deepfreezevideo
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That's actually a fairly brilliant idea if you can find the space on your camera to mount the bayonet well and secure it. The funny thing is, the 6-pin jack uses a set of tension tabs that act like a half-baked version of that concept. The rather well made 6 pin jacks on a Firestore will hold the plug with enough positive detent that the plug will not separate unless you apply enough force to jostle the unit completely out of a hot shoe.
But I'm burying the lead here. I got permission to reprint James Snider's email.
Snider is the Executive Director of the 1394 Trade Association, which writes the standards for Firewire. He is very passionate about Firewire as you might guess. His distaste for the 4-pin connector possibly surpasses mine, despite his lack of scary and disgusting metaphors...something which, in retrospect I am not too proud of.
Here's the letter:
> Jeffery,
>
> Thank you for your email. I will forward this to the Chairman of the Cable and Connector Working Group. I share your sentiments concerning the 4-pin connector. It has been a passion of mine and a
number of people in the 1394TA to see the 4-pin eradicated.
Unfortunately, the 4 pin was a gift to the world from Sony. The very first end product to be introduced with 1394 was a high end digital camcorder from Sony. They chose to NOT use the 6-pin connector for
two reasons:
1) It was too large for the small camcorders they intended to introduce in the future
2) They wanted to remove power from the cable because they were concerned that a customer might try to power a device over the cable off the camcorder battery and run the battery down unexpectedly.
The missing "two pins" on the 4 pin vs the 6 pin are "power and ground".
Sony did a great job of getting the digital camcorder world to adopt 1394, but unfortunately, everyone followed Sony by adding the 4 pin connector.
The 4 pin was totally designed by Sony without input from cable/ connector OEMs who could have designed out some of the worst aspects of the 4 pin.
Sony further spread the 4 pin by using it in their notebook computers (for the same battery power and space reasons). Now 95% of all notesbooks with 1394 have the 4 pin. I've had some lengthy meetings with a number of notebook makers, trying to discourage them from using the 4 pin, but in the end, they are adding 1394 because Sony has it so they are copying Sony's 4 pin. They even admit that the 6 pin is better, but they have some fear of using the 6 pin because it might confuse the customer who is expecting to see a 4 pin on the notebook.
I became so frustrated trying to use the 4 pin on my notebook in dimly lit hotel rooms with small desks that I banned them from use by any TA employee. The 1394TA will not buy a notebook with a 4 pin
(which is one of several reasons why we moved to Apple computers...they NEVER use the 4 pin).
I could go on for another page or two, but in the end, we write standards but can not mandate what people use. The TA is trying but the market clout of the Sonys, Microsofts, and Dells of the world is far more influential.
Get a few of your comrades together and send a series of strongly worded emails to Sony, Panasonic, Canon, and all the other high end camcorder OEMs to tell them you want a better 1394 connector. You might tone down the potentially offensive metaphors. The Japanese are a bit more proper than we Texans are.
Thanks for writing to me,
James Snider
Executive Director
1394 Trade Association
Southlake, Texas
I wrote back to James, apologizing profusely for the tone of my letter, which somewhat matched the first post I made here in this forum, and thanked him.
Here's his response:
Jeffery,
I spent three years as a carpenter's helper and a year and a half as
a telemarketer. I've heard everything and been called everything
imaginable. Your email was at least interesting in its creative
imagery.
You can forward my email. I read it over again and said nothing in
it that I have not already said numerous times in public forums. I
could literally write a 20 page email on the benefits of the 6 pin
over the 4 pin. I was going to email you one of the presentations I
have done on the topic, but it was full of images and too big to get
through my email system even in PDF.
For better or worse, I am passionate about FireWire and almost as
passionate about killing the 4-pin. Your email just happened to come
to the right guy. That is one of the rules of telemarketing: "This
is a numbers game. The more phone calls you make, the better your
chances are of making a sale. Make that next phone call."
In your case, send that next email and this time, send it to someone
who can make the change happen. Send the email to anyone and
everyone you can find at all the camcorder makers and all the
notebook and desktop computer makers. Tell them that you want the 6
pin connector and NOT the 4 pin. The sort of professional cameras
you use have enough room for the 6 pin. My Dell x200 notebook is
about as thin as they come and it has a 6 pin port on it. You should
stress to everyone that you want 1394 on your products. There is a
trend away from 1394 towards USB 2.0. I have some experience in this
area. If you want to see your world get even worse, try downloading
video over your USB port.
The low-end camcorders you mention do not even factor into this
discussion. People who buy $200 camcorders are not quality
conscious. They will burn a standard definition video onto a DVD in
their camcorder and be totally delighted. When they watch it on
their 20 inch SD set, the image is "good enough". 1394 has always
been about giving the highest quality and best user experience at a
reasonable price. We have stiff competition from "good enough".
