Quote:
Originally Posted by chucker
My apologies.
I really would've thought FireWire is passé by now. I barely see it mentioned any more…
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No apologies necessary. And believe me, I wish folks would give up on some of that stuff. But, some folks can't afford to, or refuse to. So they keep dragging their 8-track collection forward and rummaging through flea markets and second-hand stores looking for functional 8-track players. Hell, if you want a truly "vintage" Mustang, you have to source an 8-track player for the dash!
Another fun fact: About once a month or so we'll get some old codger (or even a graphic design firm) dragging in a Power Mac G4 looking to keep it up and running. If these folks had their way, there would
absolutely be SCSI ports on new Macs.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chucker
Sure, but we must be talking monitors that are, like, 15 years old at this point?
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Yes. Old displays—sometimes—but not necessarily 15 years old. There are still
brand spanking new monitors that have VGA
built right in! This is driven by the "hang on to legacy at all costs" PC industry. Kudos to Apple for not playing this silly game!
Here's how the conversation goes:
Someone comes into the shop holding a VGA cable and says, "I need to make this work with my new laptop."
"Which laptop do you have?" I ask.
"The new Air," they respond.
"So," I say, trying to hide my contempt, "you're looking for a VGA to USB-C adapter?"
"Sure."
"Does your monitor have any other connections?"
"I don't know. I just bought it, but it has this." They look at their 15-year old cable and hold it up to me.
"Did it come with that?" I ask.
"No. This is what was hooked up to my old laptop." They then hold up the other end which has a VGA to Thunderbolt adapter on it. "My old monitor had the blue end, and I got this adapter to make it work."
I try not to laugh. "OK," I say. "You really should check the display for HDMI or DisplayPort. It will give you a much better connection and a vastly improved picture."
"I don't know what those are!"
I can tell the person is getting irritated now, so I get the appropriate adapter. "Take this home, but before you use it check the monitor's inputs for different ports. Take a picture of those ports and come back to see me. If there is a better solution, use that. It might cost a few dollars more, but it will be worth it."
"I'll take the cheap thing."
"Okay," I say, and take their money.
This happens weekly.
Remove VGA, insert FireWire, and repeat monthly.
Oh, and here's the fun part: FireWire to Thunderbolt 3 needs a FireWire 800 to Thunderbolt 2 adapter ($29), and then a Thunderbolt 2 to Thunderbolt 3 adapter ($49). And holy-cow-if-you-have-FW400-I'm-gonna-sock-you!
Quote:
Originally Posted by chucker
I guess the "I still have this and need to interface with it somehow" slightly changes things, sure.
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Yeah, and if Apple doesn't make some hard decisions, these folks are going to have their way and you will be screaming for Apple to just move on when your laptop still weighs 10 pounds as the PC industry releases super thin laptops all around you. Apple
has to do this. Differentiation is a selling point, and Apple is the only computer company that consistently has the stones to strip off legacy junk and leave it behind, even when they know they're going to get ripped for it. But, looking back on the industry, if it weren't for Apple making these decisions every computer you buy would still be a kludge, because the rest of the industry
will not budge unless pushed. Apple is the "pusher" in the industry.