Russell Beattie

Well, one of my complaints might actually be addressed by the announcement that Sun is going to spend "hundreds of millions of dollars" on a new campaign to decorate a bunch of different devices with their new logo.

Here's the story from News.com:

Under the branding campaign, everything from cash registers and microchip-enabled "smart cards" to TV set-top boxes and video recorders will carry the logo, said Jonathan Schwartz, Sun's executive vice president of software. The campaign is geared to convince ordinary people, not just programmers and computer experts, that Java carries value, he said.

Business partners that ship Java products will share in the effort, whose total budget will be in the hundreds of millions of dollars, he said. The campaign will try to convince consumers that they're getting value--security and the ability to safely download programs--with Java devices, he said.

"The branding...will be in concert with some large organizations with a lot of experience in consumer branding," Schwartz said. "It's just as much in Motorola's interests as Vodafone's as ours to promote that brand."

...

Because it minimizes differences between different computing devices, such as Nokia and Nextel cell phones or Windows and Linux PCs, Java has the potential to undercut Microsoft's power. Sun is trying to do just that, encouraging the programmers of the world to focus on how many Java environments, called "virtual machines," exist, not how many Windows computers exist.

"In terms of total shipments of Java virtual machines, we are exceeding on an annual basis the PC industry," Schwartz said. A major portion of that includes Java-enabled cell phones, 200 million of which should ship in 2003, he said.

My GOODNESS. Ask and you shall receive... Well, let's see what the new logo looks like and see if they actually get Voda to promote it. But at least the concern is being addressed.

The article goes on for a bit, but the last paragraph shows that Sun still doesn't "get it" totally...

Many mobile phones contain a subscriber identity module (SIM) card that can run a bare-bones version of Java. Phone service carriers such as Vodafone use the card to identify the phone user, but Schwartz believes those companies could extend their domain to computers as well.

"You may see some carriers start creating relationships with PC manufacturers so PC manufacturers are shipping their PCs with a SIM in them. The SIMs will be branded by the carriers," Schwartz said. "You will be able to take a SIM out of a phone, or a smart card out of your wallet, put it into your PC and by using the Javacard standard, authenticate yourself for network transactions."

Uhhmm. No. Your phone has your SIM card and talks to your computer via Bluetooth, obviously, any time the SIM card is needed in a transaction. Simple as that. I think Sun likes the idea of a physical card because they're promoting their JavaCard (which I assume can fit on a SIM chip, no?), but people don't want to fiddle with those freakin' tiny cards.

-Russ