The original iPod was 5 Gigs, which you filled over a 400Mbps Firewire connection. USB was limited to only 12Mbps at that time, so it only managed 3% of Firewire's transfer speed.
Filling the iPod's drive took a couple of minutes over Firewire, but a similarly sized device would take more than an hour using USB.
It was a significant technical advantage until the 480Mbps version of USB came along.
Filling the iPod's drive took a couple of minutes over Firewire, but a similarly sized device would take more than an hour using USB.
It was a significant technical advantage until the 480Mbps version of USB came along.