According to the global data site Statista, about 30 billion devices are connected to the internet, but trying to get one PC to talk to another one right next to it via a cable has long been a quirky quest. If you've ever needed to transfer files between two laptops, you likely know this pain.
On the Apple side, decades before AirDrop, one could connect Macs using serial port devices that connected to ordinary phone wires to link two computers together using the AppleTalk protocol. Years later, Apple would enable a FireWire Target Disk mode that allowed one Mac to access another's hard drive when connected by FireWire. Ultimately, it brought similar functionality to USB-C and Thunderbolt (with the latter requiring a reboot on Macs with Apple silicon.)
