The only problem is that JAVA makes the old ticker speed up
It’s not as dramatic, or as expensive, as changing the company name, but Sun Microsystems is trying to send a message by switching its stock ticker symbol from the unpronounceable but historically significant SUNW to the snappier JAVA, the now ubiquitous software that Sun introduced 12 years ago. SUNW stood for Stanford University Network Workstation and hearkened back to the company’s roots in academia. But while Sun has name recognition in the tech world, it’s the Java apps and logo that millions of people run into every day. “SUNW represents the past, and it’s not without a nostalgic nod that we’ve decided to look ahead,” wrote CEO Jonathan Schwartz on his blog. In a press release, the company said: “As Sun’s most pervasive software offering, Java is the symbol of Sun’s ability to develop market-leading innovations with a global reach. This change helps to harness the power and recognition of that brand to drive further awareness and opportunity for Sun.” Well, maybe, though it’s doubtful all those Java users, most them of unaware of what code is running what, will be more likely to think of Sun as they work. However, in all those business stories that always list the ticker symbol after the company name, it should provide readers an instant reminder of what Sun’s into.
Java continues to impress me with its innovations in bloat, version incompatibilities, and obfuscation of poor programming practices. Long live Java!
My favorite part is how they brand a whole bunch of their crap with the Java name when it has absolutely nothing to do with Java itself. Java Desktop Environment is just a Sun-branded GNOME distribution, the Java High Availability Suite (which contains the Solaris Cluster, formerly Sun Java Cluster System, formerly Sun Cluster, formerly SunPlex manager) does all of the heavy lifting in compiled C code and shell scripts, etc etc. Their own tech writers have trouble keeping up with the constant renames. Sun’s marketing department just has this penchant for needless product renaming - I’m actually surprised that they didn’t rename the whole company Java and make McNeily’s title “Java System Executive Officer”.
Java - a product that generates insignificant revenues and absolutely no profits.
Yep, let’s brand the company with that.