Firewire... the Official Name

arn · May 7, 2002

The 1394 Trade Association is pulling its act together and are trying to become a "market maker" of the standard instead of a simply marketing body.

Of note, they've standardized on "Firewire" as their name...

The 1394 Trade Association also hopes to fix the standard's name-recognition problems. Apple has called it IEEE 1394 FireWire, while Sony Corp. and Philips Electronics have promoted it as i-Link. Under its agreement with Apple, the Trade Association received the right to sublicense the FireWire trademarks for use on products, packaging and promotion of the standard. "We decided [to] start calling ourselves what we think we are," said Snider.

G4scott · May 7, 2002

It's about time. I'm tired of all that iLink crap. They should've called it Firewire from the start...

jelloshotsrule · May 7, 2002

haha. so i guess 1394 trade association has chosen apple over sony and philips. firewire certainly seems more catchy than i-link.

though given the iApps.... i-link seems like it'd fit with apple.... haha.

macstudent · May 7, 2002

Will sony still be able to call their products i-link? Or will they have to rename everything and call it firewire?

eizzumdm · May 7, 2002

i.LINK, Schmi.LINK

One thing that always bugged me with the Sony/Philips implementation of 1394a was that they unnecessarily complicated what should have been a very simple, user friendly standard.

By choosing their own marketing name, they confused consumers (and consumer electronics salespeople) who often did not realize that i.LINK, IEEE 1394, and FireWire were the same thing.

Also, products that were designated "i.LINK" compatible usually used the 4 pin implementation (leaving out the power wire and the ground wire). Therefore, instead of needing to be concerned with only one type of cable and connector, users had to worry about 6 pin to 6 pin, 6 pin to 4 pin, and 4 pin to 4 pin cables.

...and while I'm bitchin' and moanin'

, what marketing moron thought that naming it i.LINK (spelled "small i," period, "capital l i n k") was a good idea? It's like they wanted it to fail.

Oy.

joed · May 7, 2002

It makes sense for the Trade Association to choose Firewire name and logo, as the standard was developed by Apple (or so I believe).

So if they are going to adopt the Firewire branding then what will 1394 be named - will it just be Firewire 2?

Cheers,
James.

gerror · May 8, 2002

My teacher told me that Sony didn't like the word 'fire' in firewire.
People might associate it with burning camcorders.
What a confidence in your own products

Gerror

iGav · May 8, 2002

(and consumer electronics salespeople) who often did not realize that i.LINK, IEEE 1394, and FireWire were the same thing.

Heh heh... I've experienced that!! Gone to ask for a Firewire cable and just got blank looks...... then I've had to inform them exactly what Firewire is, then to be told.... oh you mean iLINK.........

Oh well....... I think it's a good thing if iLINK and IEEE 1394 become known as Firewire.......

britboy · May 8, 2002

Originally posted by joed
So if they are going to adopt the Firewire branding then what will 1394 be named - will it just be Firewire 2?

Cheers,
James.

IEEE 1394a is firewire. Firewire 2 will be IEEE 1394b

Mr. Anderson · May 8, 2002

I don't really think its all that big a deal. i-link was a bit confusing, but hey, Sony always wants to play different. As long as they've settled on a standard name that's fine with me.

Are they going to keep the same logo, or is it going to change?

trinitishwar · May 8, 2002

It's definately a coup for apple in terms of marketing. Consolidating the standard under on name will resolve a lot of the confusion, and will perhaps give it a little more name recognition. Perhaps it will even lead to more widespread adoption of the connecter in appliactions where the manufacturer would have used usb instead.

Wry Cooter · May 8, 2002

Originally posted by dukestreet
I don't really think its all that big a deal. i-link was a bit confusing, but hey, Sony always wants to play different. As long as they've settled on a standard name that's fine with me.

If a consumer electronics company thought it could get your dollar by calling a string or rubber band or paper clip a Sony Tether or a Sony StretchGather or a Sony BendWire, so they could make the consumer believe that other manufacturers identical goods would not work, and you had to buy only from Sony, they would. Especially since they rake it in on accessories, those cables are high margin items!

Firewire should have been the name from day one. I suppose the Pyromania concern is somewhat valid, but feature branding is a hard thing for marketers to drop, even if the standards go beyond one company.

WiFi is slowly being adapted, and I'm fine with that (AirPort is actually confusing, if you were looking for an AirPort in an airport)

mcrain · May 8, 2002

Originally posted by Wry Cooter
WiFi is slowly being adapted, and I'm fine with that (AirPort is actually confusing, if you were looking for an AirPort in an airport)

Ha ha ha ha... next thing we need is a power adapter called the bomb.

I can see it now... "Yes, Mr. Airport Security Guard, can you show me where I can plug in my bomb?"

Wry Cooter · May 8, 2002

Originally posted by mcrain

Ha ha ha ha... next thing we need is a power adapter called the bomb.

I can see it now... "Yes, Mr. Airport Security Guard, can you show me where I can plug in my bomb?"

Well if your iBook was running OS 9, a similar surprise might be easily arranged, If you had an app that crashed when the notebook was woken from sleep, when rent-a-cop asks you to prove your computer actually computes, and he sees a picture of a little Boris Badenov incendiary device, and he creates masonry in his undewear and runs you in for treason. That could make for a lovely news story.

joed · May 8, 2002

Originally posted by britboy

IEEE 1394a is firewire. Firewire 2 will be IEEE 1394b

I do realise that 1394a is Firewire, but I haven't seen anything to confirm 1394b is called Firewire 2 - heard no mention of it anywhere except for rumor sites and the like.

That was what I was trying to get at, sorry for the confusions!

James.

blogo · May 30, 2002

Doesn't Dell cal FireWire for Firewave? or is that something else?

britboy · May 30, 2002

Originally posted by Eple
Doesn't Dell cal FireWire for Firewave? or is that something else?

So it would appear. It's not just in cal though. For comfirmation, check this link.

Why oh why can everyone not just use one name, when it's all for the same product? This is just plain silly.

Wry Cooter · May 30, 2002

Originally posted by britboy

Why oh why can everyone not just use one name, when it's all for the same product? This is just plain silly.

In order to fool silly people into thinking they can only use THEIR BRAND.

I haven't really looked into types of hard disk mechanisms lately, but that was a fairly heinous area, between macs and PCs and SCSI and IDE and ATA and ultra this and that. Of course sometimes that DID mean something it was just that there could be five names for the same thing.

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