How My Training As An Inventioneer Altered Ethernet
Everyone said it was impossible. Engineers laughed and called it ‘The Billings Folly’ — as a joke. Then the entire internet adopted it, and now the whole world uses it.
Dr. Roger Billings tells the inside story of how full duplex gigabit Ethernet was invented, rejected at IEEE standards meetings, and eventually became the global standard behind modern internet, streaming video, and AI.
Discover the inventions that made it possible — the concentrator, the equalizer circuit, and the balanced hybrid circuit — and hear what happened when Ron Crane, the father of Ethernet himself, stepped in to defend it.
About DrB
Dr. Roger Billings is a visionary innovator whose work has touched the lives of millions of students and transformed the landscape of education. Widely known as “DrB” to the countless kids who benefit from his groundbreaking Acellus learning system, Dr. Billings has dedicated his life to advancing education through technology.
As part of DrB’s lifelong commitment to supporting education, Science LIVE was launched as a way to “give back” by mentoring students in conjunction with the Roger Billings Scholarship Program.
Read more about DrB »
About the Roger Billings Scholarship Program »
It is so cool that the Ethernet is such a life changing invention for everyone!
its really cool to thank about how computers work and how all the wiring connects everything together.
I’m very thankful for all that Dr. Billings has done in inventions. and how he reaches out to us youth. Video so interesting!
I love watching these videos
I always love Area 51! Thank you Science Live!
Why wouldn’t the committee listen to Dr Billings when he had a good idea?
So fascinating
How much is a bit.
I liked this video!
I learned so much from this science live i never knew how complex the ethernet was and is
Science is so cool!
Enjoyed this science live!
Very entertaining and informative live!
i love the science lives!
I 🤍💙❤️ science live
I’m so excited to watch the live!!!
Science is peak
This is very interesting
I can’t belive the school year is almost over! it has went by so fast.
This is my 67th time viewing these videos.
This weeks live was so entertaining can’t wait for next weeks!
That was so interesting how Dr. Billings improved the speed of the ethernet!
I love science live!!
Wow very cool!
hello everybody!
hello everyone
We really take technology for granted!
When was the first computer made?
Politics being involved in science is so facinating!
I appreciate the hard work Dr. Billings did in order for me to enjoy video streaming every day!
I can’t imagine life without the internet we use it to watch all movies and TV at home with Netflix or Amazon. My brother and I like to watch YouTube and it is really fast!
I love watching this every week and its very interesting how politic can affect inventions
Hi hello from New Mexico
Hi from NC
Great Science Live
Watching from TX !
Science Live is my favorite part of the week!!😍
Learning from science live is my favorite part of the week!!
I learn something new every lesson!
Science live is very interesting as well as entertaining, i love learning new things each week
Great EP!
Super interesting!! I’m excited for next weeks video to learn more from Dr. Billings!!
Hi from West Virginia.
Hello, how was your day today?
Each week is a new learning adventure.
Hello from Maine.
Thank you for all the time you spend on Acellus.
Can’t wait for the next live!
cool! I like that!
Dr. Billings has accomplished so much!
great video, i love science live!!
Hi from Kentucky.
This was really fun to watch!
Thats so cool!
well what’s next for ethernet more speed could be true but it already has so much power and speed it is very hard to find a problem in that
Another great episode!
This was a very interesting episode! Thank you Science Live!
I really like this live program. It teaches me so much about science.
I’m so excited for science live!
I am very excited to see science live!
I like watching these.
this was my first science live it was very good because i learned something new . thank you.
I think that it is really amazing that there is a billion bits per second is called a gigabit. I cant even imagine how much and fast that is. And Dr. Billings started a company called Wide Band Networking. People could have a network using this very fast wideband by sending and receiving data at these fast speeds.
i like how i can leans new stuff from science live
This was a great episode.
This is my first year taking asl!I think it’s wonderful that deaf or people with hearing loss can get to hear again with one treatment
I love science live l!
That skit that was 23 minutes into the video was very funny, and shows how people back in the day did not have fast internet like nowadays
Science live is always so interesting! Thanks.
I love Acellus. Thank you.
Hi. I am from Missouri.
So excited for another science live! I loved Dr. John’s section tremendously this week!
I like how they used a connector to fix the collision issues. Without this invention streaming and watching movies and videos would be pretty difficult
I love Science live thanknyounfor doing this every week
I love this video
It’s inspiring how you didn’t give up on fixing your ethernet idea even when others said it was impossible.
this is insanely cool
loved this live!
