Thursday November 11, 2004

Why run JDS at Sun?

In his latest blog Jonathan Schwartz says "But let's be clear. Do I expect an investment banker at Goldman, Sachs to pick up the Java Desktop System? No. No way. He's not our target demographic, not a route to make 120 million into 1.2 billion. A call center in Bangalore, a factory in Tennessee, a generation of kids that care more about ringtones than Win32 legacy? Dedicated internet terminals in shopping malls, touch screens in phone booths, the world's academic environments? There's a market calling." So you might ask why would Sun want to use Java Desktop System internally if we don't expect Goldman, Sachs to use it?

As we have rolled out Java Desktop Preview this week we have gotten lots of feedback, most of it very positive. But, a few people complain that this really isn't as good as Apple's mature and very good user interface. While Java Desktop System is a very functional fully integrated user environment, there really is room for improvement. I think that one of the keys to successful change acceptance efforts is honesty. People become cynical if you sell them one thing but deliver something less.

But I digress. My question in the title of this blog was why JDS at Sun. If it isn't the best why should we use it? I think the answer to that question is really very simple. How can we ever expect Java Desktop System to get better if we don't use it? Maybe it will get better but I believe that it will get better faster if we use it.

If we don't use it I'm sure we will still sell it to a lot of customers in the target demographic. I'm no salesman but if we use Java Desktop System I believe we will sell it to more customers and maybe even expand the market. I believe in the power of Open Source and Sun. I can imagine a time in the future when the combination of security, mobility across platforms and a continually expanding market make Java Desktop system dominant.

But I am known for being an optimist. I once (many years ago) went into a meeting thinking that maybe the company was announcing bonuses when actually they told us they were going to lay most of us off ! But even if I am way too optimistic, even if Java Desktop System only takes hold in the target demographic that Jonathan defined, I absolutely think it is critically important for Sun to run Sun with Java Desktop System.