# Origin of the term "Dishwire"



## rodb (Dec 5, 2003)

Where did the word "dishwire" come from?


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## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

It's Dish Network's term for their Firewire ports. I'm sure it came from the mind of one their marketing geniuses...


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## JohnMI (Apr 2, 2002)

Mark Lamutt said:


> It's Dish Network's term for their Firewire ports. I'm sure it came from the mind of one their marketing geniuses...


Which, of course, is just Apple's term for their IEEE-1394 ports... heh.

- John...


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## greylar (Oct 31, 2002)

As I understand it the dishwire ports don't do anything right now. What are they supposed to do in the future?

G


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## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

The dishwire ports will allow you to connect a D-VHS recorder to the 921 for archiving of recorded HD material.


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## Kagato (Jul 1, 2002)

jgoggan said:


> Which, of course, is just Apple's term for their IEEE-1394 ports... heh.
> 
> - John...


Apple owns several choice patents on Firewire as they are the primary developer of the technology. They already collect a small royalty on every IEEE-1394 device, I'm sure using the term Firewire adds even more cost.

It's too bad DVI won out for Display technology. Firewire 800 (aka IEEE-1394b), will do 800 Mb/sec with no cable length limitation. I'm not looking forward to buying a 30 foot DVI cable that may or may not work when I replace my projector with a HDCP compatible model.


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## JohnMI (Apr 2, 2002)

Indeed. My point was simply that DishWire/FireWire/IEEE-1394 are no different -- just names for the same thing. So, saying that DishWire is really just Dish's version of FireWire is a little off -- it seems better to say that DishWire and FireWire are both just marketing names for IEEE-1394...

- John...


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## Cyclone (Jul 1, 2002)

I think that to legally call the Dishwire port "Firewire" or "IEEE-1394", Dish would have to meet certain specifications. Those specs would have exceeded what was needed to hook up to a D-VHS tape deck. So to save development time/money, they just call it Dishwire which has no requirements at all. Just enough to get the job done.


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## BobaBird (Mar 31, 2002)

They're calling it DishWire instead of FireWire to keep people from thinking they'll be able to connect any IEEE-1394 device they have lying around.


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## Steve Mehs (Mar 21, 2002)

While on the topic of akas for 1394, don't forget Sony with ILink they used to promote quite a bit.


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## bsobel (Dec 24, 2002)

Kagato said:


> Firewire as they are the primary developer of the


Actually the name change came about (in general) when people did some market research and found that consumers didn't like the idea of 'firewire' in their homes. They literally assumed the cables would be hot (I'm, unfortunately, not making this up)

Bill


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## JohnMI (Apr 2, 2002)

I see Dish is now also calling it IEE-1394 and "FireWire" in some of their marketing stuff -- so looks like it wasn't just a licensing issue with the name (which I thought was a good guess actually). So, most likely just fun marketing. heh.

- John...


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## paulh (Mar 17, 2003)

I once heard that Apple charged a whopping (sarcastic) $1/device to call a IEEE 1394 device "Firewire". I didn't think there was any per device charge for calling it IEEE 1394. Apple may of dropped or siginificantly dropped that charge, though. Otherwise It would be knida silly for Dish to incur the fee, even though they are only using Firewire in some marketing.


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## David_A (Nov 13, 2003)

Don't forget that you have also happen to have a TV with Firewire you can use the Firewire port on the 921, when it is turned on, to connect to your TV. It is supposed to be the best picture available as it is an all digital connection.


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## DVDDAD (Dec 21, 2002)

David_A said:


> Don't forget that you have also happen to have a TV with Firewire you can use the Firewire port on the 921, when it is turned on, to connect to your TV. It is supposed to be the best picture available as it is an all digital connection.


Where did you hear this? It has been reported (on one of the Tech chats) that the Dishwire port, even when finally activated, will not support hook-up to any type of display device. It will only support hook-up to certain supported d-VHS decks. That's one of the reasons that Dish said they are not calling it Firewire. They didn't want people to think that they could just connect any Firewire device.


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## rodb (Dec 5, 2003)

Apple no longer requires a fee for licensing the use of the word firewire. The difference between DishWire and FireWire might be in firmware only. I searched for DishWire trademark information but couldn't find it.

The TI package is compatible with both FireWire and DishWire. Search ti.com for DishWire. Anyone know what chipset is used in the 921 for 1394? Is DishWire a proprietary implementation of FireWire to restrict or enhance FireWire?

Why not just use FireWire 800 to be fast and compatible...


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## David_A (Nov 13, 2003)

When I was talking with my installer back in September I was asking him about DishWire. He said that it wasn't implemented on the 721s but when/if it was it should work just fine on my TV.


