I've actually been thinking the same thing for a while. MacIP tunnels TCP/IP by encapsulating the TCP/IP package in an Appletalk package. Sort of like the GatorBox.
I'm thinking a phonenet sized adapter, serial on one end, ethernet on the other, that (hopefully) could run of the power on the serial bus with some electronics that would simply wrap or unwrap the Appletalk headers, depending on the direction. Hopefully it would be transparent to the rest of the network and the Mac connected to it.
The next progression would be from ethernet to WiFi and replacements for the internal modem cards of PowerBooks. A combo ethernet/wireless card for my PowerBook 140 or 2300c would be awesome
I'm thinking a phonenet sized adapter, serial on one end, ethernet on the other, that (hopefully) could run of the power on the serial bus with some electronics that would simply wrap or unwrap the Appletalk headers, depending on the direction. Hopefully it would be transparent to the rest of the network and the Mac connected to it.
The next progression would be from ethernet to WiFi and replacements for the internal modem cards of PowerBooks. A combo ethernet/wireless card for my PowerBook 140 or 2300c would be awesome