The lightning-fast Thunderbolt standard might be confined to 2011 MacBook Pros for now without a lot of accessories to boast of, but just you wait: Intel has announced that they are releasing Thunderbolt development kits that will finally enable every Joe and Jane Manufacturer to make some devices that can capitalize upon the standard’s 10Gbps bi-directional data transfer capabilities.
So here’s the question. Obviously we can expect to see a host of new gadgets soon boasting a Thunderbolt port, including the usual gaggle of hard drives and Blu-Ray drives and printers. When they come, though, will any products eschew USB 3.0 for ThunderBolt entirely, though?
If so, or if not, who will win the upcoming battle between the USB 3.0 and ThunderBolt standards? Let’s just hope Thunderbolt’s not another Firewire.
