By now, I’m sure you’ve all heard about DirecTV’s new SWiM (Single Wire MultiSwitch) “feature”. Basically, the short-version of the biggest feature (or FIX as I think of it) is that you can now run one RG6 coax line into your DVR-based DirecTV receivers and actually keep both tuners active. So, with one RG6 run from the dish, you can record two shows on two different channels simultaneously. Before SWiM, you had to run two RG6 lines to each and every DirecTV DVR.
Well, all I can say is: FINALLY! Great fix for a MAJOR defect in the design of the previous design of the DirecTV signal distribution system.
I have to hand it to the folks at DirecTV, though. At CEDIA, at since launching SWiM, they’ve been marketing this as a feature – not a fix. They’ve been touting the capability to run only one coax from the dish’s multi-switch to the DVR’s (instead of 2) as a breakthrough in satellite TV technology.
So, from a Marketing 101 perspective: Great idea.
From a reality perspective: Finally a fix for their biggest flaw!
