[mythtv-users] Firewire no longer required on HD STBs

[Johnny Walker]

On Tue, Jun 29, 2010 at 12:22 PM, Justin Johnson
<justin.johnson3 at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Tue, Jun 29, 2010 at 1:00 PM, Ben Kamen <bkamen at benjammin.net> wrote:
>> On 6/29/2010 11:58 AM, Brian Wood wrote:
>>>>
>>>> could it be that firewire
>>>> will go the way of the serial port?
>>>> --Justin Johnson
>>>
>>> Serial ports still have their uses, and not just for Myth IR blasters.
>>
>> Amen. Serial ports haven't gone away. They've just been translated through
>> USB or some other higher level proto.
>>
>> I have SOOOooo many things with Serial on them.
>>
>>  -Ben
>
> I completely agree that serial ports still have their uses, just not
> to the "average" consumer. Power users continue to use serial ports
> for all kinds of things, but it's somewhat obscure. I think that
> firewire will follow the same path, the headers will be included on a
> motherboard, or you can get expansion cards, but it generally won't be
> a standard feature and you'll need to go somewhat out of your way to
> use it.
>
>> That reference was kind of thin on details of the IP interface. It would be nice if the STB would serve out content as an
>>
>> NFS or Samba share, and/or as a UPnP server.
>>
>> But I'd guess it will be some sort of DRM-ridden crap that will only work with something obtained from the cable companies
>>
>> or their lackeys.
>
> Most likely, the pdf of the FCC announcement includes language to
> indicate that it won't necessarily be in an open format.
> http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-10-1094A1.pdf
>
>> the petitioners have met the Commission’s policy objective by including connections on their set-top boxes
>> that will enable cable subscribers to enjoy the full range of services offered by their cable providers in a
>> secure, digital format that third-party devices on their home networks can receive
>
> After reading through that pdf it also seems that cable operators will
> still be required to provide a firewire cable STB if you request it.
> Given others' difficulties in obtaining a firewire box in the past,
> that might be easier said than done.
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>

This is no big surprise, I'm sure, but the sales people and the
customer service people I dealt with at my cable company were not
familiar with the terms:'FireWire Port' nor 'IEEE1394'.

The tech that arrived with the boxes was, in fact he opened with :
'now before we get started, I have some bad news about these boxes...'

-johnny