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Chapter 10 - Networking: Market Competition 1981-1983

10.12 Other Data Communication Competitors

Few other data communication companies made a serious investment in LANs and none became market factors. Racal-Milgo announced a LAN based on the Cambridge Ring, a token passing network IBM had studied and passed on. It came to nothing. When Paradyne hired Jerry McDowell for networking product planning, he brought in Bob Metcalfe to consult. When McDowell left for Wang to assume responsibilities for Wangnet, any intentions within Paradyne died. Most management probably argued that they had enough to do to stay competitive in modems and multiplexers and did not have the resources to take on anything new and so technologically foreign.

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