Robert Melancton Metcalfe (born 1946 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American technology pioneer who co-invented Ethernet with David Boggs, founded 3Com and formulated Metcalfe's Law. As of January 2006, he is a general partner of Polaris Venture Partners, and as such sits on the boards of directors of some of the companies in which Polaris invests, including Mintera and Narad Networks; he is chairman of another Polaris-funded venture, Ember.^[1][2] Year 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full 1946 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... NY redirects here. ... By the mid 20th century humans had achieved a mastery of technology sufficient to leave the surface of the Earth for the first time and explore space. ... Ethernet is a large, diverse family of frame-based computer networking technologies that operates at many speeds for local area networks (LANs). ... 3Com (NASDAQ: COMS) is a manufacturer best known for its computer network infrastructure products. ... Metcalfes law states that the value of a telecommunications network is proportional to the square of the number of users of the system (n2). ... 2006 is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article needs to be wikified. ...

Image:Http://www.tugurium.com/gti/images/M/Metcalfe Robert.jpg== Biography == Metcalfe graduated from MIT in 1969 with two S.B. degrees, one in Electrical Engineering and the other in management from the Sloan School. He then went to Harvard for graduate school, earning his M.S. in 1970 and his Ph.D. in applied mathematics in 1973, with a thesis on packet switching (which was actually written while working at MIT's Project MAC). The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private, coeducational research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Electrical Engineers design power systems… … and complex electronic circuits. ... The MIT Sloan School of Management is one of the five schools of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. It is one of the worlds leading business schools, conducting research and teaching in finance, entrepreneurship, marketing, strategic management, economics, organizational behavior, operations management, supply chain... Harvard University is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, and a member of the Ivy League. ... A masters degree is an academic degree usually awarded for completion of a postgraduate course of one or two years in duration. ... Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated Ph. ... Applied mathematics is a branch of mathematics that concerns itself with the mathematical techniques typically used in the application of mathematical knowledge to other domains. ... In computer networking and telecommunications, packet switching is a communications paradigm in which packets (messages or fragments of messages) are individually routed between nodes, with no previously established communication path. ... Project MAC, later the MIT Laboratory for Computer Science (LCS), was a research laboratory at MIT. Project MAC would become famous for groundbreaking research in operating systems, artificial intelligence, and the theory of computation. ...

Metcalfe was working at Xerox PARC in 1973 when he invented Ethernet, a standard for connecting computers over short distances. In 1979, Metcalfe departed PARC and founded 3Com, a manufacturer of computer networking equipment. In 1980 he received the Association for Computing Machinery Grace Murray Hopper Award for his contributions to the development of local networks, specifically Ethernet. In 1990 Metcalfe retired from 3Com and began a 10 year stint as a publisher and pundit, writing an Internet column for InfoWorld. He became a venture capitalist in 2001 and is now a General Partner at Polaris Venture Partners. He is a director of Pop!Tech, an executive technology conference he cofounded in 1997. Bold text // Headline text Link title This article is about the computer research center. ... Year 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the 1973 Gregorian calendar. ... Ethernet is a large, diverse family of frame-based computer networking technologies that operates at many speeds for local area networks (LANs). ... The NASA Columbia Supercomputer. ... Also: 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins. ... 3Com (NASDAQ: COMS) is a manufacturer best known for its computer network infrastructure products. ... LOCAL AREA NETWORK Local area network scheme A local area network is a computer network covering a small geographic area, like a home, office, or group of buildings. ... Year 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar). ... The Association for Computing Machinery, or ACM, was founded in 1947 as the worlds first scientific and educational computing society. ... Although many awards have added Grace Hoppers name to them since her death in 1992, the original Grace Murray Hopper Awards have been awarded by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) since 1971. ... Ethernet is a large, diverse family of frame-based computer networking technologies that operates at many speeds for local area networks (LANs). ... Year 1990 (MCMXC) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar). ... 3Com (NASDAQ: COMS) is a manufacturer best known for its computer network infrastructure products. ... InfoWorld is an information technology online media and events business operating under the umbrella of InfoWorld Media Group, a division of IDG (International Data Group). ... Venture capital is a general term to describe financing for startup and early stage businesses as well as businesses in turn around situations. ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Began in 1997 as The Camden Technology Conference, Pop!Tech is a yearly mass-media and technology conference that takes place during the fall in Camden, Maine. ...

