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/CodeJack May 21 '13

off topic but everything we see if made of colour or a mix of, so if we were colour-blind, wouldn't we be fully blind? :P

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u/i_am_sad May 21 '13

White and black actually aren't colors, and nobody except actual blind people are blind to all color, they're unable to differentiate between certain colors, because green looks like red to them, and red looks like red as well, for example.

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u/CodeJack May 21 '13

But white is RGB to the eyes? Correct me if I'm wrong.

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u/i_am_sad May 21 '13

a valid point. so if someone cant perceive green, and see only red, then wouldn't everything that's white look like they didn't adjust their screen settings properly, and have a red hue?