Why is the Parallel port getting replaced by USB ports lately? When information is sent across one wire, one data bit at a time, its called serial. In the case of an 25-pin parallel port, you have eight data-carrying wires so that eight bits can be sent simultaneously. Because there are 8 wires to carry the data, the data finishes being transferred eight times faster than a serial connection. Maybe my understanding could be flawed but the USB port essentially makes use of serial communication...so why is serial communication replacing parallel communication even though parallel is faster?