Parallel data transmission is inherently faster, but only for distances of a few inches. To understand the limitations of a parallel bus approach, consider this example.

PATA (parallel) uses the wide ribbon (parallel) cable for transmission, whereas SATA uses a much thinner cable for serial transmission. There's more than one wire, but the data is transmitted ...

The "serial" part of the serial port's name describes how data is transmitted one bit at a time in a single line or "series." There were also parallel ports on computers that sent multiple bits ...