03-07-2013, 04:01 PM
I think USB 3 is probably the defacto interface for most folks when it comes to Time Machine/backup drives, general purpose external storage and peripherals. It's plenty fast for just about anything except video editing (though you may be fine to edit a simple project in iMovie or Final Cut, as long as you're not on the clock doing paying client work). For folks that need the ultimate speed/performance, and have budgets that support it, a Thunderbolt-based RAID device is probably the way to go at this point (unless you're still on a Mac Pro). If Thunderbolt ever becomes more than just a high-end, expensive, niche product, we can expect more consumer-level devices that support it. But, until then (if that moment ever arrives), most of us will probably just need to adapt to USB 3 or Firewire, depending on the computer that you're using and the requirements of your particular situation.