I think there's some mixed signals going on here, plus some obvious on-going frustration too. Thing is, acting like a bit of a d'ck about it and resorting to personally attacking each other won't help the situation either, constructive conversations have a better chance of achieving something useful, but this conversation has largely become very circular because, well, there's not really been any changes to the situation in some time now.
When we've talked about chaining devices (with some assuming this being specific to TB daisy chaining whilst various others of us talking about it on a more general level), the tangent that was taken was that you CAN daisy chain devices via the thunderbolt port, something NOT previously possible on machines like MBAs (that *only* supported USB originally), IF you use Firewire. We've also established this can be done cheaply too with Apple's TB-FW adapter.
Resorting to the use of reductio ad absurdum with the USB-YoYo example is hardly an attempt at constructive conversation, either is name calling for that matter. Incidentally if FW's ability to daisy chain is NOT relevant to what people want, then why do people keep bringing up the relevant adapter in the first place? Recent posts seem to indicate that a FW->TB+2ndary TB port Adapter is what's primarily desired (and it'd be great if Apple could produce this), so mentioning FW->TB specifically is only confusing matters. (A FW->TB+2ndary TB port adapter I'm guessing would also meet xgrep's needs where he stated "So here I am with an array of nice FW800 disks that I can't use without unplugging the 22" monitor that's hogging the only TB port.")
We've also established there is NO cheap TB hub on the market and that too frequently TB peripherals currently available, thanks to poor manufacturer decisions (not Apple's decisions) do NOT often support daisy chaining IN SPITE of the fact TB DOES support this. There are docks available which does pretty much all we need, but comes at more of a susbtantial premium than the norm due to the otherwise currently niche nature of this technology (and the relevant economies of scale).
We've also established that the engineering required to build what we want isn't as simple as building FW/USB peripherals and that the barrier to entry from a development perspective is more restrictive (thanks to Intel in part now, and to some degree Apple originally). The example of Moore's Law can be quite appropriately applied to this situation too. We could hope manufacturers just drop prices to sell more stock, offset the R&D costs over time and help bring more mainstream adoption, but I doubt they have that much of an investment in its future right now to really care about helping to make TB more mainstream. Hopefully time will result, as xgrep suggested, in a reduction of the cost of producing the technology utilised by TB and thus increase the chances of more mainstream adoption, but this is also very much at threat, even if prices do drop, due to upcoming updates to USB due in late 2014, taking USB3 to 10gb/sec also (http://uk.hardware.info/news/36117/version-2-of-the-usb-30-standard-available-la te-2014)
In addition we've also discovered that xgrep has taken the positive step of contacting various manufacturers, but to seemingly no avail. That said, maintaining sour grapes is hardly helpful, all due to a decision to buy what was at the time bleeding edge technology used in a machine with a known history of having very limited port support, just because it was launched with some initial support for that new technology, was never a guarantee that it would build sufficient momentum to become well supported either or that it would become that much more affordable over time. Promises of support that never materialise are just that, promises.
It'd be like being ****** off that you bought a Beta Video player then being irritated that few people supported it over VHS, or that you bought an Apple Newton and that its support dwindled quickly, or that you bought the new Ouya Android console and realised it will likely never gain real traction or likely be getting (much?) support for any big gaming titles. I used to own a pretty niche computer platform and peripherals were far more costly than for more mainstream and more established platforms, but I knew that in owning something that was currently niche that it was a reasonable expectation that my options would be limited and that the prices I would need to pay would likely be higher, sometimes substantially so. It came with the territory, even if that did prove to be a pain at times.
Purchasing a MBA, a line of Apple laptops that has always been infamous for its extremely limited port count (one of the primary reason I've never bought one, even though its form factor really appealed to me), means you get a consistent kind of experience Apple has *always* offered with the MBA, an ultra-portable machine with very limited port options. MBP's is where the port flexibility is, MBA is all about the sleek form factor and its light weight, but it's always had what I considered to be shortcomings on the expandability side of things.
I personally purchased my MBP when TB had already had the time to establish a reasonable expectation as to the level of support it might receive, it doesn't mean I need to cease hoping for more, but I can't claim i'm being unfairly done by either, as it was my choice, no one forced me to make that decision, there were alternatives.
The most absurd aspect of this whole conversation though is that we *all* have the _same_ desire, for someone to produce and release a TB hub (@ preferably under the $100 mark too) and having a go at each other does little towards achieving this shared goal (beyond getting the thread count up and slightly increasing the chance of someone who matters noticing this thread). Also what seems to repeatedly occur is where people offer suggestions, the reactions to those suggestions is to deride those people for trying to help in the first place because it wasn't the solution that meets that persons personal criteria. Not exactly constructive either.
If a company (Apple or otherwise) was doing research into building such a product, I imagine that they probably would've stopped reading this thread after the first few pages and already feel they have a sufficient feel for what we desire, especially at the point where this conversation frequently spiraled down into attacking each other, with only the occasional reprieve, where actual constructive suggestions / comments have been made. This continued existance of this thread is important as a few people have pointed out, but the contents of it however has become decreasingly so as it has gone on by comparison.
