSLR market and you'll see that there are more and more consumers are willing to pay lots for semi-pro quality items
(as long as they are near-pro quality... these tend to be informed purchasers)
this may all change in the near term with people tightening their belts
"This growth is being driven by the availability of a number of competitively priced DSLR models. These lower-priced models are enabling point & shoot owners to upgrade their cameras to DSLRs. Although sales of DSLRs are growing rapidly, P&S cameras will represent the vast majority of all digital camera sales until 2013. "
What we will probably see is the entry level DSLRs move into the upper end of the consumer space while the lower end is replaced by camera phones. But the consumer market is still vastly larger than the enthusiast market. That some consumers are using DSLRs in Point and Shoot mode doesn't change that. The DSLR market is 7% of the total digital camera market (actually, interchangable lens digital cameras but that's mostly DSLRs).
It should be interesting whether the four thirds and micro four thirds format takes off.
Quote:
PS the red 1 includes all interfaces (Esata, FW, USB, HDMI) so i'm not sure you can
use that as an example... and the interface specs of the scarlet/epic aren't out yet
The point is that FW isn't needed for transfers. The MB will work fine with a Red Scarlet. DV/HDV cameras require FW for transfers. Everything else can support USB.
I'm not sure its such a vote of confidence for the future of FW, if its solely dependent on Apple.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Frank777
This is the core of the problem though.
Jobs' silly, premature cancellation of FW on the MacBook has now set back the entire standard. It is no longer a sure thing that users and peripheral makers will join the 3200 bandwagon, since the MacBook intro has given new life to the "Firewire is dead" narrative.
Whether you care about Firewire or not, this was done in a truly incompetent way.
odd that your "teeeny tiny market segment" for DSLRs
is about the same as Apple's entire market segment for PCs
when it's apple then 7% becomes a "significant market share"
when you don't want to agree with my point
(which is that the prosumer market is significant and growing and apple should't ignore it)
then 7% becomes teeny tiny
oh and interesting that your article defines consumer as spending up to 1500 euros (1900 USD)
so what sort of peripherals (camcorders & audio interfaces) is this "consumer" market going to buy?
clearly not cheap ones limited to USB2
Quote:
The point is that FW isn't needed for transfers. The MB will work fine with a Red Scarlet. DV/HDV cameras require FW for transfers. Everything else can support USB.
correct... if you have years available to wait \
remember the Red1 is equipped with FW800 not FW400
i know which one would I would / will use in the field
odd that your "teeeny tiny market segment" for DSLRs
is about the same as Apple's entire market segment for PCs
Apple has a teeny tiny market in comparison to Windows. But the Mac market is healthy enough to support itself. Likewise the prosumer market obviously.
Is it significant? Mostly from the perspective that Apple has a lot of mindshare as well.
Quote:
(which is that the prosumer market is significant and growing and apple should't ignore it) then 7% becomes teeny tiny
Sure. For it's pro model. And it does. Frankly the MB is still a great laptop for that market. DSLR folks shouldn't have much issue with a MB beyond the same issues that any TN panel has with colors.
Quote:
oh and interesting that your article defines consumer as spending up to 1500 euros (1900 USD)
so what sort of peripherals (camcorders & audio interfaces) is this "consumer" market going to buy?
clearly not cheap ones limited to USB2
Yah right. The average consumer buys $1900 camcorders. Whatever.
Quote:
correct... if you have years available to wait \
The cameras are here today and make up 7/10ths of the top ten on the list you posted.
But hey, you choose to ignore that eh?
Quote:
remember the Red1 is equipped with FW800 not FW400
i know which one would I would / will use in the field
Apple has a teeny tiny market in comparison to Windows. But the Mac market is healthy enough to support itself. Likewise the prosumer market obviously.
Is it significant? Mostly from the perspective that Apple has a lot of mindshare as well.
mindshare is one thing apple is losing - and fast.
lucky they still have monopoly on their OS to keep people stuck to their hardware.
