Max Goff's Blog

June 2005 Archives

JavaOne - X - Catharsis and Denouement

Visiting the Jeckyll and Hyde city (as Timothy so aptly describes San Francisco) has always provided a measure of insight for me ... I am a graduate of USF, a great school. I have attended most of the JavaOne celebrations since 1996, an annual pilgrimage, as witness and promoter of the Age of Java and the culture around it. I have been in and out of the city on business more times than I can remember since I first began to make a living in software in the early 1980s ... and I even hitch-hiked through San Francisco in the summer of 1970, while still a rebellious teenager in search of America.

This trip, this year, this 10th anniversary of the JavaOne celebration, has been a particularly insightful sojourn to the city for me, after 35 years of visiting, appreciating and learning from San Francisco.

Please bear in mind that I have fed a personal pro-Sun bias. As I may have stated in previous bloviations, I have admired what Sun Microsystems has stood for and the people who invented it before, during, and after my personal tenure with that firm. In truth, I have probably projected my own desire for “goodness” onto what I once percieved to be Sun's organization, culture and technologies. But perhaps Sun hasn't changed as much as I have ...

This time it wasn't about the gadgets, as no really new, really cool gadgets were to be found at the Moscone this year. And it wasn't about the latest in innovative infrastructure or tools, because there simply wasn't anything all that novel. This year, after railing against the incipid promotion that passes for marketing at Sun, I have come to the conclusion that it isn't about the technology anymore either.

If there is anything of value in JavaOne, it's the people. It's the kindred souls that gather to schmooze, and learn, and feel a little less alone in what is generally a very alienating world. There is a shared experience thing at JavaOne ... a club of sorts, that one joins by simply showing up with the proper credentials – it's the claim to proper geekhood that no degree or certification or all-night hacking experience ever seems to provide.

JavaOne projects a certain “I don't want to grow up” mystic onto the developer community, providing bean bag chairs ala that first collegiate apartment experience, with copious video games and ever-present presumably geek-cool entertainment. Oh, and then there are the technology sessions proper, where programming memes get passed around, and of course the BOFs, which are better. The general sessions, with micro-celebrities galore, help to cement that sense of identity and community and belonging to something greater than yourself. A technologist's Brigadoon ... almost.

In the end, it's a hollow substitute for real community. It's somebody else's idea as to how you should behave, think, feel, play, recreate, consume and ultimately, work. Despite the missed opportunities, I still want to believe in what I once projected onto Sun --- but I think I know now, that was me. That was never Sun.

Sun is not church. It's not faith. It's not country. Sun Microsystems is a 'C' corporation, organized under the laws of the State of Delaware that trades on the NASDQ under the symbol SUNW. The theory of the firm suggests that the company's primary responsibility is to return value to the owners (the stockholders). That's it. End of story.

Java doesn't “LOVE” anybody. That's nonesense. It's very poor promotion that stoops to such slogans. It sure doesn't sell anything to anybody, and is therefore a vapid waste of resources. I suppose the people providing the promotional stunts for the show made a living for a few days ... to that extent, some “social good” was accomplished. But ... it was as ill considered as were the Java condoms, the Age of Participation theme and the hypocritical handwaving about fixing any number of social injustices via technological innovation.

Still ... it's the people; the relationships that are fostered and grown based on a technology-based identity that are as meaningful and rewarding as any moveable feast based on computing. Not family ... not congregation ... not even community ... more like friends. With wings.

JavaOne: one part Rorschach Test, two parts Kant's “ding an sich,” shaken, not stirred ... topped with a splash of catharsis. Happy Birthday Java.

Note for future events: If you are going to go to the bother of raising the curtain on a new age, at least make it an age with something meaningful to offer ... I want to be inspired, not just included. I want motivation, not a membership card. How about leading in an Age of Virtue? Or serving in an Age of Abundance? Or commiting to an Age of Responsibility? Next time, have the courage to usher in an Age of Meaning ... and perhaps a lot more people will line up.

JavaOne - X - You Had Me At Hello

I have had a strong Jini bias since first learning about it, which was, to my reckoning, right before it was officially released in 1999. The first record I have that mentions Jini is dated mid-January of that year – a few weeks before the actual release of the first official download of the Jini protocols. I remember, when I first understood what it was about and what it meant, how excited I got. It was like discovering something really cool and important, and all I wanted to do was share that discovery with engineers all around the world, thinking that they too would share the vision. How could anyone not get how important and wonderful Jini was? Self-healing networks ... automatic configuration ... emergent organization ... the possibilities were enormous. Between Jini and JavaSpaces, there was nothing that couldn't be done in the realm of distributed computing.

I remembered those salad days when I attended a wonderful BOF Monday night, given by a terribly funny Jens Kleemann of Dusseldorf, Germany, who had consulted on an implementation of a clustered (almost GRID) system (250+ COTS nodes) using Jini. And again on Tuesday night at the combined Communities celebration (Jini, JXTA and java.net). While Jini may still be the Java red-headed step child, it seems to me that some of the best and the brightest are still attracted to this “Cool Stuff” Track technology.

