Firewire Going Extinct...

[artdezign]

I have an 828mkII and now the more my computer gets upgraded, the less available firewire is available. My new MacBook doesn't even have one, so I have to borrow another computer to do a gig today. I tried to find firewire cables at stores and they just aren't there anymore. Not even at Radioshack. Yes, I know I can order things on-line, but the Move to USB2.0 seems inevitable. Does anyone know if MOTU is going to start producing more hardware with USB2 instead of Firewire, and can I buy a new interface and have it hook into my existing firewire interface (828mkII)?

[jp009]

Does anyone know if MOTU is going to start producing more hardware with USB2 instead of Firewire

I hope not. I just think Apple (Steve Jobs) is being stupid by defining Firewire as strictly for consumer camcorder use (even though every manufacturer is still producing Firewire camcorders... doh!).

USB is nowhere near as robust as firewire for audio and video. We'll see what USB 3 has to offer, but that's a while off yet. Again, Apple jumped the gun omitting Firewire from the MacBook before there was any sort of viable replacement. Judging by the amount of Firewire products released in the last two years, I would say Firewire will reign supreme in the audio industry for at least another 5-10 years. Whether or not Apple remains a viable option as a computer platform for the music industry is another story altogether... We'll see how Apple responds to the uproar over this MacBook calamity...