IEEE 1394 and Firewire are two names for the same technology. Originally developed by Apple Computer, Firewire is designed to connect digital camcorders and other sophisticated devices to a computer.
View this movie to learn more about Firewire. The movie requires Apple QuickTime.
| Digital camcorders |
| External hard drives |
| Apple iPods and other music players |
| Hot-swappable (don't have to turn computer off before attaching a Firewire device). |
| Multiple devices can be daisy-chained to computer. |
| Universal support on new Macintosh computers; simple upgrade for Windows computers. |
| Original Firewire protocol transfers data at up to 400 megabits per second. |
| New Firewire 800 (IEEE 1394b) transfers data at up to 800 megabits per second. |
