Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

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

To: Daniel O'Keefe who wrote (16247)	5/8/1999 10:35:00 AM
From: John Mireley	Respond to of 64865

Sun's Vision and Java - Where did Java Come From - set top boxes Sun was only half a decade ahead of MS on this one. To bad they didn't have $5 billion to throw at it. Think of where we might be. iamwww.unibe.ch In the late 1970's Bill Joy, currently at Sun, thought about doing a language that would merge the best features of MESA and C. However other projects intervened. In the late 1980's he started a complete revision of the UNIX operating system, but couldn't find a language that was up to the job. C++ was too complicated. By the early 90's Bill was getting tired of huge programs. He decided that he wanted to be able to write a 10,000 line program that made a difference. Therefore he moved out of the mainstream Sun environment and started the Green Project. The first goal of the project was to get into the smart consumer electronics market. As part of this project work finally began on the C++++-- language Bill Joy felt he had needed for years. Most of the initial work on the java language was completed by James Gosling. Unfortunately the smart consumer electronics/remote control market didn't materialize. In early 1993 the Green project was redirected to focus on the settop box market which also proved to be more hype than reality. However in 1994 people at the project realized that a lot of the same issues that needed to be dealt with in settop boxes involving small, platform independent secure reliable code were the same issues that had to be dealt with on the nascent web. For a third time the project was redirected, this time at the Web.

To: Daniel O'Keefe who wrote (16247)	5/10/1999 11:23:00 AM
From: Stormweaver	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 64865

Thx. No one can predict the future (yet) but I see proprietary comp hardware becoming a lower margin business as we see a plethera of x86 configs moving into the traditional UNIX workstation and small server environ. Those companies either need to diversify or figure out a plan to avoid that hump in the road. SUNW so far has not addressed x86 encroaching their market segment and have not yet found viable new markets to exploit; not agressive. MSFT on the other hand is very agressive in maintaining their market segment as well as trying to expand/control it better; I cite their recent telco/cable shopping spree. Also software is a high margin business which is another benefit over a hardware company; build it, and then cut CDROM's. SUNW needs to get in the software business. They need to build/sell commercial quality apps/components that make use of their Java foundation. Traditionally though Sun has tended to partner/promote their 3rd party soft vendors rather than trying to compete.