Thoughts on Light Peak/Light Speed

I was reading that intel was bringing out a new high speed computer connection 'Light Peak', which Apple is going to be one of the first manufacturers to implement in their machines. Does anyone have any insight into this?

If it is truly is coming surely it will do away with all other types of connections firewire, ethernet etc. as none of them are anywhere near as fast. ...and if this is the case how long do people think would it take before this filtered to become incorporated in other hardware.

The reason I'm asking is that I'm presently looking to buy a whole load of new kit, i-mac, powerbook, new router and NAS. I know there is always a new development around the corner, but this sounds like one worth hanging on for.

Anyone got any thoughts?

Oops reading guidelines about posting in this catagory, not sure if I've posted in right place. But here is a link to the story.

Light Peak Coming in Early 2011 With Apple at Forefront? - Mac Rumors

This belongs in "Anything Goes" as far as I'm concerned. A Mod/Admin may relocate it.

I don't know, I think it's mac related. Apple are rumoured to have come up with the Light Peak concept in the first place. So any thoughts?

Chris H. said:

This belongs in "Anything Goes" as far as I'm concerned. A Mod/Admin may relocate it.

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The story is about Apple, this is the appropriate spot.

Already posted:

Here
Intel could release Light Peak technology in first half of 2011, Apple to follow

Here
Intel shows off first Light Peak laptop

And here
Intel says its Light Peak optical cables may succeed USB

And yes the original post here is not news, more like just opinions. But his second link with the news turns it into something more newsworthy. Old news already posted on these very forums but still.

I'm going to put my thoughts on the topic this way:

Intel are the people behind USB3.

You might want to google "USB3 arriving soon" and see how many YEARS such stories go back. You may be quite shocked.

Maybe this won't be a repeat of history, but if you're about to buy a whole load of kit anytime in the next year or two, I don't think you have much to worry about on this front. It's certainly not a good reason to delay a needed purchase.

If apple we're to bring it to their machines in the first quarter of 2011. How long would it be before
the rest of the industry followed.

Everything I use is wireless (BT or WiFi). I don't see Light Peak having much of an impact on me at this time. If it were able to handle TCP/IP, AND WiFi speeds increased, AND my ISP connection was just as fast as Light Peak for a similar price as I pay today, it might be use to me. I certainly won't pay any extra for and laptop or desktop with Light Peak at this time. Maybe if they figure a way to use it as the internal bus/backplane on a system it would interest me.

I think people underestimate the potential for LightPeak. It's essentially "one port to rule them all". Rather than having to have separate display, I/O, network and expansion ports, you can channel all of that information through a single port. Need a Firewire port? No problem, just pick up a Firewire adapter. How about an ExpressCard? Again, plenty of bandwidth, just need an adapter. How about instantly turning your laptop into a desktop? Slide it into a Light Peak dock and all of your needed ports are replicated, all of your peripherals instantly connected.

Bluetooth and wireless USB will also be present, but LightPeak, if implemented right, might just be the answer to expansion for just about everything that would ordinarily need to be wired. With the kind of bandwidth optical buses are supposed to provide, heck, you could even have an external video card should you want to play a game that requires high-end graphics on what would ordinarily be a low-end machine.

As I've said before, ultimately I believe that the PC will become a slate-style device that can morph into several different formfactors on-demand, based on the "docks" you use. This is just the first step toward that kind of a device.

meanpeach said:

If apple we're to bring it to their machines in the first quarter of 2011. How long would it be before
the rest of the industry followed.

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Considering that USB 3 is still struggle to gain the mass adoption I wouldn't beat Light Peak to be mainstream for awhile. It's really hard to predict these things because if consumers really like the technology then they will adopt it rapidly but if they don't see a lot of benefit then they won't be so quick to upgrade.

I agree with chas about not delaying your purchase because even if Light Peak were released I believe it will take awhile for it to gain majority usage. If you need a device or a new computer now then it's best to just get it because until something is actually released it's always going to be "just around the corner" making you frustrated with all the waiting.