Quote:
Sure. For it's pro model. And it does. Frankly the MB is still a great laptop for that market. DSLR folks shouldn't have much issue with a MB beyond the same issues that any TN panel has with colors.
yaaaaah - read up what i said earlier
(no DSLR user worries about firewire - i'm using the stats to show a trend)
Quote:
Yah right. The average consumer buys $1900 camcorders. Whatever.
your article - quote it, own it.
Quote:
The cameras are here today and make up 7/10ths of the top ten on the list you posted.
But hey, you choose to ignore that eh?
not ignoring it at all - as i pointed out those people buying cheaper cameras will probably be buying cheaper notebooks too...
a region apple is not so competitive in.
the "years to wait" was for your USB2 to finish transferring 16GB of data
Quote:
Yah, eSATA.
no you wouldn't because if you were in the field (or on a plane or in an airport or in a crowded cafe)
because there wouldn't be power - so eSata and its associated wall wart wouldn't work
(not to mention that FW800 is as fast as the current HDD write speeds... but you choose what you like \)
do you honestly think apple is gaining mindshare in the segment?
either amongst their staunchest fans or elsewhere?
If they are talking about Apple it means they are thinking about Apple. Mindhsare is lost when no one is talking or thinking about you anymore.
People complaining on the internet doesn't accurately define what the larger market feels. The better Apple does the more nameless faceless people on the lists and boards complain.
If they are talking about Apple it means they are thinking about Apple. Mindhsare is lost when no one is talking or thinking about you anymore.
People complaining on the internet doesn't accurately define what the larger market feels. The better Apple does the more nameless faceless people on the lists and boards complain.
I hate to be a nit-picker but let's be reasonable here. The point was that Apple was losing mindshare. There's a difference between losing (having less and less) and what you're comparing to (having none).
How is Apple doing 'better' exactly (apart from sales and profits)? I ask because few are complaining about those aspects (sales/profits).
Again what evidence is there that Apple is loosing mind share at all? Every event that happens with Apple is reported across the entire web. Place any tag into a Google search with Apple and you get 10 pages of reports about the most mundane detail.
Sales/profits are the barometer of how we judge the wellness of a company. People on the internet don't reflect the larger consumer market. If anything I would say these internet lists are not at all in step with the larger consumer market. This is the only place I see where anyone really cares about firewire.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Avon B7
I hate to be a nit-picker but let's be reasonable here. The point was that Apple was losing mindshare. There's a difference between losing (having less and less) and what you're comparing to (having none).
How is Apple doing 'better' exactly (apart from sales and profits)? I ask because few are complaining about those aspects (sales/profits).
I get the feeling that when you say "professional", what you mean is "media professional". All of your examples are from that world, anyway.
There are plenty of programmers and managers who want solid, quality laptops but also want them small, low weight and long on battery life.
Raw CPU power, GPU power, color correctness are not huge concerns for this group.
I don't count myself as a pro, but I share those priorities. The 12":s were the last Apple hardware that was designed to fit them.
Incidentally, this year I also bought my first Windows desktop in ~8 years. OS X' value is not infinite, and the gaps Apple has built into its hardware lineup are not small.
My problem is not the weight so much as the size. I travel via airplane several times a year and I tend to travel light. I have one piece of luggage-a carry on bag-which I take with me. It has a detachable backpack that I put under the seat in front of me. It's that backpack that usually contains my laptop. The 12" Powerbook/iBook fit into it quite nicely and the 13" MacBook just barely fits into it. Which means the 15" MacBook Pro is out of the question for me. I just can't take it with me and I don't see any reason why I should have to buy 2 different sized laptops to cover all situations.
I've been meaning to get back to this thread for a few weeks but I've been busy. I had an experience earlier this month where I had to migrate the contents of a 12" iBook to one of the new MacBooks. I was looking at transferring about 28-29 GB worth of data from one computer to another via a 802.11g network connection. It was awful! I was at it over 3 hours and I still didn't get everything. I'm currently shopping around for a USB drive to carry around with me in those situations but when I think about how much faster the transfer would have been via FireWire I become annoyed with what Apple did buy leaving FireWire off the new computer. I bet the new MacBook owners would have been willing to pay the extra $$ to Apple for the FireWire port if it meant they would have had to have paid me less money to do the transfer. (I had to boot the old computer into Target Disk Mode, plug it into mine since the Airport on the old computer was broken.)(Oh, and the ethernet was broken as well.)
