I actually did desperately want that Nintendo Switch in, oh, '89 or '90? I was living in Germany at the time and my RF switch cord got severed. This was the dark ages before the internet, so the only option was to order one and wait a month or so for it to arrive. That was a long month!
I always feel like the actual rack is the cheapest part. Trying for ages to find a simple 2u case for a micro ATX MB with Pico PSU, but don't find any that isn't more pricey than the whole setup Oo. Is there some trick to find them used that I don't know? I expected there would be plenty.
I would be the kind of kid who would like a switch over a Nintendo Switch. Mainly because I think if I was born later on in my life I would enjoy the switch a lot more. But that’s mainly because I’m a nerd and I hate locked down consoles and whatnot. Especially when games are 60 dollars 6 years later on the eshop.
but specifically for cables that carry Internet traffic instead of electrical power.
A more direct analogy would be a telephone switchboard (which is why it is called a "switch"), basically a computerized version of those old-timey operator ladies who used to sit in a room waiting for you to make a phone call, and they'd physically move a plug connected to your phone and plug it directly into the phone line of whoever you were trying to call. That, but for computers trying to talk to one another over network cables instead of making telephone calls.
From my basic understanding (literally just setting up my home Internet) it turns one Ethernet from the router into like 20 different connections for each computer or device
Keep in mind that I literally have no experience and can only give you the Wikipedia but I can't make sense it except for laughing at the word 'GigaSwitch' https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_switch