But as a metaphor: I think Jon Postel might have been the first person I heard use the term. I also feel like there was such a picture in some of the early IP documents (like the internet protocol transition handbook in the early 80s) but that stuff I had on paper and it's stuck in a box someplace.

Regardless, it's been horribly abused by marketing people and does need to be dragged out back and put down.