The Accidental Network
eBook - ePub

The Accidental Network

How a Small Company Sparked a Global Broadband Transformation

  1. English
  2. ePUB (mobile friendly)
  3. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - ePub

The Accidental Network

How a Small Company Sparked a Global Broadband Transformation

About this book

"How would our lives change," wondered entrepreneur Rouzbeh Yassini-Fard in 1987, "if everyday people had a stable, high-speed data connection to the Internet?" While he wasn't the first to imagine a world of digital connectivity, Yassini-Fard was in the vanguard by creating the cable modem, which transformed residential Internet access from its slow, frustrating dial-up origins to a fast, always-on, and extraordinary connectivity tool by harnessing the existing infrastructure of the residential cable network.

The Accidental Network shares the untold story of the invention of the cable modem by the small, struggling tech company LANcity in the early 1990s, illustrating how Yassini-Fard overcame a cascade of technical challenges, investment community naysayers, and unnerving business obstacles to create the cable modem technology that has changed the way billions of individuals across the globe now manage their daily lives and commerce. The cable modem delivered broadband, with speeds ranging from 10 megabits per second (Mbps) to 10 gigabits per second (Gbps)—a big leap from the dial-up speeds of 56 kilobits per second (Kbps). This platform, along with the adoption of the DOCSIS (Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification) standard, engendered the modern revolution in broadband Internet access. Shunned by venture capitalists and surviving on a shoestring budget, Yassini-Fard and his colleagues were willing to bet it all (including the deed for Yassini-Fard's home) on the creation of the cable modem and the pursuit of global adoption.

The Accidental Network is both a valuable history of technology innovation and an engrossing account of business conducted at high speed. The book details Yassini-Fard's journey from electrical engineer to entrepreneur in the race to secure technology partners, create a wholly new marketplace, and convince cable industry executives that a bold business awaited in transmitting data to households at a time when skepticism about the reach of personal computing was the norm.
Written from the lens of a devoted idealist and WVU alum known as "the father of the cable modem," this book reveals how a perfect storm of forces—the rise of cable television, the onset of the personal computing era, a growing awareness of the Internet for information and commerce, and the development of the cable modem—converged to usher in the age of broadband access.

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Yes, you can access The Accidental Network by Rouzbeh Yassini-Fard,Stewart Schley in PDF and/or ePUB format. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. Epigraph
  6. Contents
  7. Foreword by John Chambers
  8. Prologue
  9. 1. American Dream
  10. 2. Wired Nation
  11. 3. Vision Quest
  12. 4. It’s a Deal
  13. 5. The Missing Link
  14. 6. When Doves Fly
  15. 7. Death Star
  16. 8. Puppy Love
  17. 9. Screen Wars
  18. 10. Rose Gardening
  19. 11. Wicked Fast
  20. 12. Father Figure
  21. Epilogue: A New Alphabet
  22. Acknowledgments
  23. In Gratitude …
  24. Notes
  25. Index
  26. About the Authors
  27. Back Cover