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

To: chic_hearne who wrote (33118)	6/27/2000 7:47:00 AM
From: Michael L. Voorhees	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 64865

The Java developers "center of gravity" has shifted to the point that it will be a long time before any other language approaches it. Too much time and effort by too many developers has passed for Java to be supplanted by an admittedly "weak" Java-clone. Java already rules on the server side. SUNW's "first-to-market" approach has served them well in the case of Java. By the way, C# is simply Objective-C which has been around a long time and has been part of the GNU C compiler family for years as well as part of Apple. Another weak example of MSFT's claims of innovation which are in reality "five-finger discounts". It appears unlikely that any standards body would approve a rename of Objective-C with a little network language thrown-in.

To: chic_hearne who wrote (33118)	6/27/2000 8:13:00 AM
From: Bill Fischofer	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 64865

Actually, Java only helps to accelerate server-side commoditization What allows processor architectures to ingrain themselves is processor-specific applications. The application install base has always been the key to architecture lock-in. The antidote is interpretive lanaguages which have always had a following (the granddaddy being LISP) but which have also never quite managed to become sufficiently mainstream to threaten architectural lock-in. The rise of the net changes this. Technologies such as Java, XML, SOAP, and possibly now C# are inherently processor-neutral and are gaining increasing acceptance as the basis for net-aware application programming going forward. As a new generation of applications based on these technologies replaces the older generation of processor-specific applications there is less and less opportunity for chip vendors to benefit from architectural lock-in. This means that chip architecture (from an application perspective) becomes irrelevant since it is no longer visible at the application layer. SUNW clearly understands this dilemma which is why they have been loath to cede control of Java to a truly independent third party. Yet it has always been the case that for Java to fulfill its promise it must become a genuine independent standard which is why companies like IBM and HWP have refused to endorse continued SUNW control of Java. I've always felt that SUNW would eventually bow to the inevitable and turn over Java to a real independent standards body but for now they still hope to somehow manage to leverage Java into some new type of lock-in for themselves. Perhaps MSFT's C# will be the trigger to make this happen. In any event, once applications no longer have processor visibility then the processor market can no longer rely on architectural lock-in as a selling point. At that point, the cheapest processor that does the job will tend to gain share and economies of scale will rule. UltraSparc/MAJC will thus have to compete against IA64, Power4, and Alpha on this basis alone without the help of an application architectural bias.