Apple Computer Inc has now embraced Ethernet as an alternative to its own AppleTalk by introducing Ethernet boards for the new low-end Macintosh LC and for all the NuBus models of the Mac, with separate transceivers for each of the most widely used media types. The Apple Ethernet LC Card is $200, now; the Ethernet NB Card is an intelligent Nubus card for Mac IIs and costs $424 from the second quarter. The three transceivers are part of what the Cupertino is calling the Apple Ethernet Cabling System, and each costs $175. The Apple Ethernet Thin Coax Transceiver supports 10Base2 thin coaxial cable and creates a user-installable network; it is self-terminating, containing a built-in circuit that automatically terminates the end of the network without the need for a user-supplied terminator – as are Apple’s Thin Coax Cables. The Apple Ethernet Twisted Pair Transceiver supports any IEEE 802.3 10Base-T-compatible hub over unshielded telephone wire. Both are available now and will be complemented next quarter by the Ethernet AUI Adaptor, which will connect to any medium that uses the standard Attachment Unit Interface, such as thick co-ax and fibre-optic cables. The company says that third party equivalents are on the way for the new Classic and odher low-end Macintoshes.
