Tef, all, here we go again with another thin client from Sun, the Sun Ray. This one (according to Sun) can run any kind of software, including Windows 98, Windows NT, Linux and Sun's own Solaris operating system. The previous one was Java only. What an egomaniacal move that was, thinking the masses would rush out and get familiar with Java, just so they could be comfortable with that device. Naturally, CNBC goes along with the 'Sun eating away at Microsoft's stranglehold on software' mantra. This guy has more the right idea, to me:
Sun Chief Executive ``Scott McNealy is smarter than a fox and can make all of this
sound wonderful, but in fact very few corporations are going to buy this stuff,' said
David Wu, a San Francisco-based analyst for brokerage firm ABN AMRO Securities.
``Sun is a server company, period. If they want to give away software and make some
cheap computers, so be it. But that doesn't change their (main) business.'
mercurycenter.com
============================================================
Sun unveils cheap un-PC
$10 a month: Device that can run any software
touted as alternative to low-end personal
computer.
BY ILAN GREENBERG
Mercury News Staff Writer
Sun Microsystems Inc. will unveil today its new
ultra-cheap, book-size information appliance, the second
step in its strategy to wrest control of the desktop away from Microsoft Corp.
The appliance complements Sun's acquisition last week of Star Division, which makes
a suite of office applications similar to Microsoft's popular Office software package.
Sun is positioning the $10-a-month device, called the Sun Ray 1, as an alternative to
low-end PCs costing less than $600. Most of the software that users would need, such
as word processing and spreadsheets, would reside on a faraway computer server,
and users would access the programs through the Internet or a private network.
``Don't think of this as a computer,' said John Loiacono, vice president of brand
marketing at the Palo Alto-based Sun. ``Think of it like a TV or telephone. The
telephone network is incredibly complicated, but the actual telephone is a simple
device. Here, too, all the complexity is hidden from the user and built into the
infrastructure.'
The Sun Ray is actually Sun's second attempt at creating a ``thin client,' or
stripped-down desktop computer, requiring far less resources to maintain than a
conventional desktop.
Sun has traditionally been a maker of the powerful network computers known as
servers. But less than two years ago, Sun introduced the JavaStation, a bare-bones
device that ran on Sun's Java platform, a popular Internet programming language.
Although the JavaStation was touted as a way for companies to save thousands of
dollars in administrative costs, it floundered when PC prices plunged below $1,000
and corporations rejected the premise of a computer that ran only Java.
Sun officials say this time they got it right -- Sun Ray can run any kind of software,
including Windows 98, Windows NT, Linux and Sun's own Solaris operating system.
``We believe (JavaStation) was basically the right approach, but used some of the
wrong technology. We've learned that users don't want to just use Java,' Loiacono
said.
Competition for Microsoft
It's an approach that will appeal to some of Sun's existing customers, said Rob
Enderle, an analyst with Giga Information Group in San Jose. Combined with Sun's
newly acquired Star Office software, which Sun will give away, the Sun Ray could
damage Microsoft's leading position in the office-software market, Enderle said.
``It could actually reverse Microsoft's (office software) market share,' he said. ``This
is one of those things that could start an avalanche.'
Unlike PCs, the Sun Ray appliance is basically a juiced-up monitor. It runs no
application or operating system code at the desktop and thus requires no configuration
or desktop management.
For corporations, that means fewer dollars spent on technical support, a key issue for
businesses who often find the cost of maintaining and supporting computers is higher
than the initial purchase price.
In the case of the Sun Ray, Sun will lease it to customers for $9.99 per month over five
years. A deluxe package, which includes a bigger monitor and fast networking
technology, is available for $30 a month. The appliance will also be sold at an
undetermined price, according to Sun officials.
Sun also hopes the Sun Ray's ``smart card' technology will especially appeal to
corporate computer managers. The smart card is a credit card-like device that users
can stick in the appliance to alert it to their identity. By using a smart card, users can
treat any machine as their own. Plug in the card and Sun Ray 1 automatically
configures itself via the server so that the computer acts like the person's own
computer.
Some skeptics
Yet some analysts cautioned against overemphasizing the importance of the Sun Ray
initiative.
Sun Chief Executive ``Scott McNealy is smarter than a fox and can make all of this
sound wonderful, but in fact very few corporations are going to buy this stuff,' said
David Wu, a San Francisco-based analyst for brokerage firm ABN AMRO Securities.
``Sun is a server company, period. If they want to give away software and make some
cheap computers, so be it. But that doesn't change their (main) business.'
However, Enderle said the combination of Sun Ray and Star Office gives Sun a
fighting chance to change the way people use computers.
``This is clearly the most compelling technology that we've seen so far. Now it's a
question whether Sun can actually execute,' Enderle said. |
