Sun Puts Java Front And Center

It’s not as if Sun Microsystems did something as dramatic as change its
name, but the news that it will change its stock ticker symbol from SUNW to JAVA left some
observers baffled, if not angry.

Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz made the
announcement yesterday on his blog, noting the switch from SUNW to JAVA for its NASDAQ stock ticker is a
reflection of Java’s ubiquitous reach.

“Java touches nearly everyone —
everyone — who touches the internet. Hundreds of millions of users
see Java, and see its ubiquitous logo, every day. On PCs, mobile phones,
game consoles – you name it ..” he said in the blog post.

He also said, “SUNW represents the past, and it’s not without a nostalgic
nod that we’ve decided to look ahead.”

The Sun name is an acronym for Stanford University Network (Sun’s
founders built the company’s first workstation while at Stanford). Schwartz
made it clear Sun has no plans to change the company name or in any way
de-emphasize systems and hardware — from which it derives most of its
revenue.

But with its numerous software initiatives in the mix, he said a
description of the company can no longer be limited to one category, such as
workstations.

The feedback on Schwarz blog was, however, largely critical:

As a Sun investor I see this as a horrible idea. Not many people know
that what the W in SUN stands for, and it really doesn’t matter. What does
matter is JAVA is more of a limiting factor than this illusion of infinite
possibilities, Java is only a single platform and not representative of all
of your wonderful products. SUNW allows for more possibles instead of being
known as only the Java company. This is a sad day. 🙁

Another wrote:

This strikes me as silly. I had hoped it was some kind of joke, but I
looked at the calendar, and it’s not April 1st. The name of the company is
Sun, and it makes a wide variety of products. Java is one of them, and it’s
an important one. But why pick just one and make it the ticker name?

But there were a few positive comments, such as this one:

Beautiful move – no other IT company have a so good name to apply. The
Java brand have a great international appeal, and this is the stock name,
not company name. This is all about technology as a service, and shows the
company confidence on the Internet and the future of the internetworking. If
10+ years ahead some other technology have changed the face of the world a
new brand will be welcome..

The last significant name change in tech came earlier this year when
Apple went from Apple Computer to Apple, Inc. CEO Steve Jobs said the
name change better reflected Apple’s broad product portfolio, which now
includes music players and mobile phones.

This article was first published on InternetNews.com.

RELATED NEWS AND ANALYSIS

• Ethics and Artificial Intelligence: Driving Greater Equality

  FEATURE |  By James Maguire,
  December 16, 2020

• AI vs. Machine Learning vs. Deep Learning

  FEATURE |  By Cynthia Harvey,
  December 11, 2020

• Huawei’s AI Update: Things Are Moving Faster Than We Think

  FEATURE |  By Rob Enderle,
  December 04, 2020

• Keeping Machine Learning Algorithms Honest in the ‘Ethics-First’ Era

  ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE |  By Guest Author,
  November 18, 2020

• Key Trends in Chatbots and RPA

  FEATURE |  By Guest Author,
  November 10, 2020

• Top 10 AIOps Companies

  FEATURE |  By Samuel Greengard,
  November 05, 2020

• What is Text Analysis?

  ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE |  By Guest Author,
  November 02, 2020

• How Intel’s Work With Autonomous Cars Could Redefine General Purpose AI

  ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE |  By Rob Enderle,
  October 29, 2020

• Dell Technologies World: Weaving Together Human And Machine Interaction For AI And Robotics

  ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE |  By Rob Enderle,
  October 23, 2020

• The Super Moderator, or How IBM Project Debater Could Save Social Media

  FEATURE |  By Rob Enderle,
  October 16, 2020

• Top 10 Chatbot Platforms

  FEATURE |  By Cynthia Harvey,
  October 07, 2020

• Finding a Career Path in AI

  ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE |  By Guest Author,
  October 05, 2020

• CIOs Discuss the Promise of AI and Data Science

  FEATURE |  By Guest Author,
  September 25, 2020

• Microsoft Is Building An AI Product That Could Predict The Future

  FEATURE |  By Rob Enderle,
  September 25, 2020

• Top 10 Machine Learning Companies 2021

  FEATURE |  By Cynthia Harvey,
  September 22, 2020

• NVIDIA and ARM: Massively Changing The AI Landscape

  ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE |  By Rob Enderle,
  September 18, 2020

• Continuous Intelligence: Expert Discussion [Video and Podcast]

  ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE |  By James Maguire,
  September 14, 2020

• Artificial Intelligence: Governance and Ethics [Video]

  ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE |  By James Maguire,
  September 13, 2020

• IBM Watson At The US Open: Showcasing The Power Of A Mature Enterprise-Class AI

  FEATURE |  By Rob Enderle,
  September 11, 2020

• Artificial Intelligence: Perception vs. Reality

  FEATURE |  By James Maguire,
  September 09, 2020