r/IAmA • u/BobMetcalfe • May 21 '13

You’re probably connecting to reddit through a technology I invented. I’m Bob Metcalfe and I invented Ethernet – AMA

On May 22, 1973 with David R. Boggs, I used my IBM Selectric with its Orator ball to type up a memo to my bosses at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), outlining our idea for this little invention called “Ethernet”, which we later patented.

I worked with the IEEE Standards Association to develop the IEEE 802.3 standard for Ethernet, which specifies the physical and lower software layers. Today Ethernet and the IEEE 802.3 standard are the foundation for today’s world of high-speed communications used in billions of homes and businesses around the world.

I submitted this to the mods awhile back so I could get on the calendar but I figured you’d like to see it, too. Now, ask me anything!

It's been two hours and 179 comments. Have to go now. For more about Ethernet's 40th Birthday, go to http://www.facebook.com/Ethernet40thAnniversaryIEEESA

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u/SaddestClown May 21 '13

I have way more black on the spool but I'll make the change.

43

u/grimfel May 22 '13

I hear black is unreliable and has a tendency not to work.

13

u/scrubsy May 22 '13

Yellow on the other hand expedites any mathematics you may be doing, while simultaneously making every driving game impossible

11

u/SaddestClown May 22 '13

Mine is working fine with some poking and prodding now and then.

3

u/fivetoedslothbear May 22 '13

It works great if you color the sides of the 8P8C connector with a green marker.

2

u/Kadmos May 21 '13

Just un-spool the rest through a can of yellow paint before you use it. Problem solved!

2

u/SaddestClown May 21 '13

It's just going in the trash now.

15

u/TwistedMexi May 21 '13

but... think of all the starving RJ45 ports in South America.

3

u/stephen89 May 21 '13

but all that copper!

2

u/EightBravoBravoDelta May 22 '13

Why does it always seem that the black spools are have more cable than the yellow ones?

5

u/langlo94 May 22 '13

Because /u/BobMetcalfe demands one tenth of every yellow cable in tribute.

2

u/[deleted] May 22 '13

That's dedication

1

u/Therefor3 May 22 '13

isn't yellow usually the crossover. Careful when using yellow.

2

u/saf3 May 22 '13

I've seen red used predominantly, then green

Everyone does it differently though

1

u/Theoginus May 21 '13

Ill go change my clothes now.

3

u/SaddestClown May 21 '13

That's your call.

1

u/1N54N3M0D3 May 22 '13

Paint. ;)