[xorcist]

> ATM was superior but lost to the simpler and cheaper Ethernet which was pretty crappy in its early days (thinnet, thicknet, terminators, vampire taps, AUI, etc.)

Aren't you confusing LAN and WAN here? ATM didn't lose to thinnet. Nobody (approximately) ran ATM as their LAN.

ATM had its successor in DTM. Yes, long range ethernet won out in the end, but that was much later when it was clear all anyone wanted was IP transport and the cheaper ethernet transcievers got good enough. People ran IP over what they could get: X.25, ATM, anything else vaguely T1/E1-like.