Too bad token ring didn't catch on too well... in the days before switched ethernet, it was a much better LAN technology. The main thing that gets me about token ring MSAUs (the equivalent of a switch/hub) is that they don't need a power supply... they're passive devices that only need power for the port bypass relays to open, which comes from the attached device anyway. Clever design right there.

What's really interesting is that LocalTalk is actually based upon an IBM networking protocol, SDLC. If you don't believe me, the Zilog 8530 SCC had hardware-level support for it, and if this diagram from a circa 1986 IBM reference manual for SDLC doesn't describe LocalTalk, I don't know what does:



Also, SDLC supported multi-point serial links (again, just like LocalTalk), with an 8 bit address field. Ever noticed that AppleTalk's address field is 8 bits? There's your reason why.