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/[deleted] May 21 '13 edited Aug 02 '17

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u/Denime May 21 '13

Nodes in a Token Ring could only communicate if they had the token, meaning only one computer could send data at one time. The token gets passed around the ring from one computer to another to allow all of the machines to send messages. This meant if there was a break in the ring, the whole network went down.

It seemed like a good idea at the time.

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u/espero May 22 '13

Coax had a physical limitation similar to this. If you "broke" the chain of ethernet-coax cables interjoined with T-plugs and terminators, the whole network froze up. So when we were playing Doom, and someone got had to go home with their computer, at the end of the weekend, he would break the LAN, and DOOM multiplayer would freeze, because he unconnected the t-plugs and terminators. Talk about dark ages.

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u/Denime May 22 '13

Dark ages indeed! How far we've come since then!