Metcalfe's law: Difference between revisions

of the system (''n''²). First formulated in this form by [[George Gilder]] in 1993,<ref>{{cite book | title = Information Rules | author = Carl Shapiro and Hal R. Varian | publisher = Harvard Business Press | year = 1999 | isbn = 978-0-87584-863-1 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=aE_J4Iv_PVEC&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:shapiro+inauthor:varian#PPA184,M1 }}</ref> and attributed to [[Robert Metcalfe]] in regard to [[Ethernet]], Metcalfe's law was originally presented, c. 1980, not in terms of users, but rather of "compatible communicating devices" (e.g., fax machines, telephones).<ref>{{cite web | title = Metcalfe's Law: more misunderstood than wrong? | date = July 26, 2006 | author = Simeon Simeonov | work = HighContrast: Innovation & venture capital in the post-broadband era | url = http://simeons.wordpress.com/2006/07/26/metcalfes-law-more-misunderstood-than-wrong/ }}</ref> Only later with the [[history of the Internet|globalization of the Internet]] did this law carry over to users and networks as its original intent was to describe Ethernet purchases and connections.<ref>{{cite web | title = Metcalfe's Law, Web 2.0, and the Semantic Web| author = James Hendler and Jennifer Golbeck (2008) | url = http://www.cs.umd.edu/~golbeck/downloads/Web20-SW-JWS-webVersion.pdf }}</ref>