I am looking forward to Light Peak though but I'm not going to plan my future purchases around it until it's actually released. It may or may not be the great technology we are hoping it's going to be. I would rather not put all my hopes on something that hasn't been proven in real world testing by consumers yet.

I have to agree with cwa107.
I think lightpeak will kill the desktop as we know it. It'll allow your notebooks to just have one easy play into the wall. And as cwa107 said, no extra ports, just adaptors for the one port. So less energy consumption there. And pretty much you have a computer that is both a desktop and a notebook at the same time.

Sure for the time being people's wish for Mac Pros and the 27 inch imac still exist. And they are not easily portable. But in the future screens will be so cheap so you can just keep a massive screen as home permanently and just cart your notebook around. And use lightpeak to hook the massive screen to the notebook at home and out you have the notebook as standard.

Sure for this to work notebooks will have to get a little more powerful and a lot cheaper. Ie. prices inline with desktop computers. Ie. Macbook Pros at imac prices. It won't happen today. Or next year. But my prediction is it will happen one day.

I don't personally think the idea will take off anytime soon.

First, going solely on speed, most consumers won't be able to tell a difference and usb2 works plenty fast enough. I'd agree with this statement, as well. Most consumers don't need the speeds they have, let alone more.

Then you bring in the "only one port" business and that you'll just need adapters. I don't like the idea of having to buy extra doo-dads for my computer to work how I need it, such as endless amounts of adapters, splitters, and/or dongles. I also think that consumers would feel the same frustration.

I like the idea, but I don't know if it has mainstream appeal, or if the execution could live up to the hype.

People want wireless. Wired is old news.

Chris1111 said:

People want wireless. Wired is old news.

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I can't find a link now. But people are even working on making the computer's power cord wireless. So yeah wireless will be the way of the future. But light peak if the intermediate step to wireless. As you can not get the fast speeds from light peak in wireless today.

the8thark said:

As you can not get the fast speeds from light peak in wireless today.

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That's one of the reasons why I'm still not a huge fan of wireless. From what I have experienced wired connections have been more reliable and faster consistently than wireless. If Light Peak promises even faster transfer speeds then I look forward to it.

SweetCosmicPope said:

Then you bring in the "only one port" business and that you'll just need adapters. I don't like the idea of having to buy extra doo-dads for my computer to work how I need it, such as endless amounts of adapters, splitters, and/or dongles. I also think that consumers would feel the same frustration.

Click to expand...

This would only be short-term and it's no different than when we switched from serial/parallel ports to USB. USB will co-exist with lightpeak, but if lightpeak takes off, it will slowly supplant it meaning only lightpeak ports would be necessary. No adapters, no dongles.

Chris1111 said:

People want wireless. Wired is old news.

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Except that is a super long way off from reality and there are some things like external displays which may never really be wireless.

schweb said:

Except that is a super long way off from reality

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I dunno. I'm not up on the tech, but the majority of the connections to my imac are wireless, fast, and reliable. I'm typing this on a wireless keyboard, scrolling with a wireless mouse, surfing with a wireless router, working in photoshop with a wireless wacom tablet, printing to a wireless printer, and using my ipod touch as a wireless remote.

And I would be very surprised to hear that there ISN'T somebody in a lab right now working on bluetooth 2.0 and wifi 2.0 (or whatever).

Wireless has already established a beach head in our daily lives. Maybe the fact that usb 3.0 and other wired technologies have been so delayed is due to companies' reluctance to support a new wired standard when they know that wireless is already here sitting on my desk.

there are some things like external displays which may never really be wireless.

Click to expand...

Even that, I could get my computer's display and completely control it on my ipod touch 2 years ago with an app. And I'm looking into getting an ipad to use as an external wireless display for my dslr with an app and a eyefi card.

So you think wireless displays and power are anytime soon?

Wireless is the future for everything or seems that way. As for power wasn't that Tesla's
dream.