I've been meaning to get back to this thread for a few weeks but I've been busy. I had an experience earlier this month where I had to migrate the contents of a 12" iBook to one of the new MacBooks. I was looking at transferring about 28-29 GB worth of data from one computer to another via a 802.11g network connection. It was awful! I was at it over 3 hours and I still didn't get everything. I'm currently shopping around for a USB drive to carry around with me in those situations but when I think about how much faster the transfer would have been via FireWire I become annoyed with what Apple did buy leaving FireWire off the new computer. I bet the new MacBook owners would have been willing to pay the extra $$ to Apple for the FireWire port if it meant they would have had to have paid me less money to do the transfer. (I had to boot the old computer into Target Disk Mode, plug it into mine since the Airport on the old computer was broken.)(Oh, and the ethernet was broken as well.)
You also have the option of data transfer through Ethernet connection. Which is faster than Firewire, significantly faster than Wifi.
It's not that just all of those FW-based peripherals for which the MacBook (and iBook before it) were designed to be used with (in concert with iLife, per Apple) are now relegated to the scrapyard, it's that there's no new technology that's out there that can do the same job as FW has been doing. If you're going to replace a technology, replace it with something better. People can understand that kind of path toward obsolescence but not the kind of path Apple has taken this week.
I think Apple was between a rock and a hard place so Steve Jobs had to make an executive decision, which is very similar to what happened when Apple first started using Intel processors. I am sure Apple would have preferred every Mac using Intel processors to start off 64-bit, but they had to start somewhere. I can still recall the complaints about the iMac going from 64-bit PPC to 32-bit x86.
The good news is, at least according to Wikipedia, the USB 3.0 specifications are complete as of November 17, 2008, and hardware manufacturers can start working on peripherals. The MacBook was updated with a Penryn processor just four months after it was updated with Santa Rosa so I expect Apple to get USB 3.0 into the MacBook and MacBook Pro ASAP.
Comments
That is a perfect example of what I've mentioned a couple of time on the last few pages.
Why do people feel the urge to play with comments. I said it wasn't a 'pro' machine. It's not a 'pro' machine.
Why do you qualify the word consumer with the word 'average' in bold?
This machine is perfect for a group of enthusiasts and many will find the unit for less than $400. Even it was $400 where is the problem? Imagine a band (teenagers) who could buy this device for the group at $100 each or less.
Remember: 'not pro'.
BTW, the reason I wrote 'pro' like that was because nowadays consumer equipment is often used by pros. In fact it's part of my reasoning for not eliminating FW from the new MBs.
"Enthusiasts" are typically not grouped with "consumers" as a market segment. Why is this so hard to understand? When folks say "consumers" they DO mean average consumers. He bolded it because you seem to like pushing the term to include "enthusiasts". Which is a teeeny tiny market segment and a different one at that.
yes, but the list given by mraslove shows that people on his film set only use their MBs for relatively lightweight tasks (excel, scheduling, prod software, photos etc)
it is the indie producers, prosumers & advanced hobbyists who'd actually need to connect their notebook to a video camera... i know it's like that in the audio world - most people in upper professional environments would be using much bigger machines.
still it's difficult to argue that apple hasn't lost a certain market segment by reducing connectivity
No one has said that apple hasn't lost a PORTION of a certain market segment. Just that the market segment was small to begin with and even then not all will be hurt or be "lost".
For indie producers, prosumers and advanced video hobbyists, the MB is at most one camera generation away if they aren't already using a flash or HDD camera. FCE 4 supports AVCHD as does iMovie (but you probably want to use FCE 4).
