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[OM] Re: OT - firewire

Subject: [OM] Re: OT - firewire
From: Moose <olymoose@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 25 Dec 2007 17:20:28 -0800
Jan Steinman wrote:
>> From: Moose <olymoose@xxxxxxxxx>
>>
>> Jan Steinman wrote:
>>     
>>> Easy. If it's a Mac, it's got Firewire. If it's a PC, it probably
>>> doesn't have Firewire unless you added it.
>> Sometimes, Jan, your prejudices make you sound a bit silly...
>>     
>
> Well, I'd call them "observations," rather than "prejudices," but if  
> that's how you choose to judge me, so be it.
>   
That's what mine are, too, observations. As I said in my post, I've 
bought four PC type computers, two desktop, two portable, in the last 
few years, and all have come with firewire ports. I didn't look for 
firewire ports in choosing the computers.

If you think that you don't come across in your posts as someone who 
automatically assumes and condescendingly proclaims that Macs are 
superior and PCs inferior in all aspects from aesthetics to features to 
performance to moral character, enjoy the bliss.

Not that it isn't more than OK to be that way. It may, however, lead to 
your being perceived by some as a stereotypical "Mac bigot".

I like to think that I am not a PC bigot for the simple reason that I 
would buy a Mac in a heartbeat if it seemed to me to be the most 
effective tool for me for something I wanted to do.

It's sort of like I am with cameras. I would love to buy a digi Oly, for 
old times sake and so I would feel freer about posting images on the 
list. But to date, my careful analysis of camera characteristics against 
my needs and desires have always led me to other brands.
> My experiences with Windows machines is obviously different than your own. 
Indeed. I was, however, specific in detailing what experiences I had had 
that led me to believe that firewire connections were not uncommon on PC 
machines.
> I had six students with Windows laptops in my recent Photoshop  
> class, and NONE of them had Firewire ports -- I know because I had a  
> Firewire CF card reader with the class work photos on it, and no one  
> could download them! 
And now your comments have entered the realm of observation. It's now 6 
to 4 in your favor. Unless the students all got their computers together 
on some student plan.
> Luckily, I also had a USB flash drive, which everyone could deal with, so I 
> just copied stuff between the two.
>   
Yeah, the U is starting to stand for Ubiquitous. I use a flash drive for 
just that universal connection aspect. And my portable card readers are 
USB too. Maybe not as fast, but universal.
> But if Firewire is no better than USB, why do your PCs even bother?
>   
Again, that's clearly just my experience. I was excited about the 
promised speed superiority and daisy chain capabilities of firewire. 
Then it turned out that at least the couple of external drives I got 
that had both ran at essentially the same speed with either firewire 400 
or Hi Speed USB. One drive box has firewire 800, but before I got an 
adapter for the computer, I discovered that eSATA was a much better 
choice for external drives.
> Seems like an unnecessary expense in a market where everything is supposed to 
> be so cheap. 
Yup there it is again, PCs aren't inexpensive nor simply have high 
performance to cost ratios, they are cheap.
> Is it because most videocams use Firewire?
>   
Good point. I suppose that's the only thing I will be using mine for. I 
don't use the videocam much, but I plan to do some A/D conversion of 
other video sources using its pass-through conversion feature, so I'll 
get to use the firewire port on at least one computer again soonish.

The next thing I need is software to pull up and clean up the sound on 
some videos.

Moose

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