Linking computers and consumer electronics

The capabilities of our personal computers have increased dramatically over the past 15 years, and so has the number of connectors on the back of our systems. Originally, we needed a serial port for a modem and a parallel port for a printer. Now we also need ports for a mouse, audio input, audio output, video input, video output, Ethernet, and a camera. Enter the IEEE 1394 standard known as Firewire. This standard proposes to provide a single port on the back of our computers that can handle nearly all of the communication for which we now need eight to 10 ports. Along with connecting standard peripherals to computers, Firewire is designed for use with consumer audio, video, and television equipment.