"Enthusiasts" are typically not grouped with "consumers" as a market segment. Why is this so hard to understand? When folks say "consumers" they DO mean average consumers. He bolded it because you seem to like pushing the term to include "enthusiasts". Which is a teeeny tiny market segment and a different one at that.
au contraire on enthusiasts / prosumers being a "teeeny tiny market segment"
not sure where you get that idea - particularly for the public that typically buys a notebook in the $1000+ price range
just look at the explosion of the DSLR market and you'll see that there are more and more
consumers are willing to pay lots for semi-pro quality items
(as long as they are near-pro quality... these tend to be informed purchasers)
this may all change in the near term with people tightening their belts
PS the red 1 includes all interfaces (Esata, FW, USB, HDMI) so i'm not sure you can
use that as an example... and the interface specs of the scarlet/epic aren't out yet
... since FW is moving from FW800 to FW3200, which uses the same port interface.
This is the core of the problem though.
Jobs' silly, premature cancellation of FW on the MacBook has now set back the entire standard. It is no longer a sure thing that users and peripheral makers will join the 3200 bandwagon, since the MacBook intro has given new life to the "Firewire is dead" narrative.
Whether you care about Firewire or not, this was done in a truly incompetent way.
au contraire on enthusiasts / prosumers being a "teeeny tiny market segment" not sure where you get that idea
I dunno...the numbers maybe?
- particularly for the public that typically buys a notebook in the $1000+ price range
just look at the explosion of the DSLR market and you'll see that there are more and more consumers are willing to pay lots for semi-pro quality items
(as long as they are near-pro quality... these tend to be informed purchasers)
this may all change in the near term with people tightening their belts
"This growth is being driven by the availability of a number of competitively priced DSLR models. These lower-priced models are enabling point & shoot owners to upgrade their cameras to DSLRs. Although sales of DSLRs are growing rapidly, P&S cameras will represent the vast majority of all digital camera sales until 2013. "
http://www.infotrends.com/public/Con...0.09.2008.html
What we will probably see is the entry level DSLRs move into the upper end of the consumer space while the lower end is replaced by camera phones. But the consumer market is still vastly larger than the enthusiast market. That some consumers are using DSLRs in Point and Shoot mode doesn't change that. The DSLR market is 7% of the total digital camera market (actually, interchangable lens digital cameras but that's mostly DSLRs).
It should be interesting whether the four thirds and micro four thirds format takes off.
PS the red 1 includes all interfaces (Esata, FW, USB, HDMI) so i'm not sure you can
use that as an example... and the interface specs of the scarlet/epic aren't out yet
The point is that FW isn't needed for transfers. The MB will work fine with a Red Scarlet. DV/HDV cameras require FW for transfers. Everything else can support USB.
This is the core of the problem though.
Jobs' silly, premature cancellation of FW on the MacBook has now set back the entire standard. It is no longer a sure thing that users and peripheral makers will join the 3200 bandwagon, since the MacBook intro has given new life to the "Firewire is dead" narrative.
Whether you care about Firewire or not, this was done in a truly incompetent way.
I dunno...the numbers maybe?
odd that your "teeeny tiny market segment" for DSLRs
is about the same as Apple's entire market segment for PCs
when it's apple then 7% becomes a "significant market share"
when you don't want to agree with my point
(which is that the prosumer market is significant and growing and apple should't ignore it)
then 7% becomes teeny tiny
oh and interesting that your article defines consumer as spending up to 1500 euros (1900 USD)
so what sort of peripherals (camcorders & audio interfaces) is this "consumer" market going to buy?
clearly not cheap ones limited to USB2
The point is that FW isn't needed for transfers. The MB will work fine with a Red Scarlet. DV/HDV cameras require FW for transfers. Everything else can support USB.
correct... if you have years available to wait
remember the Red1 is equipped with FW800 not FW400
i know which one would I would / will use in the field
odd that your "teeeny tiny market segment" for DSLRs
is about the same as Apple's entire market segment for PCs
Apple has a teeny tiny market in comparison to Windows. But the Mac market is healthy enough to support itself. Likewise the prosumer market obviously.
Is it significant? Mostly from the perspective that Apple has a lot of mindshare as well.
