Ethernet
- Date
- 1973 · confidence high
- Place
- Xerox PARC, Palo Alto, California, United States
- Credited to
- Robert Metcalfe and David Boggs (Xerox PARC); the DIX standard in 1980
- People
- 👤 David Boggs1950–2022👤 Robert Metcalfe1946–
- Field
- Communication
What it is
Shared-cable local area network with collision detection, built to connect the Alto computers to each other and to the laser printer. It is the universal standard for wired networks, now running at hundreds of gigabits.
What it led to
- Office networks and networked office computing
- The founding of 3Com and the networking equipment industry (Cisco)
- Data centres and the physical connection of the internet
Built on
- Packet switching1964-1965
- Graphical user interface (Xerox Alto)1973
- ALOHAnet (Hawaii)
Made possible
- Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11)1997-1999
- office local area networks
- Wi-Fi (conceptual heir)
- data centres