If we are completely invisible we will have done our job perfectly.
Predictor: Benhamou, Eric
Prediction, in context:In a 1992 article about 3Com Corp. San Francisco Chronicle reporter Don Clark writes about CEO Eric Benhamou: ”[3Com has a chance] to be among the first networking companies to hit $1 billion in sales. ‘We expect 3Com to be one of them, with very few others,’ said Benhamou, and Algerian-born engineer who grew up in France and emigrated to Palo Alto as a graduate student. ‘The momentum is definitely back.’ … Benhamou believes 3Com will have to help machines communicate as widely and easily as people do. A few million workers now send files between desktop PCs. But billions of people around the world use telephones, suggesting a huge opportunity if companies can make it easier to link all kinds of systems, including home computers and handheld information appliances. 3Com already is No. 1 in circuit boards used for communication in PCs, but Benhamou wants the company to supply all the devices that make up the ‘skin and bones’ of these global data networks. ‘If we are completely invisible we will have done our job perfectly,’ he said … 3Com will introduce a new version of a device called a router. At considerably less than today’s prices of around $4,000, the device will let small offices tap into central corporate databases as easily as users at company headquarters, Benhamou said.”
Biography:Eric Benhamou chaired the American Electronics Association’s National Information Infrastructure Task Force from 1993-1995, representing 3,000 member companies in the fastest growing segments of the high-technology industry. He later became chairman of the 3Com Corporation, a world leader in networking technologies. (Technology Developer/Administrator.)
Date of prediction: January 1, 1992
Topic of prediction: Information Infrastructure
Subtopic: Pipeline/Switching/Hardware
Name of publication: San Fransisco Chronicle
Title, headline, chapter name: Stunning Turnaround at 3Com Computer-Networking Pioneer Returns to Roots, Raises Profits
Quote Type: Partial quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
Business Section, B1
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Boone, Jason Matthew