Awards

Metcalfe was awarded the IEEE Medal of Honor in 1996 for "exemplary and sustained leadership in the development, standardization, and commercialization of Ethernet."^[3] The IEEE Medal of Honor is the highest recognition of the IEEE, and has been awarded once each year since 1917, when its first recipient was Major Edwin H. Armstrong. ... Ethernet is a large, diverse family of frame-based computer networking technologies that operates at many speeds for local area networks (LANs). ...

Metcalfe received the National Medal of Technology from President Bush in a White House ceremony on March 14, 2003, "for leadership in the invention, standardization, and commercialization of Ethernet", having been selected for the honor in 2003.^[4] In May 2007, Metcalfe, along with 17 others, will be inducted to the National Inventors Hall of Fame in Akron, Ohio, due to his work with Ethernet technology. ^[5] The National Medal of Technology is an honor granted by the President of the United States to inventors and innovators that have made significant contributions to the development of new and important technology. ... George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is the 43rd and current President of the United States, inaugurated on January 20, 2001. ... March 14 is the 73rd day of the year (74th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Ethernet is a large, diverse family of frame-based computer networking technologies that operates at many speeds for local area networks (LANs). ... The National Inventors Hall of Fame is an organization that honors important inventors from the United States. ... Ethernet is a large, diverse family of frame-based computer networking technologies that operates at many speeds for local area networks (LANs). ...

Incorrect predictions

Outside of his technical achievements, Metcalfe is perhaps best known for his 1995 prediction that the internet would suffer a catastrophic collapse the following year; he promised to eat his words if it did not. During his key note speech at the Sixth WWW International Conference in 1997, he took a printed copy of his column that predicted the collapse, put it in a blender with some liquid and then consumed the pulpy mass. ^{[6] [7]}. This was after he tried to eat his words in the form of a very large cake, but the audience strongly protested; the cake was quite good^{[citation needed]} and was eaten by some of the audience after the speech.

During an event where he talked about predictions at the Eighth International World Wide Web Conference in 1999, a participant asked: what is the bet?. He stated that there was no bet as he was not ready to eat another column.

Metcalfe is also known for his harsh criticism of open source software, and Linux in particular, predicting that the latter would be obliterated after Microsoft released Windows 2000: ... Linux (IPA pronunciation: ) is a Unix-like computer operating system. ... Windows 2000 (also referred to as Win2K) is a preemptible, interruptible, graphical and business-oriented operating system that was designed to work with either uniprocessor or symmetric multi-processor 32-bit Intel x86 computers. ...

The Open Source Movement's ideology is utopian balderdash [... that] reminds me of communism. [...] Linux [is like] organic software grown in utopia by spiritualists [...] When they bring organic fruit to market, you pay extra for small apples with open sores -- the Open Sores Movement. When [Windows 2000] gets here, goodbye Linux.^[8]

Selected publications

• "Packet Communication", MIT Project MAC Technical Report MAC TR-114, December, 1973 (a recast version of Metcalfe's Harvard dissertation)

References

For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... August 31 is the 243rd day of the year (244th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... August 31 is the 243rd day of the year (244th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers or IEEE (pronounced as eye-triple-ee) is an international non-profit, professional organization incorporated in the State of New York, United States. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... August 19 is the 231st day of the year (232nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... August 19 is the 231st day of the year (232nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... February 8 is the 39th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Reuters Group plc (LSE: RTR and NASDAQ: RTRSY); pron. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... January 12 is the 12th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... January 12 is the 12th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... January 12 is the 12th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...

See also

• Metcalfe's Law

Metcalfes law states that the value of a telecommunications network is proportional to the square of the number of users of the system (n2). ...

External links

• An interview with Robert Metcalfe
• Interview ITworld
• A more detailed interview
• Video - The History of Ethernet