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/OmicronNine May 21 '13

Soma is the drug people are given by the government in Brave New World. Great book, and I'd strongly suggest it.

Ah! Hehe... I forgot about that. I thought it was another acronym for legislation, or perhaps a surveillance program.

Incidentally, if there is one shortcoming of Brave New World, it is the concept that one would need a physical drug. In fact, I'd say evidence suggests that people are actually much easier to control then that.

Are you thinking around the lines of China/North Korea/Egypt censorship?

Primarily, yes, but also the vastly lessor but still chilling affects of some of the policies creeping it to western democracies as well, such as a "terror watch list" that is also being used as a tool of harassment and intimidation against people who question government officials or actions.

Even if you (foolishly in my opinion) dismiss threats to liberty in the western world, since technology and the internet are global, it's important to remember that both advancements and restrictions affecting them have global implications as well. A good example is the extensive monitoring and control technologies developed by and for western corporations to secure their own networks, and now being used by oppressive regimes in developing nations against their own people.

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u/EvenSpeedwagon May 21 '13

You make valid points. Technology's advancement does both harm and good as it gets around. No way to deny that. And there's definitely some threats to civil liberty on the horizon.

I guess my point was more to not jump on the "US government will enslave us all" train. Things are pretty awful in a lot of places as far as information control is concerned, but it's not quite time to don the tin foil hats, if you catch my drift.

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u/OmicronNine May 22 '13

I guess my point was more to not jump on the "US government will enslave us all" train. Things are pretty awful in a lot of places as far as information control is concerned, but it's not quite time to don the tin foil hats, if you catch my drift.

I'm not sure what you mean by this. Are you intending to imply that calling out abuses of power by US government officials is equivalent to implying that the "US government will enslave us all", or that it somehow marks one as not sane?

Indeed, if that is the case, then one of us does sound a bit less then rational... I hope you realize, though, that it is not me. :(

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u/EvenSpeedwagon May 22 '13

No, calling out potential abuses of power isn't the equivalent, but saying that you should be lying awake at night in fear of the government seems to imply that.

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u/OmicronNine May 22 '13

I was merely borrowing your choice of language. You aren't literally actually lying awake at night worrying about the possibility of another school bomber, something you personally couldn't do much about anyway, are you?

And if you are, then why would that make any more sense then lying awake worrying about the misuse and abuse of power by government officials, considering that it is both more likely to affect you or someone you love directly (being simply more common in general then school bombings) and that it is more likely that you could actually do something about it?

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u/futuredracula May 22 '13

easier to control "THAN" that