In 1995, Bob Metcalfe famously predicted that the internet would collapse within a year. Not just collapse but “catastrophically collapse”. It would go “spectacularly supernova”. In a way that only Metcalfe can, he promised to eat his words if he was wrong about the internet’s certain demise. (He always had a way with dramatic flair).
When his prediction failed to come true in 1996, Metcalfe fulfilled that promise. In a move that he can either never live down, or others can perhaps never live up to, Metcalfe blended a printed copy of his prediction with water, and in front of a live audience consumed his own debunked words spoon-by-spoon.
We retell this story in anticipation of the upcoming release of our book about 3Com, Metcalfe’s brain-child of a company, where we will reveal all the exciting details into the inner workings of Bob Metcalfe and his peers.
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