USB Versus FireWire®
Contributed by Lindsey Michael Miller
Computers and technology can be a fast-paced world that you can easily get lost in. The speed at which programmers come up with updates for Adobe® and Microsoft® products make it hard to keep up with industry standard training, let alone the amount of computer technology that continues to be constantly upgraded; the entire world can be daunting, but it doesn’t have to scare you away. It’s actually pretty simple once you have some basic direction.
First of all, USB and FireWire are external ports that devices use to connect to your computer. A firewall is a hardware or software mechanism that helps protect your computer from hackers. We’re going to focus on USB versus FireWire in this article.
USB, standing for universal system bus, was introduced in 1996 as a system for attaching external devices, such as mice, keyboards, and printers to computers. Most computers from two to four USB ports allow the computer to communicate with external devices.
Originally, the USB 1.0 had many problems, and soon after the USB 1.1 was introduced, which brought a bandwidth of 12 mbits/second. Another version was released in 2003, the 2.0, and brought the bandwidth up to 480 mbits/second. This was a significant increase and allowed better ease with transfer from digital cameras, PDAs, phones, and MP3 players. Also, with the release of USB 2.0, you can charge devices from the computer, such as MP3 players, external hard drives, and flash drives. This was a great upgrade because now large amounts of data could be backed up quickly from laptops that weren’t around an external power source. It also meant that MP3 players could be charged without requiring an outlet.
The USB port has become the universal standard in both Macintosh® and Windows®-based computers, allowing cross platform between the two easier and more efficient.
Flash drives, also known as jump drives and pen drives, can transfer data between either computer, and plug into the USB port. Essentially, they’re like floppy disks, but hold several times more data, and are about the size of an average finger, sometimes smaller. They can hold up to 4GB worth of data, and contain no moving parts, which have made them the ideal candidates for recently released MP3 players. Since they charge straight from the USB port, and they have no moving parts, they are easy to transport and they don’t ever skip.
FireWire is a similar external port except for a few differences. FireWire was invented by Macintosh Computers and was released in their computers in 1999. They are significantly faster at importing data because they use fiber optics technology in order to transfer data. The original port could transfer data at 400 mbits/second, and the latest technology allows for a transfer rate of 800 mbits/second. The FireWire port also charges the devices plugged into it.
FireWire ports come in all Macintosh computers and can be used with iPod®s as well, but not all Windows-based machines come with FireWire ports in them. The newer ones can get FireWire PCI cards to enable them to have the ports. The devices that use FireWire are digital video cameras, MP3 players, digital cameras, and external hard drives.
FireWire is especially useful for external hard drives and digital video cameras because of the high rate of data transfer that both require. For high-end audio-video producers, it’s a must because they have to store large files that they need to access. The slower the transfer rate, the more difficulty you’ll have using the data in a particular program. As a result of making it faster and easier to produce film and audio, Apple® won the Primetime Emmy® Engineering Award from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in 1991.
As far as which device to use with which port, it’s pretty self-explanatory, but here’s a list anyway. Keyboards, printers, mice, PDAs, phones, flash drives, and some speakers are best used through the USB port. Digital video cameras and large external hard drives are best used with FireWire ports. MP3 players and digital cameras can be used with either.
Adobe is a registered trademark of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the U.S. and/or other countries.
Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries.
Apple, Macintosh , FireWire, and iPod are registered trademarks of Apple Computers, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries.
Emmy is a registered trademark of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
About the Author:
Lindsey Michael Miller is a writer and freelance journalist living in Brooklyn, New York and writes articles for newspapers and magazines around the country. He’s currently working on a MFA in creative writing at Long Island University and recently published his first book entitled The Circus.
This article is intended for general informational purposes and does not provide legal or other professional advice. All trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners. Please read our disclaimer for additional terms and conditions governing access to and use of this article.
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