Ethernet Or NMEA 2000?

Good question posed to Ben Ellison for his monthly Q&A session on marine electronics. I too wish the answer could be different…
“I�m starting to spec a 45-foot custom boat and want it to have a �future-proof� electronics networking backbone. Should I go with NMEA 2000 or Ethernet?”… …As we say in Maine, �You can�t get there from here!� The confusing truth is that a single, universal networking protocol and hardware standard for marine electronics has not yet appeared and probably never will.”