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LAN Turns 30, May Not See 40?

Posted by Zonk on from the getting-senile dept.

dratcw writes "The first commercial LAN was based on ARCnet technology and was installed some 30 years ago, according to a ComputerWorld article. Bob Metcalfe, one of the co-inventors of Ethernet, recalls the early battles between the different flavors of LAN and says some claims from the Token Ring backers such as IBM were lies. 'I know that sounds nasty, but for 10 years I had to put up with that crap from the IBM Token Ring people — you bet I'm bitter.' Besides dipping into networking nostalgia, the article also quotes an analyst who says the LAN may be nearing its demise and predicts that all machines will be individually connected to one huge WAN at gigabit speeds. Could the LAN actually be nearing the end of its lifecycle?"

11 of 279 comments (clear)

  1. Well of course by Adambomb · · Score: 2, Funny

    Don't trust any spec over 40.

    wait...

    --
    Ice Cream has no bones.
  2. Yawn... by MightyMartian · · Score: 4, Funny

    Yes yes, and we'll have flying cars and robots cooking our meals.

    Prognosticator didn't used to be a synonym for clueless shithead. Thanks to Dvorak, that has changed, and looking at the clueless shitheads he's spawned.

    --
    The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    1. Re:Yawn... by Oktober+Sunset · · Score: 2, Funny

      microwave in the glove compartment dumbass.

      --
      What if Tetris was invented by Nazis?
  3. How did I net thee? by Linker3000 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Let me count the ways:

    Infanet
    ARCnet
    10Net
    Appletalk
    Token Ring
    Ethernet: Thick/thin/UTP/STP/fibre/wireless

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    AT&ROFLMAO
  4. 'LAN' ? by Stavr0 · · Score: 3, Funny
    "Are you from the past?" -- Roy, The IT Crowd

    We call that 'Intranet' nowadays.

  5. Re:WAN, SCHMAN by markov_chain · · Score: 4, Funny

    It doesn't work that way, it's more like a game of chicken-- one guy gets a router first, and then everyone else hops on. First hand experience here :)

    --
    Tsunami -- You can't bring a good wave down!
  6. Re:FACTOR breakthrough assumption? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Can someone with a PHD decipher this into english?

  7. Reliability by KalvinB · · Score: 4, Funny

    Until WAN routers are cheap and reliable, it won't happen. I've had the same $30 Netgear router I've had for 5 years without any issues. My Belkin wireless router can't go a day without being unreliable. The Mac Mini had a hard time connecting to web-sites until we switched from wireless to LAN.

    When you need 100% uptime you can go with a $30 router or spend significantly more than that for a wireless router and network card that won't ever drop your connection.

    I'll keep my wires thank you very much.

    --
    Work Safe Porn
  8. Re:WAN, SCHMAN by domino14 · · Score: 2, Funny

    why is this modded 0? i was thinking the exact same thing.

  9. Re:Well, could it? by somersault · · Score: 3, Funny

    Some networks, for example, should never be connected to the internet in any way. Please don't say such things! What if any Hollywood writers are reading this!? Won't someone please think of the implausible movie scripts? :(
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    which is totally what she said
  10. Re:"Internet enabled"-everything by Shakrai · · Score: 3, Funny

    In 10 years, even tinfoil hats will be network-enabled.

    Are you sure yours is working properly? Let me ssh in and take a look at it.....

    --
    I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
    We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.