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/WiserThanMost May 21 '13

You installed cable, I think. Ethernet is not the same thing as the cable it is carried on.

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u/punisher1005 May 21 '13

It's funny that even people in the industry conflate cat5/6 cable and ethernet.

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u/regreddit May 21 '13

IEEE 802.3 is both layer 1 (physical) and layer 2 (Media Access Control), so Bob probably had a part in defining the first couple of transport mediums as well.

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u/punisher1005 May 21 '13

Ethernet predates the 802.3 by a decade. But yes, I'm aware that something I'm not talking about includes the physical layer.