Here is an easy test to run if you are interest. Get an external HDD
with both FireWire and USB 2.0. Copy a 1 Gig folder from your
computer to the HDD over USB 2.0 and then do it again over FireWire
and see which one is faster. FireWire is consistently faster because
it was built with quality and user experience in mind. USB was good
enough. Their 480 Megabits has a lot of overhead included. FireWire
gives you 400 usable megabits. USB 2.0 gives you 300 usable megabits
and all the rest is overhead. But, then I digress...I told you I am
passionate about FireWire.
Why not just disable the power pins on the 6 pin port? That is what
Maxtor did on their first external HDDs with FireWire. In Maxtor's
case, their HDDs required too much power to be powered over the cable
(HDDs require less power now). Therefore, they did not want to add
the few cents of extra expense adding power to the 6 pin port on
their HDDs. In Sony's case, I think it was about space. They wanted
a smaller connector that looked like it belonged on a camcorder.
Sony would probably also tell you that it is about consumer
confusion. Having a 6 pin that does not provide power will make
their customers think the product is broken. As you point out, they
selected a connector which wears out quickly and works poorly even
when new, so they essentially give you a "broken" connector anyway.
When it comes to user confusion, if they really cared, they would
drop the i.LINK name and use FireWire which is much more well known
in the USA. We have done market research and shown this to be true.
I could give you another lengthy rant about the i.LINK name, but I
will spare you.
I will show you two slides from my slide deck on the 4-pin vs the 6-
pin. This will make you really scratch your head and think twice
before buying another Sony product. In 2002 or maybe 2003, Sony
wanted to use the 1394 cable to connect an external DVD to their
notebook computers. They also wanted to power the external DVD from
the notebook instead of requiring an external power supply. That is
a great idea. Dell had the same thought. The first JPEG I have
attached "4Pin Dell" is the Dell answer. Put a 6 pin port on a very
thin notebook and put a 6 pin cable coming out of the external DVD.
Nice and easy, works well, permits the user to watch a movie on the
notebook on a long flight with the notebook attached to the power
port on the jet.
The second JPEG "4+2 Pin Sony" shows you the Sony solution. Add a
separate plug for power right next to the 4-pin plug. !?!?!?! I
asked the VP of one of Sony's research labs why they just did not use
the 6-pin. His response was that this notebook was designed in Japan
for sale in Japan. In Japan, the 6 pin is almost non-existent. He
did not think that the Sony designers were even aware that there is a
6-pin 1394 cable/connector.
http://deepfreezevideo.com/images/6PINDell.jpg
http://deepfreezevideo.com/images/42PinSony.jpg
If any of these industry groups you mention have large meetings where
I might be able to come and speak, I might be able to work it into my
schedule given some advance warning. That is, if you think it would
be of any benefit.
Now, go out and fight the good fight.
James Snider
Executive Director
1394 Trade Association
But I'm burying the lead here. I got permission to reprint James Snider's email.
Snider is the Executive Director of the 1394 Trade Association, which writes the standards for Firewire. He is very passionate about Firewire as you might guess. His distaste for the 4-pin connector possibly surpasses mine, despite his lack of scary and disgusting metaphors...something which, in retrospect I am not too proud of.
Here's the letter:
> Jeffery,
>
> Thank you for your email. I will forward this to the Chairman of the Cable and Connector Working Group. I share your sentiments concerning the 4-pin connector. It has been a passion of mine and a
number of people in the 1394TA to see the 4-pin eradicated.
Unfortunately, the 4 pin was a gift to the world from Sony. The very first end product to be introduced with 1394 was a high end digital camcorder from Sony. They chose to NOT use the 6-pin connector for
two reasons:
1) It was too large for the small camcorders they intended to introduce in the future
2) They wanted to remove power from the cable because they were concerned that a customer might try to power a device over the cable off the camcorder battery and run the battery down unexpectedly.
The missing "two pins" on the 4 pin vs the 6 pin are "power and ground".
Sony did a great job of getting the digital camcorder world to adopt 1394, but unfortunately, everyone followed Sony by adding the 4 pin connector.
The 4 pin was totally designed by Sony without input from cable/ connector OEMs who could have designed out some of the worst aspects of the 4 pin.
Sony further spread the 4 pin by using it in their notebook computers (for the same battery power and space reasons). Now 95% of all notesbooks with 1394 have the 4 pin. I've had some lengthy meetings with a number of notebook makers, trying to discourage them from using the 4 pin, but in the end, they are adding 1394 because Sony has it so they are copying Sony's 4 pin. They even admit that the 6 pin is better, but they have some fear of using the 6 pin because it might confuse the customer who is expecting to see a 4 pin on the notebook.
I became so frustrated trying to use the 4 pin on my notebook in dimly lit hotel rooms with small desks that I banned them from use by any TA employee. The 1394TA will not buy a notebook with a 4 pin
(which is one of several reasons why we moved to Apple computers...they NEVER use the 4 pin).
I could go on for another page or two, but in the end, we write standards but can not mandate what people use. The TA is trying but the market clout of the Sonys, Microsofts, and Dells of the world is far more influential.
