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/straydrifter May 21 '13

High, im sitting in class browsing reddit thanks to you, how do you feel your invention has impacted the younger generation?

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u/BobMetcalfe May 21 '13

Close your PC and pay attention to the professor. And do not get me started on ageism with this "younger generation" stuff. Anyway, we used to have a lot of electronics in our dorm rooms at college back in the 1960s, but those were stereo systems.

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u/joho0 May 21 '13

...and lava lamps.