So what happened to Jini? Why no chasm crossing attempt for such a compelling system? Alas, because when it comes to market chasms and disruptive technologies, there is really only one discipline in the firm that is responsible for their ultimate success or failure. It's the very same folks that brought you JavaOne in the first place, the same people that blesses ill-considered slogans on dancing coffee cups, and yes, Java logo condoms ... it's the marketing function.

As great as Sun is at engineering and technology, that's how bad they are at marketing.

Condoms. I was stunned. Condoms, with a Java logo ... given away like candy in a bowel. Right there on the give-away table at the joint community celebration, with Duke in tow and a birthday cake. Condoms. What were they thinking? Are the marketing powers at Sun truthfully that obtuse? My goodness, I hope no one I know is responsible for the stunning array of marketing failures I have witnessed during these past few days. I mean, I always knew Sun wasn't the greatest marketeer on the planet. But now it seems like they are going out of their way to alienate many who really care.

Okay, so maybe I'm a bit of a prude. But hey, where's the political correctness when it comes to crap like that? Here's what I don't get: how can the politically correct, everbody matters, everybody has value crowd condone the imposition of their own values on everyone else, regardless of the consequences? If everyone matters, then do not the traditional values matter? The hypocricy, it seems to me, is that everyone matters as long as they happen to agree that everyone matters – and those of us who happen to subscribe to more of a traditional American value system in which some degree of discretion is allowed when it comes to assessing the value of individual contribution no longer matter. It's the "get over it, they are only condoms" attitude that gets me ... as if that was assumed to be the zeitgeist at large.

For a global firm like Sun, which seems to go out of its way to be socially aware and not offend anyone, they sure seem to be missing the point. Unless, of course, this is Graham Hamilton's ploy to make certain Jini doesn't ever succeed, by discouraging Jini engineers from biological reproduction altogether ...

I have long been enamored with Sun's technologies and the engineers that create and represent them. Well before joining Sun, I was a fan of Bill Joy and his work, and Gosling and his pre-Java work – what self-respecting geek doesn't at least appreciate emacs?

After leaving Sun, I have remained an enthusiastic champion of the technologies, especially innovations like Jini. But when it comes to marketing ... there are no words to express the stunning lack of acumen.

I'm beginning to think Sun would be better off with literally no promotion at all. Let the engineers speak. If you are a marketeer at Sun, just shut up. You had me at hello.

JavaOne - X - Java Loves You

The pavillion floor is a little odd as well. In a repeat of last year's debacle, Sun has once again taken a large cloistered island of real estate dead center show, but at least they seem to have spread out the booths a bit in '05, giving one a more welcoming feel when attempting to run the gaunlet of Sun's stuff. But that's not what is odd ... it's the collection of vendors.

Noticable by their absence is IBM (and Eclipse). Noticable, too, by their absence is another rather luminous Java Platform partner: Apple. And then there is the small oddity of Microsoft, deftly huddled in the back corner, trying to not seem so very obviously out of place.

Please don't think I am against the Redmond Giant's participation in this Age of Participation – clearly, interoperability between J2EE and .NET is going to be good for everyone, right? But if it is truly the Age of Participation, then what about IBM, who has invested a lot more development dollars into the Java Platform than any entity on the planet, including Sun? What about Apple, who has successfully commercialized a version of Bill Joy's very own BSD Unix port?

Sure, there was videotape from Steve Mills of IBM during yesterday's remarkable keynote by Schwartz in which all the politically correct bases were touched. But the fact of the matter is, it was video. No one from IBM, the largest computer vendor on earth and the primary purveyor of Java Technology ever, could be found to speak at the 10th anniversary celebraton. No one to blow out a candle, or wish Sun another great decade, or stand for a photo to commemorate the day.

That's a little odd, don't you think?

Here's another thing that strikes me as being just a little odd ... this coffee cup, parading in front of the Moscone all day long, waving at traffic and standing for photos with conference attendees. What's with the "Java Loves You" slogan? Are the savy marketeers from Sun really that insensitive?

See, where I live in the mid-South region of the United States, there is another "J... Loves You" slogan which tends to strike a deep chord in a lot (perhaps a majority) of people, having nothing to do with technology, economics or entertainment, but having everything to do with things that actually matter. Does anyone responsible for marketing at Sun have a clue when it comes to true sensitivity and to the feelings of that much maligned majority? Or does the "Age of Participation" vision apply only to those people who don't happen to be so blatantly traditional? Then again, maybe it's just me. Maybe I'm being too sensitive, right? Maybe I read way too much into it, and the insensitivity I sense is nonsense. That could very well be the case.

But then again, if both IBM and Apple, both of which are sensible vendors, both having once been very visible JavaOne sponsors in past years, are boycotting the 10th JavaOne celebration ... well, maybe I'm not the only one sensing the stench of politically correct insensitivity. It does seem to be a little odd ... don't you think?

JavaOne - X - The Age of Participation

That's was the focus of the Jonathan Schwartz keynote this morning. The Age of Participation ... presumably not named for the book by the same name, published in 1995. Is it a coincidence that the title of a decade old book emerged as the theme for the 10 year anniversary of Java? Hmmmm.