Great video’s you guys make.
I liked the part about people have found a medicine for people who can’t hear to help them hear again. My mom know sign language and I have seen her talking to people who can’t hear not hear.
I can’t wait to hear more about the ethernet.
Technology changes so quickly. It is so amazing!
i love your lives!
Hello from Idaho
This weeks episode is so good!
Glad to be back for another week!
I learn a lot of cool stuff because of these.
Remember, there was once a time people had to take these classes without internet, we are far more fortunate than they were because of ethernet. UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN.
Love Science Live
Very interesting! I wish I could come up with an invention!
Thanks for the video.
Hello from Brazil!!! I like Science Live so much!
I can’t wait to hear more about the ethernet
Thank you for this video! It’s so crazy to learn about what you have done!
Very interesting
Comment: I learned what an inventioneer is and that it’s a blend of creativity using invention and engineering to solve real problems.
whats the difference between an inventioneer and an inventer?
Watching from tx
acellus is the best
I like how far the ethernet has come and how Dr. Billings has been involved in making it what it is today
i like watching these every week
Thats so awesome that we can help deaf people hear again!
Learned alot!
i love science live.
I like how they not only they involve science but they also add politics into science helping it on the progress.
Love this episode
My dad thinks all your inventions are cool. We are enjoying learning about your accomplishments.
This was very informitive!
i learn more and more every week.
Love science live great video this week!!!
i am highly appreciative of science live because i get to learn new things every week.
Hello from NY
watching from texas and enjoyed it
I love this one
The greatest Science Live!
So intelligent, I literally didn’t even
Stop watching this live so intelligent and smart. Maybe I could be as smart as them good job.
Making the Ethernet work properly sounds complex.
Hi from va
this was really cool!
love the science live
It’s fun to watch science live and learn new things.
While I’m sure AI has its perks, we do not like how it affects the environment. We need water more than technology. Thats a big problem I am praying someone can solve in a healthy manner.
i love this show
What Roger Billings did was very smart, but my question is, if people used copper wires in phone lines, and it worked amazing. Then why didn’t people even start using other wires for ethernet, and not just start with copper since it was already used before and had a good outcome?
We are excited for today’s show
I learned so much from this!
I enjoy watching these lives a lot. Why do the times keep on changing? Is it at 1 PM exclusively now?
It is crazy to think about how you can now download things at multiple gigabytes per second.
Thank you making these videos I enjoy them every Wednesday !
love science live 🙂
I wonder what the next episode of Science Live will be?
This was cool.
Hi From Georgia
That’s so cool that we have a small cure to deafness now! I’d love to learn more about that as they continue its progression and add more people into the test groups!
I really enjoyed watching this!
I really enjoy learning something new with science live!
Thank you for these videos. It makes me think about possibilities.
I really enjoy science live!
I really enjoy the science live every week, keep up the good work !!
It’s crazy how many people were at the meeting for ethernet!
another exciting video
I liked how you guys talked about the development of the Ethernet and the new hearing treatment
Hello from Tennessee!!
I really liked this episode.
I never realized politics was so interwoven with inventions. Very interesting.
how long until we have computers with speeds 1000 times faster than the fastest computers available today in your opinion?
I love science live!!!
Where was R51 when he was missing
I enjoyed the video! Makes learning fun and interesting.
This a cool look into the history of modern technology.
It’s pretty cool that Science Live has so many different and interesting topics each week.
I love these lives you lurn so many things
Watching science live has boosted my confidence in schooling and learning about things regular schools wouldn’t teach you!
I’ve always loved ethernet and wondered about it this is cool!
That sounds very complicated
I learn new stuff from watching science lives and am so grateful for it. Its also so cool how they can now cure deafness.
Collision is super interesting. It helped to see the traffic scenario to understand what you were saying.
I found learning about Ethernet really cool and interesting!
Get ready everyone, he’s about to release another video today!😆
I love watching these!!!
Hi from texas
Loved this live
CommentI Love Science Live !! It’s interesting to learn new things
I couldn’t survive without the internet!
Loved this episode
Science Live teaches me something new each time.
I always learn so much! Cool how Ethernet started
Science live is so cool!!!
So cool learning about all the different things each week!
Science live is so cool!
I loooooove science live!!!!
Hi from Georgia!
Science Live is very educational!
Awesome I learn something new each week
I like Ethernet connection better than internet because I used to be a hardcore gamer so it made the difference. But hey nice back to back episodes!