Is it true that the basic principles of networks remain the same as they were 20-30 years ago?

Question

Computer networks

For looking at some book on networks from 1995 and reading a book from 2017, I see that everything is essentially the same there ... Yes, a lot has changed, but I clearly see that the "foundation" has not changed ...

Answer 1

Not certainly in that way. Yes, networks are one of the most conservative industries, it. And all the changes are very slow.
The basic principles of information transfer remain the same as they were 20 years ago. However, there are still changes.
For example, classless addressing is introduced. Some protocols are considered obsolete such as RIP.
The approach to organizing a wired connection has been changed (the bus connection type is dead), Token Ring has ceased to exist, and so on and so forth. Therefore, if you are studying networks, it is better to take modern books.
Not to mention that somewhere near SDN and ipv6

Answer 2

this is the same as a bunch of programming languages, and all compiled programs eventually work on the same foundation - ones and zeros, it is these ones and zeros that are transmitted over networks. That's when they switch massively to quantum programming, then the foundation of networks will change.

Answer 3

30 years ago - that was a long time ago. This is the 90th year, the time when computers were large, although there were already IBM 80286 networks and networks on the "thick coax" probably too (I did not find such networks alive, although I had to dismantle them).
But 20 years ago - this is the year 2000. This is already a twisted pair, the first pentiums ... and nothing revolutionary has changed since then - if you find a network network with UTP10 somewhere - it will work!