Okay. So it's a new age. I didn't know. I guess I was supposed to be thinking that we were still mired in the Information Age .... not.

Talk about lame. I can't believe a marketing machine as savy as Sun's couldn't do better than "The Age of Participation." Not only is it lame, it seriously begs the question. Beneath the Age of Participation nonsense is a not-so-subtle message that everyone, each and every unique soul on the planet, has something of value to offer in this wonderous new age.

What crap. First rate baloney. Despite rumors to the contrary,the "it's all good" ethic that seems to permeate just about everything we are fed in these interesting times is a blatant lie: it is most assuredly NOT all good. Some things are just plain bad. But I digress. The politically correct smell of "The Age of Participation" and the rhetoric supporting it was offensive to at least one blogger this year.

One thing Schwartz said was fascinating – something to the effect that all Sun's software assets would become open source in due course. Now THAT would be real news ... not the social awareness handwaving that Schwartz spent way too many slides professing. Last year I heard a Schwartz that was Lord of the Ring Tones, exclaiming the money-making virtues of the Java Platform – which is the only really sound social engineering strategy that actually works anyway. The crap this year is either a red herring or a New Age apologetics that just doesn't work in the forum in which it was played. Where is Ayn Rand when you really need her?

At least John Gage was back as chief father-figure – he was MIA last year. Alas, he seems to have fallen prey to an out-of-control bottle of Grecian Formula, but his staid presence was sorely missed in 2004 and most welcome this year regardless of apparal.

Lots of lines at JavaOne ... there are more of us this year than last. The economy must have improved. Perhaps it's the 10 year thing that brought the crowd this year --- or perhaps interopererability with Microsoft is the thing, with McNealy having finally buried the hatchet with Ballmer and company. Or maybe it's just me. But there does seem to be more in attendance this year than last ... still not as many as the hey-day, pre-bubble-pop 2000 JavaOne. But more than 2004.

Last year Sun employees working the event wore red shirts. This year they are back in a yam-like orange and a light blue. Now I'm wondering if last year's colors were a subtle nod to the red states in what was destined to be a compelling Bush victory. And now that the race is decided, it's back to the old blue state zeitgeist that has long been the hallmark of Sun propoganda, with a touch of yam, just to keep it interesting.

It seems the Kool-Aid (from nearly a decade in Sun's direct employment) has finally worn off.

Somewhere between a plitically correct political convention and a theme park with coding seminars is what JavaOne has become in this tenth instantiation of JavaOne.

I've seen a number of people I knew during my time with Sun – I probably have even more regard for them now that enough time has passed for me to remember those days with a touch of meloncholy. Friends and acquaintances are, in the end, much more important than technologies or markets in any event.

Java One - X - Early Monday

Habitually, I unpacked my suitcase, surveyed everything I'd accomplished Saturday night, and repacked again from scratch, and in the process managed to cut back on one pair of shoes, one T-shirt, two pair of socks and some underwear ... okay, so I overpack.

I was ready to roll by 8am, so I had an hour to kill before my ride arrived ... again, a creature of habit.

We finally left Nashville on Southwest Flight 660 a little before 11am on Sunday, landing in Oakland a little before 2pm local time. I am travelling with the CEO of my firm, Timothy Estes. I think it was my idea that we come to JavaOne this year, though he required little in the way of arm-twisting: Java Platform technologies are important to a lot of organizations, including our customers. Plus, we had other business we to accomplish while in the bay area. So between my blogging the event, actual business to be done and ample schmoozing opportunities, we should stay pretty busy.

By the time we claimed our luggage, arranged for car service into the city, checked in our rooms and hiked to the Moscone registration area (by way of Mel's Diner) it was nearly 5pm. As an JavaOne alumni, my badge got me into the (yawn) fireside chat, featuring Hal Stern, Graham Hamilton and Gosling, among others. The attendance was sparse – maybe 400 in a room that would hold three times that many. And there seemed to be a sense of exhaustion in the room ... or maybe it was me.

I left before the official end of the fireside, finding little in the way of heat or warmth by the side of that particular fire. One baiting question regarding the Microsoft track this year wasn't taken ... Gosling did start in on how he had seen Microsoft-enabled phones in Europe that only ran JVMs, but Graham Hamilton quickly piped in with what must now be the Sun party line in terms of interoperability being good for customers ... and of course he is right. It's interesting to watch the political shifting sands though – in the end, maybe it was the entertainment value that was important all along.

The give-away this year includes a JavaOne backpack and a 10 year anniversary Duke T-shirt, both of which are pictured here. What, no jPod?

Hoofing it back to the Pan Pacific, which is a nice haunt for the price, I was still on Nashville time, so got settled in well before the city entered the nocturnal shift change – I saved this entry on my hard drive to upload this morning as I now watch the sleepy crowd saunder into the Moscone. I'm still on Nashville time, is seems.

More to come for the 10th JavaOne ...

Blogging JavaOne

So the big story at JavaOne should be the Microsoft/Sun engagement, and how that plays out in the various sessions. But there may be other observations that would be equally compelling to review ... what would you like to read about from JavaOne this year?

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