(which is that the prosumer market is significant and growing and apple should't ignore it) then 7% becomes teeny tiny
Sure. For it's pro model. And it does. Frankly the MB is still a great laptop for that market. DSLR folks shouldn't have much issue with a MB beyond the same issues that any TN panel has with colors.
oh and interesting that your article defines consumer as spending up to 1500 euros (1900 USD)
so what sort of peripherals (camcorders & audio interfaces) is this "consumer" market going to buy?
clearly not cheap ones limited to USB2
Yah right. The average consumer buys $1900 camcorders. Whatever.
correct... if you have years available to wait
The cameras are here today and make up 7/10ths of the top ten on the list you posted.
But hey, you choose to ignore that eh?
remember the Red1 is equipped with FW800 not FW400
i know which one would I would / will use in the field
Yah, eSATA.
Apple has a teeny tiny market in comparison to Windows. But the Mac market is healthy enough to support itself. Likewise the prosumer market obviously.
Is it significant? Mostly from the perspective that Apple has a lot of mindshare as well.
mindshare is one thing apple is losing - and fast.
lucky they still have monopoly on their OS to keep people stuck to their hardware.
Sure. For it's pro model. And it does. Frankly the MB is still a great laptop for that market. DSLR folks shouldn't have much issue with a MB beyond the same issues that any TN panel has with colors.
yaaaaah - read up what i said earlier
(no DSLR user worries about firewire - i'm using the stats to show a trend)
Yah right. The average consumer buys $1900 camcorders. Whatever.
your article - quote it, own it.
The cameras are here today and make up 7/10ths of the top ten on the list you posted.
But hey, you choose to ignore that eh?
not ignoring it at all - as i pointed out those people buying cheaper cameras will probably be buying cheaper notebooks too...
a region apple is not so competitive in.
the "years to wait" was for your USB2 to finish transferring 16GB of data
Yah, eSATA.
no you wouldn't because if you were in the field (or on a plane or in an airport or in a crowded cafe)
because there wouldn't be power - so eSata and its associated wall wart wouldn't work
(not to mention that FW800 is as fast as the current HDD write speeds... but you choose what you like
mindshare is one thing apple is losing - and fast.
lucky they still have monopoly on their OS to keep people stuck to their hardware.
not ignoring it at all - as i pointed out those people buying cheaper cameras will probably be buying cheaper notebooks too...
a region apple is not so competitive in.
Those cameras are not cheaper. The HF10 is about the same price as the HV30.
mindshare is one thing apple is losing - and fast.
lucky they still have monopoly on their OS to keep people stuck to their hardware.
What evidence is their that Apple is loosing mindshare. Outside of you placing a sequence of words together that say so.
What evidence is their that Apple is loosing mindshare. Outside of you placing a sequence of words together that say so.
talk about stringing words together...
check all the mac forums - the mindshare repercussions of this latest release
won't be (able to be) measured for a while
and it's not just firewire, it's pricing, screens, DRM, mobile me, hardware issues, lacklustre product releases etc etc
do you honestly think apple is gaining mindshare in the segment?
either amongst their staunchest fans or elsewhere?
(but yes no question of them gaining within the smartphone segment)
do you honestly think apple is gaining mindshare in the segment?
either amongst their staunchest fans or elsewhere?
If they are talking about Apple it means they are thinking about Apple. Mindhsare is lost when no one is talking or thinking about you anymore.
People complaining on the internet doesn't accurately define what the larger market feels. The better Apple does the more nameless faceless people on the lists and boards complain.
If they are talking about Apple it means they are thinking about Apple. Mindhsare is lost when no one is talking or thinking about you anymore.
People complaining on the internet doesn't accurately define what the larger market feels. The better Apple does the more nameless faceless people on the lists and boards complain.
I hate to be a nit-picker but let's be reasonable here. The point was that Apple was losing mindshare. There's a difference between losing (having less and less) and what you're comparing to (having none).
How is Apple doing 'better' exactly (apart from sales and profits)? I ask because few are complaining about those aspects (sales/profits).
Sales/profits are the barometer of how we judge the wellness of a company. People on the internet don't reflect the larger consumer market. If anything I would say these internet lists are not at all in step with the larger consumer market. This is the only place I see where anyone really cares about firewire.
I hate to be a nit-picker but let's be reasonable here. The point was that Apple was losing mindshare. There's a difference between losing (having less and less) and what you're comparing to (having none).
