on the surface it seems that USB is faster than FireWire, but it's difficult the two on the basic of specs alone, since the circuit architecture between FireWire and USB is different. FireWire uses what's known as a peer-to-peer configuration, where each device has some built-in intelligence that can determine the best way for data to transfer. USB uses a master-slave configuration that adds system overhead that results in slower data flow.
that adds system overhead that results in slower data flow.