Editing AppleTalk (section)

===AppleTalk Personal Network===
Just prior to its release in early 1985, AppleBus was renamed '''AppleTalk'''. Initially marketed as '''AppleTalk Personal Network''', it comprised a family of network protocols and a physical layer.

The physical layer had a number of limitations, including a speed of only 230.4&nbsp;kbit/s, a maximum distance of {{convert|1000|ft|m}} from end to end, and only 32 nodes per LAN.{{sfn|Oppenheimer|2004|loc=Slide 15}} But as the basic hardware was built into the Mac, adding nodes only cost about $50 for the adaptor box. In comparison, Ethernet or Token Ring cards cost hundreds or thousands of dollars. Additionally, the entire [[networking stack]] required only about 6&nbsp;kB of RAM, allowing it to run on any Mac.{{sfn|Oppenheimer|2004|loc=Slide 19}}

The relatively slow speed of AppleTalk allowed further reductions in cost. Instead of using [[RS-422]]'s balanced transmit and receive circuits, the AppleTalk cabling used a single common [[electrical ground]], which limited speeds to about 500&nbsp;kbit/s, but allowed one conductor to be removed. This meant that common three-conductor cables could be used for wiring. Additionally, the adaptors were designed to be "self-terminating", meaning that nodes at the end of the network could simply leave their last connector unconnected. There was no need for the wires to be connected back together into a loop, nor the need for hubs or other devices.

The system was designed for future expansion; the addressing system allowed for expansion to 255 nodes in a LAN (although only 32 could be used at that time), and by using "bridges" (which came to be known as "routers", although technically not the same) one could interconnect LANs into larger collections. "Zones" allowed devices to be addressed within a bridge-connected internet. Additionally, AppleTalk was designed from the start to allow use with any potential underlying physical link,{{sfn|Oppenheimer|2004|loc=Slide 17}} and within a few years, the physical layer would be renamed '''LocalTalk''', so as to differentiate it from the AppleTalk protocols.

The main advantage of AppleTalk was that it was completely maintenance-free. To join a device to a network, a user simply plugged the adaptor into the machine, then connected a cable from it to any free port on any other adaptor. The AppleTalk network stack negotiated a network address, assigned the computer a human-readable name, and compiled a list of the names and types of other machines on the network so the user could browse the devices through the [[Chooser (Mac OS)|Chooser]]. AppleTalk was so easy to use that ad hoc networks tended to appear whenever multiple Macs were in the same room.<ref>{{cite magazine |first=Lee |last=Larson |url=http://www.math.louisville.edu/~lee/macwritings/LCN9910.shtml |title=LocalTalk to EtherTalk? |magazine=Louisville Computer News |date=October 1999}}</ref> Apple would later use this in an advertisement showing a network being created between two seats in an airplane.<ref>{{cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsqDtvTRsoM |title=Apple Computer Ad - Powerbook Networking}}</ref>