Get Ready For SuperSpeed USB 3.0 ... and a New Version of FireWire Too

[admin]

If you think that USB 2.0 is fast compared to earlier USB 1.1 standards, you're right. At 480 megabits per second, the current 2.0 version of USB operates at speeds up to 14 times faster than the older version. But by next year that will be, well... last year's news. Or something like that. This week Intel released the controller specifications for "SuperSpeed" USB 3.0 that will run up to 10 times faster still ** up to 4.8 gigabits per second. And for fans of FireWire, last month the IEEE approved specs for the upcoming IEEE 1394-2008 that will run at up to 3.2 gigabits per second....

More... (http://www.earthboundlight.com/phototips/superspeed-usb-3-firewire-ieee-1394-2008.html)

[jerryph]

I wonder if it will still be the same, meaning that even though the specs for Firewire are slower on paper, it still beats the pants off the USB.

People in general do not know that the specs for USB are burst rates and that specs for Firewire are continual. In the real world, USB can maintain it's maximum speed for about 1-2 seconds and then drops off fast, whereas Firewire... where it starts, is where it stays at until the end. This is why Firewire card readers cab empty larger cards anywhere from 30 to 50% faster than a "technically" faster USB 2.0 port.

In anycase, more speed is always a good thing. As the MPs go up or more and better/faster cards are made, it will not be as big a hassle to copy from the cards to the computer as it is now already. :)