And the only reason FW was even used was because at the time it was the better connection method for transferring large amounts of data compared to USB.

When USB 2 was released and common, Apple switched to 30-pin and USB2, while still allowing those with FW adapters to continue using that medium.

You can connect a 1st gen FW-only iPod TODAY with the appropriate adapters and still sync and use it with new Macs.