New Network Leadership Series: An Interview with Bob Metcalfe

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Earlier this month, Juniper introduced the "New Network Leadership Series," which features taped conversations with our executives and industry thought leaders.  The resulting videos, we hope, provide viewers with experts' insights on the current state of the network and what's ahead for us.

In our first installment, Juniper CEO Kevin Johnson sat down with Vinton G. Cerf, Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist at Google.  In this latest installment, Kevin talks with Dr. Robert Metcalfe, currently a General Partner at Polaris Venture Partners.  Bob is a well-known Internet pioneer who invented Ethernet, the local-area networking (LAN) standard on which he shares four patents. Today, about 350 million new Ethernet ports are shipped annually.

Bob discusses the events that led to the creation of Ethernet and the impact it continues to hold today.  Additionally, he gives his perspective on the challenges facing the networking industry today and what the future holds for all industries.

Let us know what you think of the conversation.  Are there any other trends the networking industry should keep in mind?  Feel free to leave a comment or email me.

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Regarding Dr. Metcalfe's comments about the ideological issues surrounding "Internet anonymity", the use of various social media tools among today's early teens is already creating a culture of sharing and openness among their trusted networks.

Give it 10 to 15 years and there'll be a critical mass of people for whom anonymity will be a "whatever" use, and not a de facto requirement.

From an ex-3Comer and ex-CCIE ;-) 

I fondly remember the days of instructing about half-bridges...