Interview: Robert Metcalfe, recipient, National Medal of Technology
Bruce Taylor spoke with Robert Metcalfe on the occasion of his receiving the National Medal of Technology for 2003 on March 14, 2005. This is an edited transcript of that conversation. You may also listen to the original interview here.
On March 14, Dr. Robert M. Metcalfe will receive the National Medal of Technology for 2003, presented by President Bush in ceremonies at the White House. The award is for his pioneering work while at the Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center, or PARC as it is commonly known, that in 1973 resulted in the invention of Ethernet. Ethernet is the local area networking standard on which he shares four patents. In 2003, Ethernet's 30th year, 184 million new Ethernet connections were shipped globally for $12.5 billion in sales value.
Bob is an MIT graduate and received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Harvard in 1969. Today, Bob is a general partner in the venture capital firm Polaris Ventures. He specializes in Boston area based information technology startups. Prior to becoming a VC, Bob enjoyed three quite distinctly different careers. From 1965 - 1979, Bob was a research scientist and engineer. He was the founder of networking company 3Com where he served as Chairman and CEO. For the decade ending in the year 2000, Bob took a turn in the IT publishing world as both a publisher and an industry pundit, first as CEO of InfoWorld, and then for 8 years as an Internet column writer. He is co-founder and continues to be actively involved with one of the foremost global conferences on the intersection of people and technology, PopTech in Camden, Maine. He also serves on the boards of IDG, IDC, and MIT's Technology Review magazine.
Bruce Taylor: Bob, welcome to the program. And for all of us here at ITworld, congratulations.
Robert Metcalfe: Thank you very much.
Taylor: You're someone over the years who's been honored in so many ways for so many contributions that it may appear to be that this is just one more. But I promise you I don't see it that way. And so for you, what does it mean to receive the National Medal of Technology from the President?
Metcalfe: It means that my mom and dad get to go with me to the White House. That's actually the biggest thing it means to me. To my parents who have lived the American dream and worked hard to send their boy to college and now it's sort of coming full circle for them.
Taylor: The National Medal, according to the press announcement, and as we know, is to recognized innovation that has advanced the nation's global competitiveness. Have you ever tried to imagine the scale of what Ethernet has made technologically and economically possible? Has anyone?
Sign up for ITworld's Daily newsletter
Follow ITworld on Twitter @IT_world
Brian Proffitt
Microsoft/Novell: Breaking Down the Coupon Numbers
Esther Schindler
Drupal's Dries Buytaert on Building the Next Drupal
Tom Henderson
Top Ten General Operating Systems Rants
pasmith
PS3 motion controller delayed; goes up against Project Natal
sjvn
Neolithic Windows security hole alive and well in Windows 7
claird
Perl source code comparison makes for good reading
mikelgan
Cell phones don't create stress or interrupt much
Sandra Henry-Stocker
How to: The Unix Interview
Where Google Chrome security fails: the password
I heard mention that the Chrome OS will have some sort of encryption available a la bitlocker. If it's possible to encrypt personal data using another password or key, then it may have potential for very secure data.... And Ubuntu has an 'encrypt home directory' option, perhaps google should follow suit.
- Dann
Join the conversation here
Quick, practical advice for IT pros. Made fresh daily.
- Ubuntu advances: Why Ubuntu server installations will surge in 2010
- Social media marketing: How to make friends with benefits
- More...
Want to cash in on your IT savvy? Send your tip to tips@itworld.com. If we post it, we'll send you a $25 Amazon e-gift card.






