Editing 3Com (section)

===Xerox PARC (1972–1979)===
After reading an article on [[ALOHAnet]], [[Robert Metcalfe]] became interested in computer networking. ALOHAnet was an over-the-air [[wide area network]] system in [[Hawaii]] using [[ultra high frequency]] radios and made several assumptions that Metcalfe thought would not be correct in practice. He developed his own theories of how to manage traffic, and began to consider an "ALOHAnet in a wire" networking system. In 1972, he joined [[PARC (company)|Xerox PARC]] to develop these ideas, and after pairing up with [[David Boggs]], the two had early 3&nbsp;Mbit/s versions of Ethernet working in 1973. They then went on to build up a networking protocol known as [[PARC Universal Packet]] (PuP), with the entire system ready for build-out by late 1974.{{sfn|Pelkey|2007|loc=6.7}}

At this point, Xerox management did nothing with it, even after being approached by prospective customers. Increasingly upset by management's lack of interest, Metcalfe left Xerox in 1975, but he was lured back again the next year. Further development followed, resulting in the seminal [[Xerox Network Systems]] (XNS) protocol, which was completed by 1978. Once again, Metcalfe found that management was unwilling to actually do anything with the product, and he threatened to leave and in 1979 he left the company.{{sfn|Pelkey|2007|loc=6.7}}