Connectivity

I'm preparing material for a webinar on how to connect a laptop and tablets to other devices for our WEA tutors, projector - speakers etc. In doing so I'm very geeky when it comes to knowing why the connectors have their names and symbols. For instance, why is the Ethernet connection so called?

"Ethernet was named by Robert Metcalfe, one of its developers, for the passive substance called "luminiferous (light-transmitting) ether" that was once thought to pervade the universe, carrying light throughout. Ethernet was so-named to describe the way that cabling, also a passive medium, could similarly carry data everywhere throughout the network."

Source: http://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/definition/Ethernet