Nicholas Negroponte has been a role model of mine for about 10 years. I'd read his articles in Wired, and bought his Being Digital book while at University. These days he's not as plorific. So it's great when an article pops up with him in it, and it's interesting to compare what he sees coming with what Sun is currently doing.
For me there is two key takeaways from the article in Business Week, Q&A With MIT's Nicholas Negroponte. Peer-to-peer and R&D.
Negroponte says that "Peer-to-peer is key". He's right, it's everywhere, and the more we network the more we'll see it explode. That's what makes JXTA so interesting, and why it's even more interesting that we've had it around for years when Bill Joy launched the Project. By the way, for those people that don't see Sun in open source, we made JXTA open source under the Apache Software License.
For those going to the JavaONE event later this month you can go to a few presentations and birds of a feather sessions about it. Just do a search for JXTA at the JavaONE Conference site. If you're not, then it'll be worth keeping an eye on John Clingan or GonzoMoFo blogs.
The second main point from Negroponte is summed up when he says that the key "is the question of where do new ideas come from. Historically, four places: government labs, big corporations, startup companies, and research universities. Government labs are shrinking (in the U.S., at least). Big companies are looking closer term, and even the most technological companies spend less than 1% of sales on research. Startups have suffered the burst bubble."
In most cases I'm sure he's correct, but when it comes to Sun we go to great lengths to continue significant R&D. In Jim Jubak's article, Checking Out Five Winners for Winner-Take-All Market he says that R&D is key, and he explains Sun's position. "But for a real dedication to R&D in tough times, look at Sun Microsystems. Sun's revenue plunged from $18.3 billion in 2001 to $11.4 billion in 2003. But R&D spending as a percentage of revenue rose from 11.5% in 2001 to 14.4% in 2002 to 15.8% in 2003". Not a great quote revenue wise, but with $7 billion in the bank it shows who's going to be the innovator for years to come.
For me there is two key takeaways from the article in Business Week, Q&A With MIT's Nicholas Negroponte. Peer-to-peer and R&D.
Negroponte says that "Peer-to-peer is key". He's right, it's everywhere, and the more we network the more we'll see it explode. That's what makes JXTA so interesting, and why it's even more interesting that we've had it around for years when Bill Joy launched the Project. By the way, for those people that don't see Sun in open source, we made JXTA open source under the Apache Software License.
For those going to the JavaONE event later this month you can go to a few presentations and birds of a feather sessions about it. Just do a search for JXTA at the JavaONE Conference site. If you're not, then it'll be worth keeping an eye on John Clingan or GonzoMoFo blogs.
The second main point from Negroponte is summed up when he says that the key "is the question of where do new ideas come from. Historically, four places: government labs, big corporations, startup companies, and research universities. Government labs are shrinking (in the U.S., at least). Big companies are looking closer term, and even the most technological companies spend less than 1% of sales on research. Startups have suffered the burst bubble."
In most cases I'm sure he's correct, but when it comes to Sun we go to great lengths to continue significant R&D. In Jim Jubak's article, Checking Out Five Winners for Winner-Take-All Market he says that R&D is key, and he explains Sun's position. "But for a real dedication to R&D in tough times, look at Sun Microsystems. Sun's revenue plunged from $18.3 billion in 2001 to $11.4 billion in 2003. But R&D spending as a percentage of revenue rose from 11.5% in 2001 to 14.4% in 2002 to 15.8% in 2003". Not a great quote revenue wise, but with $7 billion in the bank it shows who's going to be the innovator for years to come.
