Bob Metcalfe - Inventor of Ethernet and founder of 3COM

10 Apr 2010 — 1 min read

Bob Metcalfe, engineer, technology executive and venture capitalist, invented the Ethernet. He attended MIT and Harvard University, studying mathematics and computer science, before joining Xerox's Palo Alto Research center. It was there that he was inspired to invent the Ethernet in 1973, which allowed computers to send packets of information and avoid collisions with incoming packets.

It's hard to guess just what Robert Metcalfe might be up to in a given year. From inventing Ethernet, the networking system which allowed personal computers to communicate with each other in the 1970s, he went on to found the multibillion-dollar company 3Com, then later quit to become a technology pundit. These days, when not writing his nationally syndicated InfoWorld column or making brash predictions about the future of the Net at industry conferences, you might find him with his wife, Robyn, tending to 200-pound rare pigs on the couple's 450-acre Kelmscott Farms in Maine.

You can read more of Bob's bio at biography.com

Appeared on the show April 10, 2010

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Phil McKinney is an innovator, podcaster, author, and speaker. He is the retired CTO of HP. Phil's book, Beyond The Obvious, shares his expertise and lessons learned on innovation and creativity.