
Without major changes, Thunderbolt for PCs is dead in the water - evo_9
http://www.extremetech.com/computing/129494-without-major-changes-thunderbolt-for-pcs-is-dead-in-the-water
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freehunter
_According to Asus, the dock comes with a “full QWERTY keyboard” (as opposed
to those pesky keyboards that leave off the “s” and “a” keys), offers
“comprehensive connectivity” (hilariously defined as one USB port and a built-
in SD card reader) and “prolonged battery life” with a 22Wh battery._

Seriously? Are comments like this necessary? It just shows a lack of
understanding (or they're being willfully disingenuous). I don't think anyone
is astonished that a niche add-on like a dock isn't selling like gangbusters.
And why doesn't Ford sell me a car for $5000? That's all the individual parts
are worth if I sold it for scrap! What do you mean engineering costs? What do
you mean production costs? What do you mean software development costs?

ExtremeTech has some good nuggets of articles, wrapped in a whole bunch of
distasteful, disparaging, and often off-the-mark commentary. It leaves a bad
taste in my mouth. This would be a good editorial, almost on par with Ars
Technica, if they just threw away the third and fourth paragraphs.

Do the editors force these comments into the articles against the will of the
authors, or is it a problem right from the ground up?

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jsz0
Not every standard is targeted to the mass market. TB is a high end niche.
Nothing wrong with that. If you need the unique features or capabilities it
offers price probably wot be a huge concern. The Mac alone will support this
niche. higher end PCs will probably also need to support TB as there really
isn't any other high end alternative.

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bunderbunder
Unfortunately, Apple is trying to force it as a mass market technology. A
MacBook Air comes with a Thunderbolt port, but no USB3.

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hej
What? No.

Intel doesn't support USB3 yet. USB3 devices aren't even yet widespread. Since
space is at a premium in the Airs, Apple obviously doesn't add an extra USB3
chip in them just to support what still is a niche feature.

Ivy Bridge does bring USB3 support. If the next generation of MacBooks (coming
this summer) doesn't support USB3 you get to make your claim that Apple is
trying to force Thunderbolt as a mass market technology. But no second
earlier.

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bunderbunder
Thunderbolt also requires additional hardware. When Ivy Bridge brings built-in
USB3, Thunderbolt will still require additional hardware. And Thunderbolt
devices aren't nearly as widespread as USB3 ones. (I can go to Target and buy
a USB3 memory stick right now; it's not certain that Thunderbolt memory sticks
will ever exist.) They tend to cost over twice as much, too.

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hej
Take a look at the Cinema Display. Thunderbolt is Apple’s docking station
replacement. That’s its purpose and it’s awesome. They are pushing Thunderbolt
because it’s a perfect solution for a problem Apple has had for a long time.
You have to be blind to Apple’s ecosystem to not see that.

They are not pushing it to replace USB3. That doesn’t even make sense. When
Ivy Bridge MacBooks ship without USB3 you can claim that. No second earlier.

Yes, Apple is, like Intel, not enthusiastic about USB3. They don’t think it’s
so important to move super fast. It’s just not top-priority. They will add it
when it doesn’t cost them much and doesn’t add constraints to their design.
But they are not stupid enough to believe that Thunderbolt could replace USB.
Both technologies complement each other.

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MrEnigma
I read recently that TB on windows couldn't hot swap yet. Meaning you have to
turn off the computer to get something to detect, that's pretty bad. But
apparently will be fixed in future software updates.

TB is pretty great, the biggest downside I've seen are the cost and
availability of cables ($50 from apple is the cheapest), and that devices are
higher priced. However up until recently you couldn't even get the TB
interface chips from Intel. Now that more are released and entering mainstream
production, we should see a lot more devices, and maybe cheaper ones as well.

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bestes
New tech starts out expensive then drops in price after adoption/volume and
competition. That seems so obvious, I'm not sure why the article is
essentially saying that it's expensive now, so will never go anywhere.