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## JohnMI (Apr 2, 2002)

:lol: And that is what you based your evidence on that there will be FireWire display possible?  

Sorry, but that pretty much means absolutely nothing. Asking an installer about future technical capabilites of a unit is like asking your mechanic about how's Chevy's 2008 electric hybrids will work. He'll answer -- but he doesn't really have any idea. And it certainly doesn't indicate what actually will happen. 

- John...


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## David_A (Nov 13, 2003)

Well seeing as how he works for Dish and is trained by Dish I figured he would have a better idea than most of us.

Anyway I don't see the difference in hooking up your 921 to a DVCR and the DVCR to your TV via Firewire. I mean that is what the future is supposed to be. Instead of everything hooking up to your TV you daisy chain everything together and then only one thing get connected to your TV.


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## JohnMI (Apr 2, 2002)

David_A said:


> Well seeing as how he works for Dish and is trained by Dish I figured he would have a better idea than most of us.


You might think that, but you'd be incorrect is all that I am saying. I have yet to see an "average" Dish installer that knew anything significantly accurate from Dish regarding upcoming features and/or compatibility of future receivers with any other hardware.

I'm just saying that some installer tech (who, by the way, very likely does NOT "work for Dish" as you suggest -- he works for some contractor that does installs for Dish -- and, heck, he might not even be "trained by Dish") -- telling you about significant technical features of an upcoming box is just about as unreliable as you can get.

Especially when you compare it to people here. I guarantee that there are a handful (or more) of people sharing information in these forums that knows more than all but a handful of Dish techs...



> Anyway I don't see the difference in hooking up your 921 to a DVCR and the DVCR to your TV via Firewire. I mean that is what the future is supposed to be. Instead of everything hooking up to your TV you daisy chain everything together and then only one thing get connected to your TV.


It may very well happen. I'm just saying that stating it as fact -- and then later revealing that you heard it from some installer at your house -- pretty much means nothing to most of the people here. We've all heard so many things from installers and CSRs that were completely wrong that we put almost no credence with anything they might say in idle chat...

- John...


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## DonLandis (Dec 17, 2003)

You people are confused partly because you don't understand trademark law.

The symbol Firewire® is a registered trademark. The term Dishwire™ is a common law trademark. Both are protected intellectual property however the registered one carries additional protections in that it is a Federal offense to steal a registered trademark while a common law trademark must be protected in civil court. In addition, unlike the most recent copyright law change that says "everything created by people" is automatic common law copyright, the trademark that is a common law trademark™ may be lost if you do not properly exercise your rights to protect it. Once it is lost, it becomes a property in the public domain. Let's say you coin a term and never announce that this is your common law trademark, much less register it. Then you discover someone else is using it a few years later. You cannot now decide to protect it as yours after 3 years of using the term first without stating it was your common law trademark. When YOU use the term you should have stated it with a™ every time and to be extra safe, said that it was a trademark of yours and all rights were reserved. Today you no longer need to do this with copyrights but you still have to with trademarks.
As I understand the IEEE1394 is a specification written by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers. Firewire® is a registered trademark of Apple. Dishwire™ is a common law trademark of E*. The use and capability of the IEEE1394 is broad while specific application software may only access/utilize a portion of the spec and contain it's own limitations. In other words it is wrong to assume because a device has IEEE1394 connection that it will do everything in the IEEE1394 specification. It is equally wrong to assume that just because one device has 1394 and another devivce has 1394 that they will be compatible.


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## David_A (Nov 13, 2003)

jgoggan said:


> I'm just saying that some installer tech (who, by the way, very likely does NOT "work for Dish" as you suggest -- he works for some contractor that does installs for Dish -- and, heck, he might not even be "trained by Dish") -- telling you about significant technical features of an upcoming box is just about as unreliable as you can get.


Well he was driving around in a Dish van, so I assume he was trained by dish, because down here if you are a contractor you have to say you are a contractor and not that you work for the company you work for. 

And he wasn't talking about a future product he was talking about the 721. Which he told me I didn't want to get because they were really buggy. I just put together that the 921 and the 721 should be pretty similar, not to mention the 921 should be a bit advanced.



jgoggan said:


> It may very well happen. I'm just saying that stating it as fact -- and then later revealing that you heard it from some installer at your house -- pretty much means nothing to most of the people here. We've all heard so many things from installers and CSRs that were completely wrong that we put almost no credence with anything they might say in idle chat...
> 
> - John...


I am not stating anything as fact, I am just repeating what I heard. I am sorry if I need to start eveything that I heard off with, Well I heard....