How is Apple doing 'better' exactly (apart from sales and profits)? I ask because few are complaining about those aspects (sales/profits).
I get the feeling that when you say "professional", what you mean is "media professional". All of your examples are from that world, anyway.
There are plenty of programmers and managers who want solid, quality laptops but also want them small, low weight and long on battery life.
Raw CPU power, GPU power, color correctness are not huge concerns for this group.
I don't count myself as a pro, but I share those priorities. The 12":s were the last Apple hardware that was designed to fit them.
Incidentally, this year I also bought my first Windows desktop in ~8 years. OS X' value is not infinite, and the gaps Apple has built into its hardware lineup are not small.
My problem is not the weight so much as the size. I travel via airplane several times a year and I tend to travel light. I have one piece of luggage-a carry on bag-which I take with me. It has a detachable backpack that I put under the seat in front of me. It's that backpack that usually contains my laptop. The 12" Powerbook/iBook fit into it quite nicely and the 13" MacBook just barely fits into it. Which means the 15" MacBook Pro is out of the question for me. I just can't take it with me and I don't see any reason why I should have to buy 2 different sized laptops to cover all situations.
I've been meaning to get back to this thread for a few weeks but I've been busy. I had an experience earlier this month where I had to migrate the contents of a 12" iBook to one of the new MacBooks. I was looking at transferring about 28-29 GB worth of data from one computer to another via a 802.11g network connection. It was awful! I was at it over 3 hours and I still didn't get everything. I'm currently shopping around for a USB drive to carry around with me in those situations but when I think about how much faster the transfer would have been via FireWire I become annoyed with what Apple did buy leaving FireWire off the new computer. I bet the new MacBook owners would have been willing to pay the extra $$ to Apple for the FireWire port if it meant they would have had to have paid me less money to do the transfer. (I had to boot the old computer into Target Disk Mode, plug it into mine since the Airport on the old computer was broken.)(Oh, and the ethernet was broken as well.)
I've been meaning to get back to this thread for a few weeks but I've been busy. I had an experience earlier this month where I had to migrate the contents of a 12" iBook to one of the new MacBooks. I was looking at transferring about 28-29 GB worth of data from one computer to another via a 802.11g network connection. It was awful! I was at it over 3 hours and I still didn't get everything. I'm currently shopping around for a USB drive to carry around with me in those situations but when I think about how much faster the transfer would have been via FireWire I become annoyed with what Apple did buy leaving FireWire off the new computer. I bet the new MacBook owners would have been willing to pay the extra $$ to Apple for the FireWire port if it meant they would have had to have paid me less money to do the transfer. (I had to boot the old computer into Target Disk Mode, plug it into mine since the Airport on the old computer was broken.)(Oh, and the ethernet was broken as well.)
You also have the option of data transfer through Ethernet connection. Which is faster than Firewire, significantly faster than Wifi.
You also have the option of data transfer through Ethernet connection. Which is faster than Firewire, significantly faster than Wifi.
If you notice I mentioned the Ethernet port on the unit was dead.
It's not that just all of those FW-based peripherals for which the MacBook (and iBook before it) were designed to be used with (in concert with iLife, per Apple) are now relegated to the scrapyard, it's that there's no new technology that's out there that can do the same job as FW has been doing. If you're going to replace a technology, replace it with something better. People can understand that kind of path toward obsolescence but not the kind of path Apple has taken this week.
I think Apple was between a rock and a hard place so Steve Jobs had to make an executive decision, which is very similar to what happened when Apple first started using Intel processors. I am sure Apple would have preferred every Mac using Intel processors to start off 64-bit, but they had to start somewhere. I can still recall the complaints about the iMac going from 64-bit PPC to 32-bit x86.
The good news is, at least according to Wikipedia, the USB 3.0 specifications are complete as of November 17, 2008, and hardware manufacturers can start working on peripherals. The MacBook was updated with a Penryn processor just four months after it was updated with Santa Rosa so I expect Apple to get USB 3.0 into the MacBook and MacBook Pro ASAP.
If you notice I mentioned the Ethernet port on the unit was dead.
And if the FW port was broken you'd have the same issue. So what?