Sun will make the America Online and Netscape agreement work. Sun has the technology and Sun has an excellent reputation for customer support.
John, I found the article that I was looking for.
Excerpt from The New York Times Wednesday, November 25, 1998. (front page, National edition)
The article was written by Steve Lohr and John Markoff
In part the article said, "America Online hopes that it will secure a solid lead in a battle already joined by giants like the Microsoft Corporation and the International Business Machines Corporation to transform the greater part of cyberspace into a vast virtual mall.
Part of that vision rests on an alliance with Sun Microsystems that America Online negotiated as part of the deal. Sun not only brings a cyber-savvy sales force to the effort but, even more importantly, a strong technology partner in developing Netscape's industrial-strength software for running Internet sites.
Sun is indeed a technology heavy-weight. It owns the Java programming language, which is specially designed for Internet applications and Solaris, which is among the most popular commerical operating system for the powerful computers that big corporations use to serve up Internet services like the World Wide Web, E-mail and retail transactions."
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"The alliance with Sun is a related but separate marketing and technology development agreement in which America Online agrees to purchase computer systems and services from Sun over the next three years worth $500 million at list price………………………"
From Sun, America Online will receive more than $350 million in licensing, marketing and advertising fees over the next three years as well as '"significant minimum revenue commitments,"; a statement said.
The arrangement with Sun was crucial to calm Netscape's corporate software customers, from Citibank to Chrysler, concerned with entrusting a software business to American Online Sun's sales force of 7,000 people will now sell Netscape software, a big increase over Netscape's 700 people.
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