[MacDV] Re: DV camcorder without firewire (was iMovie 3 isout)

[Gerhard Kuhn]

On Thursday, June 5, 2003, at 11:53  AM, Michael Winter wrote:

>
> Tossing my $.02 in here. Both iLink and Firewire are brand names for 
> IEEE 1394. The difference isn't the pins, both can be 4 or 6 pins, the 
> extra two being to power external devices. IIRC, the only real 
> difference is that iLink is the brand name Sony used for the original 
> 1394 spec that ran at 200 Mbps. Firewire is an Apple brand name for 
> 400 Mbps 1394. Furthermore, Apple released the Firewire name to the 
> standards body (don't know if my terminology is correct here) so that 
> anyone implementing 400 Mbps 1394 is allowed to use it free of charge 
> (they don't have to pay, as someone else stated). I remember there was 
> some question on wether or not the 800 Mbps implementation would also 
> carry the "FireWire" tag or not. The answer to that seems to be yes.
>

Here is a quote from a CNET article and it turns out Apple did charge.  
This charge has been dropped however since the introduction of USB2.

By Jim Davis
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
January 16, 1999, 9:05 AM PT

update Apple Computer may have found a way to profit from the 
convergence of PC and consumer electronics technologies: Charge 
royalties for the means of connecting them together.

The scheme doesn't seem to be popular with some companies looking to 
take advantage of high-speed, "plug and play" data transfer, and could 
slow the technology's adoption. But the changes also show how companies 
drive technologies to become industry standards, and how Apple is 
following others  in using intellectual property as a powerful 
bargaining chip.

As prospects brighten for Apple's FireWire, formally known as IEEE 
1394, the Cupertino, California, company has begun asking new licensees 
for around $1 "per port," according to Dick Davies, spokesperson for a 
trade association devoted to promoting FireWire . Only a nominal flat 
fee used to be charged.

The change means that a FireWire-enabled hard drive, for instance, 
could cost $2 more if there are two connectors on the drive. The fees 
may seem small to end-users, but can translate into huge sums of money 
when devices like hard drives ship in large quantities. Many who see 
the technology as a bridge to the world of seamlessly merged computer 
and consumer electronics devices worry the move will further delay what 
has already been a slow rollout.
Gerhard Kuhn
suspice at hay.net