Driving the creation of residential broadband was unquestionably the highlight of my career. Many others played important roles: developing the technology (Broadcom, 3Com), creating cable and DSL modems (General Instrument, LANcity, Texas Instruments), providing broadband services (@Home, Covad), enabling streaming media (Launch Media, Broadcast.com), interactive services (AOL, Yahoo), browsers (Netscape, Microsoft), and, of course, the cable and telephone companies that became broadband service providers (Comcast, Bell Atlantic).
It Began with a Phone Call
It all started with a phone call in 1992 between Bill Gates and Andy Grove. Les Vadasz and I had recently started what became Intel Capital, and I had decided to make the home computer market a key focus. Grove thought I was foolish for wanting to do this. He said the market for home computers would never be significant. But he also told me that if I wanted to waste my time on it, it was my choice.
Then one day, Gates called Grove and said Microsoft wanted to work on the home computer market. Since no one at Intel seemed interested, Gates suggested he might work with AMD, Intel’s primary competitor. Of course, Bill said this to get Andy’s attention, knowing he wouldn’t want Microsoft partnering with AMD. Grove quickly responded that Intel was indeed interested in the home market—“after all, one of his vice presidents, Avram Miller, was devoting himself to it.”
Bill, whom I had first met a decade earlier during my time at Digital Equipment, replied, “Great! Have Avram come up to Redmond and meet with Rob Glaser, who’s leading our consumer activities.” We started a project to create an interactive set-top box and brought in General Instrument, which at the time was led by Don Rumsfeld. There I met GI’s CTO, Matt Miller (no relation), who later played an important role in creating residential broadband over cable.
“Bill believed that the top of the TV set (and TVs did have ‘tops’ back then) was the most important real estate in the home.”
Like many others, he believed interactivity would happen through the television. I did not share that view.
Grove called me and told me my real job was to keep Microsoft away from AMD. He still thought there was no real home market for personal computers; he only cared about the business market. History would prove otherwise. But for me, this gave the opening I needed.
Reflecting on My Role
Now, at 80 and reflecting on my legacy—though I am not dead yet and remain deeply involved in creating new businesses and technologies—I want to state my claim: I was the principal driver behind the creation of the residential broadband we all now enjoy.
I see my role as that of a conductor, whose job was to get all the musicians playing together to create a beautiful symphony.
A central insight that guided my work, and which Intel uniquely championed, was the belief that the PC—not the television—would become the center of home interactivity. Despite billions wasted by companies like Time Warner and Microsoft on the flawed idea of interactive television, we realized that TVs lacked the resolution and user experience consumers truly wanted. Even my own boss, Andy Grove, initially ridiculed this view. But he eventually became a strong advocate for the PC as the dominant interactive device in the home. We developed at theme “The PC is IT”, meaning the PC would be the interactive device in the home.
Over time, smartphones and tablets have joined the personal computer, and much of the intelligence has moved to the cloud. But the broadband network we use today is the direct descendant of the broadband network I began driving in 1992.
Further Reading
I wrote extensively about the creation of residential broadband and my role in making it happen in my memoir, The Flight of a Wild Duck. I’ve decided to put that section of my book
If you enjoy it, please read the full book—you can order it [here].
Two Thirds Done 