Get a few of your comrades together and send a series of strongly worded emails to Sony, Panasonic, Canon, and all the other high end camcorder OEMs to tell them you want a better 1394 connector. You might tone down the potentially offensive metaphors. The Japanese are a bit more proper than we Texans are.
Thanks for writing to me,
James Snider
Executive Director
1394 Trade Association
Southlake, Texas
I wrote back to James, apologizing profusely for the tone of my letter, which somewhat matched the first post I made here in this forum, and thanked him.
Here's his response:
Jeffery,
I spent three years as a carpenter's helper and a year and a half as
a telemarketer. I've heard everything and been called everything
imaginable. Your email was at least interesting in its creative
imagery.
You can forward my email. I read it over again and said nothing in
it that I have not already said numerous times in public forums. I
could literally write a 20 page email on the benefits of the 6 pin
over the 4 pin. I was going to email you one of the presentations I
have done on the topic, but it was full of images and too big to get
through my email system even in PDF.
For better or worse, I am passionate about FireWire and almost as
passionate about killing the 4-pin. Your email just happened to come
to the right guy. That is one of the rules of telemarketing: "This
is a numbers game. The more phone calls you make, the better your
chances are of making a sale. Make that next phone call."
In your case, send that next email and this time, send it to someone
who can make the change happen. Send the email to anyone and
everyone you can find at all the camcorder makers and all the
notebook and desktop computer makers. Tell them that you want the 6
pin connector and NOT the 4 pin. The sort of professional cameras
you use have enough room for the 6 pin. My Dell x200 notebook is
about as thin as they come and it has a 6 pin port on it. You should
stress to everyone that you want 1394 on your products. There is a
trend away from 1394 towards USB 2.0. I have some experience in this
area. If you want to see your world get even worse, try downloading
video over your USB port.
The low-end camcorders you mention do not even factor into this
discussion. People who buy $200 camcorders are not quality
conscious. They will burn a standard definition video onto a DVD in
their camcorder and be totally delighted. When they watch it on
their 20 inch SD set, the image is "good enough". 1394 has always
been about giving the highest quality and best user experience at a
reasonable price. We have stiff competition from "good enough".
Here is an easy test to run if you are interest. Get an external HDD
with both FireWire and USB 2.0. Copy a 1 Gig folder from your
computer to the HDD over USB 2.0 and then do it again over FireWire
and see which one is faster. FireWire is consistently faster because
it was built with quality and user experience in mind. USB was good
enough. Their 480 Megabits has a lot of overhead included. FireWire
gives you 400 usable megabits. USB 2.0 gives you 300 usable megabits
and all the rest is overhead. But, then I digress...I told you I am
passionate about FireWire.
Why not just disable the power pins on the 6 pin port? That is what
Maxtor did on their first external HDDs with FireWire. In Maxtor's
case, their HDDs required too much power to be powered over the cable
(HDDs require less power now). Therefore, they did not want to add
the few cents of extra expense adding power to the 6 pin port on
their HDDs. In Sony's case, I think it was about space. They wanted
a smaller connector that looked like it belonged on a camcorder.
Sony would probably also tell you that it is about consumer
confusion. Having a 6 pin that does not provide power will make
their customers think the product is broken. As you point out, they
selected a connector which wears out quickly and works poorly even
when new, so they essentially give you a "broken" connector anyway.
When it comes to user confusion, if they really cared, they would
drop the i.LINK name and use FireWire which is much more well known
in the USA. We have done market research and shown this to be true.
I could give you another lengthy rant about the i.LINK name, but I
will spare you.
I will show you two slides from my slide deck on the 4-pin vs the 6-
pin. This will make you really scratch your head and think twice
before buying another Sony product. In 2002 or maybe 2003, Sony
wanted to use the 1394 cable to connect an external DVD to their
notebook computers. They also wanted to power the external DVD from
the notebook instead of requiring an external power supply. That is
a great idea. Dell had the same thought. The first JPEG I have
attached "4Pin Dell" is the Dell answer. Put a 6 pin port on a very
thin notebook and put a 6 pin cable coming out of the external DVD.
Nice and easy, works well, permits the user to watch a movie on the
notebook on a long flight with the notebook attached to the power
port on the jet.
The second JPEG "4+2 Pin Sony" shows you the Sony solution. Add a
separate plug for power right next to the 4-pin plug. !?!?!?! I
asked the VP of one of Sony's research labs why they just did not use
the 6-pin. His response was that this notebook was designed in Japan
for sale in Japan. In Japan, the 6 pin is almost non-existent. He
did not think that the Sony designers were even aware that there is a
6-pin 1394 cable/connector.
http://deepfreezevideo.com/images/6PINDell.jpg
http://deepfreezevideo.com/images/42PinSony.jpg
If any of these industry groups you mention have large meetings where
I might be able to come and speak, I might be able to work it into my
schedule given some advance warning. That is, if you think it would
be of any benefit.
Now, go out and fight the good fight.
James Snider
Executive Director
1394 Trade Association