parallel ports that worked half the time
What? Parallel worked fine for what it was designed for, printer communications.
Yeah, I also reacted the same way to that false claim.
The $1 a port thing, however. I forgot about that. Insane.
That was one of the dumbest things Jobs did.
The decision to charge a licensing fee for FireWire ports is attributed to Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO at the time. This decision was made in the late 1990s as Apple sought to generate more income amidst its financial struggles.
Jobs reportedly authorized the change after learning of IBM's substantial patent revenue. Initially, Apple proposed a $1 per-port licensing fee. However, this decision faced strong opposition from industry partners like Intel, which subsequently redirected its support towards the rival USB 2.0 standard. Ultimately, Apple reduced the fee to 25 cents per system. However, the initial friction caused by the licensing fee played a role in FireWire's eventual decline in market adoption.