FireWire

FireWire is a high-speed serial interface used by personal computers and digital audio and video equipment. (The name FireWire is an Apple brand name, but it is used gener-ically. Technically it is the IEEE 1394 Serial Bus.)

FireWire was developed in the 1990s by the IEEE P1394 Working Group with substantial funding from Apple and help from engineers from major corporations including IBM, Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), Sony, and Texas Instruments. In 1993 it was hailed as the “most sig-nificant new technology” by Byte magazine.

FireWire was intended to replace Apple’s parallel SCSI (Small Computer System Interface). (Sony’s implementa-tion, called I.Link, omits the two power pins in favor of a separate power connector.) However, because Apple asked for $1.00 per port in patent royalties, Intel instead devel-oped a faster version of the universal serial bus (see usb) and that, rather than FireWire, is the standard port on most Windows machines.

Common uses for FireWire include connecting digital video (such as camcorder) devices, audio devices, and some data storage devices. FireWire is favored over USB 2.0 for many professional applications because of its higher speed and power distribution capabilities. However, it is more expensive than USB 2.0, which provides sufficient speed for many consumer peripherals such as digital cameras and printers.