Hi, this is Wayne again with a topic “Ethernet Is Named After Something Really Dumb (and other tech stories)”.
Do you ever wonder why the heck ethernet is called ethernet? Obviously it’s related to network, but ethernet might sound a bit too similar to internet, which might be why internet port connector comes up as a suggested search on Google, despite the words having completely different Origins. Let’S take a look at where ethernet and some other common Tech terms really came from, even though ethernet made its debut in 1980. The answer to this question actually goes all the way back to the 1600s back, then scientists believed it was impossible for light to travel through a vacuum, so they theorized that outer space was actually full of some sort of substance that they dubbed luminiferous ether. But what does this have to do with ethernet? Well, although the theory of special relativity showed that light could indeed move through a vacuum in the early 20th century, one of the inventors of the ethernet protocol thought The non-existent luminiferous Ether was a good concept to name the new standard. After since he envisioned data cables running all throughout the headquarters of Xerox Park and like The hypothesized Ether, ethernet would be a passive signal.
Transmitting solution that would be present everywhere turns out. He was right as ethernet cables, don’t require active circuitry to function and are common as dirt, but perhaps Wi-Fi is the better comparison to The Ether these days, slightly less luminiferous. Let’S move on and now look at a popular brand name. Pentium Intel is currently phasing out. Pentium, but these processors were so common in the 1990s that it almost became synonimous with good CPU for mainstream consumers. Even if that wasn’t always the case, if Pentium kind of sounds like a chemical element, that was indeed the idea prior to the Pentium Intel’s mainstream PC.
Cpus were all typically known by numbers ending in 86, starting with the original 8086 processor, then continuing through the 486 released in 1989. Naturally, you might think they’d go with 586 for the Next Generation, but by this point the competition between Intel and AMD had become quite serious and AMD was labeling. Its processors with the same numbers. Unsurprising, considering AMD actually got their start by being a Second Source chip supplier for Intel. This meant that Intel needed a brand name that was distinct to set their chips apart and beyond that they actually lost a court battle in 1991 when they tried to trademark 386, because model numbers are often considered too legally generic to get trademark protection so Intel hired A marketing firm to come up with a name, and they specifically requested a name that sounded like an important ingredient that would enhance the PC experience.
The marketing firm thought of sodium, since it’s an ingredient that enhances the flavor of food and started writing down possible names. That ended in ium, since that’s kind of sounds like some kind of chemical ingredient. I don’t know, Pentium was one of those names and since pent means five, it seemed like a natural name for a processor that otherwise would have been called 586.
You see how that, okay, by the time the late 1990s rolled around the same marketing firm, actually found that Pentium was even more recognized than Intel which, by the way, stands for integrated Electronics. As the original name of the company. More noise sounded too much like more noise. Next, let’s talk about a tech, origin story.
That’S so widely accepted. Most people don’t even realize it’s not quite accurate, we’ll do that right after we thank our sponsor delete me. Online privacy isn’t just personal. It’S a family matter because of that delete me is now offering seamless protection for your entire family with their family plans with individual data sheets tailored to each member. Their privacy. First design ensures personalized removal of personal information from online databases from kids to adults. Everyone stays safe from unwanted exposure and scams, and simplified management means peace of mind for all check out, delete me at the link below and Safeguard your family’s digital world. Today, bug has been an incredibly enduring term for any kind of problem, real or perceived with anything electronic. A popularly accepted atmology comes from Grace Hopper, a computer scientist who actually served as a rear Admiral in the US Navy. The Story Goes that, while she was working on a massive 23 ton computer at Harvard in the mid1 1940s, the system encountered an error that was ultimately discovered to have been caused by a moth that got trapped inside the dead.
Critter was then taped into a paper log book with the words first actual case of bug being found. Although the story helped to popularize the term bug, it wasn’t the first use of bug to mean technical problem, as some folks believe Hopper herself confirmed that bug was already being used during World War II to describe frustrations with radar systems. Prior to that, the word bug appeared in writing during the 1800s to describe any sort of equipment problem. So it’s unclear if a single person coined the term it’s more likely.
This definition of bug originated from a much older use of the word to mean something scary. This usage dated back to at least the time of Shakespeare, with an anemology that possibly goes all the way back to a stone age word for to puff up. You know like a big scary monster or a fish and there’s nothing more frightening than a bug that bricks your expensive graphics card, so maybe the caveman were on to something, and I think you were on to something watching this video, hey thanks, hey like it. If you liked it dislike it, if you disliked it check out our other video on how tech companies got their names, comment below with video suggestions and don’t forget to subscribe and follow Tech.
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