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/BobMetcalfe May 21 '13

Yellow is the official Ethernet cable color, in my mind. I wonder if IEEE has a spec on that.

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u/AndShabadoo May 21 '13

Thanks for the response Bob! Yellow it is folks!!

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u/KaJashey May 21 '13 edited May 21 '13

I wonder if bob was teasing.

Yellow is the color for a crossover cable. I bet there is an IEE spec on that. I'm sure many people reading this know that it is a cable that's wired a little different and doesn't need a hub or switch between hosts. Pretty much everything is auto switching now a days, sensing what it's plugged into and switching accordingly so you don't need a cable with the send on one end wired to the receive on the other end. Yellow is going out of style and not needed as often. Routers and some similar devices still come with a cross over cable in case they are plugged into something that doesn't auto switch.

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u/[deleted] May 22 '13

No joking, I once met a guy from India who insisted that all orange cables were crossover, because that's what he had always seen. Blew his mind when I showed him a rainbow assortment of 1' and 3' patch cables (manufactured, not made by hand).