Joe, this Java endorsement by IBM in IBD could have been responsible for the jump yesterday? Although dated today, I wonder if this got around yesterday. As the story points out though, if Java goes down, it'll hardly dent IBM. Novell would be in big trouble. Sounds like IBM is gonna stand up to MSFT on this one.
Happy New Year!
sf
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Big Blue Brews Java Mixture That Will Bubble In Early '98
Investors Business Daily, Wednesday, December 31, 1997 at 14:23
Results in early '98 could determine whether Big Blue wins its big bet on Java.
In the first quarter, International Business Machines Corp. plans to ship a network computer containing eSuite. It's the Armonk, N.Y., company's first major Java-based application package for the desktop.
It lets businesses share functions such as word processing and spreadsheets on a network of low-cost PCs.
Oracle Corp. and Sun Microsystems Inc. also have promised to make computers bundled with eSuite. Neither has yet announced a shpping date.
Java fans think eSuite will build more momentum for a technology designed to work on all types of computers.
And that's just a start. Over the next few years, IBM plans to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on Java, the programming language and computing platform created by Sun.
"It's a massive bid," said Bob Kakakeeny, an analyst at the Aberdeen Group Inc. in Boston. "It cuts across just about every division in the company."
IBM believes Java will replace C and C++ as the dominant programming language, so it's melding its existing systems with Java.
"There's no question that from a commercial perspective, no company has invested more in Java technology than IBM," said Evan Quinn, an analyst at International Data Corp. in Framingham, Mass.
"In terms of interweaving Java capabilities into existing product lines, IBM stands alone."
About 2,400 IBM employees work on Java research and development.
That gives it more strictly-Java workers than are allocated at Sun, Oracle, Microsoft Corp. or Netscape Communications Corp., says Quinn.
IBM now offers a Java virtual machine for OS390, its modernized mainframe operating system. Virtual machines use emulation" to translate software into Java. IBM programmers are doing the same for other operating systems as well, so users won't need separate applications to run Java.
IBM already sells more than 50 Java-enabled products.
"We're clearly interested in this because it's what our customers want," said Patricia Sueltz, general manager of Java Software at IBM.
"It lets them do business quicker, cheaper and smarter." Java's quicker, Sueltz says, because it's a less complicated language than C++. It's cheaper because Java applications - written once -are designed to run on all platforms. And it's smarter, Sueltz says, because it lets users build on existing systems.
Java has been moving slowly into the mainstream. But IBM
Chief Executive Louis Gerstner is a big fan.
"Everyone in the industry is excited about Java and working like mad to make it ready for prime time," said Gerstner last year, in his most recent major speech on Java. "Let's not blow this. Let's not do to Java what our industry did to Unix - splinter it with extensions and enhancements that served the creators more than the users. We can't let that happen."
His words were a veiled reference to Microsoft. The maker of Windows - the leading operating software for personal computers - could have the most to lose by industrywide adoption of Java as a platform.
IBM, workstation leader Sun and database software leader Oracle are big Microsoft rivals. They're also leading proponents of "100% "Java" Microsoft, though, is working on its own version of Java.
That push has prompted a court battle in which Sun is trying to revoke Microsoft's Java license.
"Microsoft doesn't want businesses to consider Java as an alternative to Windows NT," Quinn said. NT is the Windows system for computer networks. "That's where the battle is over the long run."
Microsoft is watching IBM's Java camp. Bill Gates, Microsoft's chief executive, dropped by IBM's booth at Comdex last month. Gates wanted to see IBM's uses of Java. These include the SmartCar, which features Java and a voice-enabled global positioning service.
"Java is much bigger than any one company," Sueltz said. "It's bigger than Sun, IBM and Microsoft. I don't see this as a war between Microsoft and Sun, but between those going 100% pure Java and (those favoring) proprietary Java implementation."
Microsoft and other Java critics say Java fails to deliver the sweeping changes promised. But many of those same analysts say Java will have a place in high tech. IBM's Java-centric strategy could pay off, analysts say.
But what if Java turns out to be a complete dud? "If Java tomorrow suddenly up and died, IBM would have thrown away a lot of money," said Larry Perlstein, a Dataquest Inc. analyst in San Jose, Calif. "But that would probably have a minuscule impact on the company as a whole. IBM's had a long list of failures, which haven't helped the company, but haven't killed it either.'
And the potential payoffs are huge.
"Java presents IBM with an opportunity to drag itself out of its legacy cement booth and really give the company new life," Quinn said. "It allows IBM to integrate legacy systems -where they still earn most of their money -with all the latest Internet technology.
It's the bridge between the past and future for IBM." |
