USB obsolete?

Will USB be fully replaced by, say, Firewire some time in the near future?

USB will be a legacy port just like COM1 and LPT1

Yeah, because Firewire sure is popular and all.

Near future, no. after 10-20 years time, probably. after 20+ years, likely

USB 2.0 is faster then standard firewire.  New firewire standards are faster yes, but who has them?  What devices?

Firewire is a dying breed,

now GTFO

>>1
Maybe eventually, but not by Firewire.  Firewire is best suited for maintaining a good sustained data rate between high-bandwidth devices that don't necessarily have to be connected a PC.  USB is best suited for simple devices that require connection to a USB host such as a PC in order to function anyway.

I can no easier imagine a Firewire mouse as I can imagine an Avid system running on USB 2.0-based equipment.  Neither is obsolete yet, and neither is a suitable substitute for the other for all applications.

>>4
No, USB 2.0 only has a higher burst rate than Firewire-400.  Firewire is superior in all real-world applications where their usage is comparable (such as for external hard disks and optical drives) because of its higher sustained data rate.

>>5
The digital video industry uses Firewire as its primary data transfer bus.  Firewire is like SCSI - people who don't use it are blissfully ignorant of how important it is to those many people that do.

Firewire aka IEEE 1394 will be replaced by eSATA for data storage (and HDMI for a/v links?--guessing). USB will survive for a long time. Look how long the AT (incl PS/2,DIN,miniDIN connector) keyboard protocol has been around, and also note that there are PS/2->USB adapters keeping old hardware up to date. I type this using a 20 year old IBM Model M. The only modification i can see for USB would be to key the connector for added current requirements (which has already been done in certain applications IIRC).

eSATA has various limitations compared to Firewire, including a shorter max cable length, a lack of on-bus power, and device number limitations.  Wikipedia describes these in more detail.  But I expect eSATA to become popular anyway, because it is cheap to implement for PCs (like USB) and provides an increase in speed, which is all typical users care about.

HDMI is nothing like a substitute for Firewire in the DV world.  Not even close to the same application (it's similar to comparing VGA to SCSI).  Firewire is the entrenched, de facto industry standard when it comes to DV.  Even Sony uses unpowered Firewire (i.Link) - and they're the guys with Chronic NIH syndrome.

Too many vested interests for USB to die, firewire is useful in particular instances - dont rely on either too heavily

I would really hope they come out with a better USB standard, as Powered-USB is what? Split into three different power ratings and connection/plugs?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powered_USB

Also, they recently had a tech demo showing monitor displays connecting through USB to a computer. Not only that, they strung like 4+ monitors as a daisy chain into a single USB.

>>10
If they're trying to demo USB as a video cable:  LOL.

If they're trying to demo USB as a graphics bus (which sounds likely from the description):  ROFFLE-MAOW.

BTW, USB "daisy-chaining" = cascaded hubs.  QUADRUPLE-ROFFLE-SHARED-BANDWIDTH-MAOW.

USB will die as slowly as RS232 did...

they are working on a replacement right now.  it is made of rainbows inside rubber insulation made by recycling condoms and SUV tires.  it carries 1.21 jiggawatts and has a sustainable transfer rate of 3.2 Teraquads.  but it will be Linux only.

>>11

if its for linux only, how is is a replasement for usb? USB is for universal serial bus... UNIVERSAL

Universal means it will work with all linux distros.