Sun overrun by marketing department

I have to start by saying, I really like Java. I’m not a hater. It is my language of choice for many projects. Java solves a lot of problems well. And, like everything, has its drawbacks too. And one of those drawbacks is the way Sun markets Java.

What bugs me about Sun is its marketing department. Does every 3rd party application need the Java logo upon startup?

If you write an applet, Sun’s marketing department is there to make sure there’s an animated Java Logo taxing the already strained CPU while your applet loads.

If you write a Java Web Start application, Sun’s marketing department is there to make sure the users see a big splash screen proclaim the use of Java in the application.

And lets not forget that all important Java tray icon that needs to be visible whenever the JVM is loaded.

Want to use an application on your phone? Well, hold everything while Sun’s marketing department throws up a splash screen to inform you that, yes indeed this application uses Java.

And its a good thing they tell you its written in Java too. Just imagine the catastrophe that would follow if the user was somehow unaware that she was using application written in Java.

I believe this is why so many people have negative attitudes towards Java.  In the users minds, every poorly written Java application on the web is connect to the Java brand.   And there are an awfully lot of poorly written applications out there.  Of course this isn’t a technical failing of Java, these apps are just badly written.

Just imagine it every time a C++ application (or an ActiveX control) misbehaved you were greeted by an MSVC splash screen.  If this were the case there would probably be more resentment misdirected at MSVC (and not against the poorly written application that crashed).

Then there’s Java version number mess. I been using Java since version 1.0. It’s been quite a ride.

Sun: Releasing Java 1.1

Sun: Releasing Java 1.2

Sun: No, wait! Java 1.2 is now known as Java.NEXT,

User: ok

Sun: Strike that, it is not Java.Next. We’ll call it Java 2.0

User: sure, whatever. I like bigger numbers too.

Sun: New version of Java is ready.

User: So the next version is Java 2.1 or Java 3.0 right?

Sun: Nope. The next version of Java is called Java 1.3

User: That’s odd. Did I pass through a time warp? I see the term J3EE all over the web. Did J2EE become J3EE?

Sun: Nope, we call that J2EE version 1.3. They are just confused.

User: fine

Sun: Releasing Java 1.4

User: So this is J2EE 1.4. Is Java 1.5 ready?

Sun: Silly user. It’s not Java 1.5. It’s called Java 5.0

User: What happened to versions 3.0 and 4.0? Did I just leap into the distant future?

Sun: <Crickets>

Users: ok, so its J2EE version 5.0? right?

Sun: Nope, its J5EE this time. But sometimes we call it J2EE 5 too. And please also call it “Tiger”

User: Ok, J2EE 5.0 Tiger.

Sun: Guess what? We have a new Java version. Want to guess the version number?

User: Let me guess…. Java J2.1EE 1.6 Tutrle GTS? Did I get close?

And then there was Java Desktop System. Which is basically a re-branded version of Gnome. It really didn’t have a whole lot to do with Java.

Don’t even get me started on the marketing that lead to the name JavaScript. Java vs JavaScript is the source of all sorts of confusion for many users.

The latest marketing move is that Sun is changing is stock symbol from Sunw to Java. This will probably make the term Java even more ambiguous. Look what happened with the .Net name. The term Dot Net was used in so many context it became to mean anything and everything relating to Microsoft technologies. The .Net name was use to describe many different products and services. Ex: Do I really need to be using .Net to use passport? To this day it still confounds many in the industry, the media and the public at large. I predict that Sun is about to follow that same road. All of Sun’s products may some day bear the name Java.

<insert Java splash screen here>