USB 2.0
1. 1.5 Mbit/s 12Mbit/s 480Mbit/s supported.
2. USB controller is required to control the bus and data transfer.
3. Cable up to 5 m.
4. Up to 127 devices supported.
5. Power supply to external devices is 500 mA/5V (max).
6. Full compatibility with USB 1.1 devices.
FireWire (IEEE1394)
1. 100 Mbit/s 200Mbit/s 400Mbit/s supported.
2. Works without control, devices communicate peer-to-peer.
3. Cable up to 4.5 m.
4. Up to 63 devices supported.
5. Power supply to external devices is 1.25A/12V (max.).
6. The only computer bus used in digital video cameras.
FireWire vs. USB; Apple and Intel Play Hardball
"FireWire was hyped as the high performance cure for everything from dropped frames to lost packets. Intel and Microsoft developers claimed that the IEEE 1394 spec would soon replace serial ports, parallel ports, mouse ports, keyboard connectors, replace IDE and SCSI in drive subsystems, make the PCI bus obsolete, would replace Ethernet networking and TV cabling - even become part of the standard wiring built into new homes."
"Unlike FireWire, a CPU-dependent USB controller is required to control the bus and data transfer, a key fact that draws attention to the third reason why FireWire did not make it: the politics of control between the PC industry and the consumer electronics industry.
For many years, Intel has subsidized and supported emerging technologies that "burden the host" - meaning games, video conferencing, video editing and other bandwidth-eating activities that compel users to upgrade to faster CPUs (Intel calls it "Job-One"). FireWire's computer-independent design, along with a reluctance to embrace a technology that Intel does not directly control, made it "three-strikes-and-you're-out."
FireWire is een ideaal product (wat weinig inkomsten oplevert ) eigelijk kan hij met devices werken zonder tussenkomst van een computer (er was ook HiFi setje Lisa van Sony alles was geregeld via iLink)
De controler is cpu idenpndent dus heeft geen snele CPU nodig wat intel niet wil.dus...