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Technology Stocks : All About Sun Microsystems -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: JC Jaros who wrote (19153)	9/1/1999 11:09:00 PM
From: QwikSand	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 64865

JC: I'm a good guy at heart, but let me join the bad guys for a second and explain that I think the story on your second link about 'industry support' is nice as far as it goes, but doesn't really mean much if anything. I actually don't like those press packets containing a million little identical blurbs. They all adhere to the template {"Yeah what {partner} is doing is interesting because in today's fast-paced ever-changing environment {OUR product} kicks ass and it might help {OUR product}" said Ted the Head, Vice President of Bullsh*t for {other partner inc.}.} They mostly show the regrettable extent to which tech is driven by hype, phoniness, PR flacks, etc. You'll notice that about half of the little endorsements in the press packet basically said something like "Sure, we'll evaluate StarPortal, I guess" or similar jet-propelled language. Whoopdeedoo. It's just like every other partnership announcement: meaningless unless and until you actually deliver a product for revenue that both partners have cooperated on. The danger in something like this is that Sun management starts to believe the hype themselves. So I worry that too many people will think that September 1, 1999 marks some kind of a turning point. No: Sun, and every other tech company, has issued plenty of press packets. Announcements don't mark turning points. That kind of thinking is Microsoft thinking (not bagging on you, JC, just noting it). The real turning point is when you ship a product that customers want enough to pay for it, and it takes off like a rocket. In this case, that will take a lot of execution in a short time under trying circumstances. What we as shareholders have to hope is that the Sun crew, usually pretty good at execution but not always, is fully aware of that. Regards, --QS