I recently came across an editorial that took me down Memory Lane, to a time when Token Ring was something you could build a business around, and a company called Madge Networks did just that.

Don Tennant had breakfast with Madge Networks founder Robert Madge, who spent some time talking about the rise and fall of the company with the benefit of some hindsight. Tennant is editorial director of two Network World sister sites, Computerworld and InfoWorld, and has been covering this business for quite a while - he alludes to the fact that he interviewed Madge in 1994, when the company was at the top of its game.

As Tennant explains, Madge had to fight IBM in court for the right to produce Token Ring equipment without paying IBM royalties. Because it won that battle, that put Madge in the catbird's seat in the Token Ring market.

Unfortunately, that market was not long for this earth. I remember Kevin Tolly writing an obituary for Token Ring in 1999; it was fitting that he write it because he believed as long as anyone that Token Ring could be saved. At that point, two of the three main suppliers of Token Ring (and High Speed Token Ring) had just "imploded" - IBM's Network Hardware Division and Olicom.

That left only Madge, which Tolly in that article called "the undisputed 'premier' purveyor of token ring in the world." But everyone wanted Ethernet instead.

Madge Networks filed for bankruptcy in 2003. It came back as Madge Inc. and tried to reinvent itself as a supplier of wireless LAN gear, but in 2006 it was absorbed into Network Technology Plc.

I encourage readers who are interested to read Tennant's full interview with Robert Madge, for their own trips down Memory Lane. 

Jeff Caruso is site editor at Network World.