And as far as the daisy chaining goes, that is on the Mitsubishi TV website, http://www.mitsubi****v.com , under NetCommand, I believe.


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## JohnMI (Apr 2, 2002)

David_A said:


> Well he was driving around in a Dish van, so I assume he was trained by dish, because down here if you are a contractor you have to say you are a contractor and not that you work for the company you work for.


Well, I really don't know. From my understanding, most installers work for private firms doing contract work for Dish. I do not know if, in some areas, Dish themselves actually do the install. So, I don't know if it really was a "Dish van" or some contractor's van that happens to have a Dish logo on it.

I'm sure someone here more knowledgeable about installers than I will know for sure -- anyone?



> And he wasn't talking about a future product he was talking about the 721.


I actually saw that you said 721, but figured you had typo'ed. Now that I see that you really did mean the 721, I'm thinking that he is even MORE incorrect! Now, I don't know the 721 at all -- so, again, someone else can hopefully add more. But I was under the impression that the 721 was never intended to support that and never will. Heck, I didn't even know that the 721 HAD a DishWire/1394 port! Does it??



> Which he told me I didn't want to get because they were really buggy. I just put together that the 921 and the 721 should be pretty similar, not to mention the 921 should be a bit advanced.


Um, the 921 being an HD unit makes it quite a bit "not similar" to the 721, in my opinion. I don't see that a DishWire output even makes much sense on the 721.

Again -- can someone just confirm that the 721 even has or does not have a DishWire port since, if it doesn't, we can instantly put an end to this and call his installer a moron. 

Now, again, I don't know the 721 -- so maybe it does indeed have a DishWire port. I just haven't heard much talk of connecting anything to anything except the 921. I have no idea if the 721, if it has a DishWire port, has ever been advertised of being able to have a display device connected to it. Therefore, some tech telling you this seems very odd -- or, at least, incorrect blather.



> I am not stating anything as fact, I am just repeating what I heard. I am sorry if I need to start eveything that I heard off with, Well I heard....


Well, yes, when you make a statement such as "Don't forget that you have also happen to have a TV with Firewire you can use the Firewire port on the 921, when it is turned on, to connect to your TV." -- which seems very matter-of-factly stated -- then you DO need to preface something like that with "I heard from my installer that..." before saying such things.

Especially when, it turns out, your installer was referring to a 721! It is just a big leap, to many of us, to announce that the 921 will support DishWire output to a display (which goes against what we've otherwise been hearing) -- when: 1) you heard it from an install tech and 2) he was talking about the 721 even.



> And as far as the daisy chaining goes, that is on the Mitsubishi TV website, http://www.mitsubi****v.com , under NetCommand, I believe.


I had no opinion on that either way. Whether or not they are meant to be daisy chained and/or the future is daisy chaining, I care not. 

- John...


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## JohnMI (Apr 2, 2002)

Ok -- I just took a look at the back of the 721 and see that it does indeed appear to have a DishWire port. Although, I can't find any documentation about it -- has Dish even said that it would be enabled at some point on the 721??

- John...


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## tnsprin (Mar 16, 2003)

jgoggan said:


> Ok -- I just took a look at the back of the 721 and see that it does indeed appear to have a DishWire port. Although, I can't find any documentation about it -- has Dish even said that it would be enabled at some point on the 721??
> 
> - John...


The ones I see have a USB port. No DishWire port. Certainly not listed in the brochure.

http://www.dishnetwork.com/downloads/pdf/product_brochures/dish_721.pdf


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## JohnMI (Apr 2, 2002)

Ah -- I saw that and thought it looked like USB, but I assumed that David_A knew what he was talking about (since he owns one) and that he was correct that it was FireWire. Maybe I should stop assuming that David_A knows what he is talking about? 

So, if the 721 really does NOT have a FireWire/DishWire port -- then we'd be back to my "the installer was obviously a moron" statement. So, again, can anyone confirm for certain if the 721 does or does not have a DishWire/1394 port?

- John...


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## Mark Lamutt (Mar 24, 2002)

The 721 doesn't have one - the 921 is the first E* receiver that has a firewire port. The 211 probably should have beat the 921 to market, but since it hasn't, the 921 is first.


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## JohnMI (Apr 2, 2002)

Well then I'd say that we can officially put and end to this and just label David_A's installer fairly brainless, as I originally suspected...



David_A said:


> When I was talking with my installer back in September I was asking him about DishWire. He said that it wasn't implemented on the 721s but when/if it was it should work just fine on my TV.


Thanks, everyone! 

- John...


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