Yoojin's Blog

Friday Aug 25, 2006

Java and consumers

There was an interesting news about how powerful Java brand is to consumers.
[Quoted]

Armed with a survey that showed 86% of consumers have heard of Java, and that 33% prefer products that use the technology...
Herring had never thought of Java as a consumer brand until four years ago, when a colleague's child asked him where to find more Java games. "That was my 'aha' moment, because why Java? This wasn't a computer nerd, just a kid," says Herring. Upon probing, it turned out that the young game player felt that Java games "were much cooler than others." "He basically articulated a whole strategy for developing general consumer interest in the brand," says Herring.

I totally agree.  It seems the name Java creates some mysterious image on people's mind even they are not  very familiar with the Java technology.

My previous company had a team titled "Java" of which main work was porting Java engine to some of consumer devices. It was when Sun just released PersonalJava so most people didn't quite get what it did.   Most of new hired college graduates wanted to join the team simply because Java seemed to be cool and could do some magic on the devices.

Now Java has been positioned greatly as a brand, it's time to provide clear vision to consumers what Java can do beyond the mobile games.