Bill Gates: I'm literally losing sleep over Java (1996) • Hacker News Board

Re: Bill Gates: I'm literally losing sleep over Java (1996)

#21

Post by nostromo » Thu, Jan 05, 2023, 5:59 AM UTC

invalidname wrote: post #8

I don't like it when people focus on grammar too much but "I am worry..."?

It’s a Silicon Valley pro-tip: spelling and grammatical mistakes are signs that you’re super busy or too rich to care.

There’s a few famous VCs that are apparently too busy to ever capitalize a letter... Too busy to shift!

Re: Bill Gates: I'm literally losing sleep over Java (1996)

#22

Post by legitster » Thu, Jan 05, 2023, 6:04 AM UTC

> New things are NEVER a threat to the old world as soon as people say. Look at the mainframe vs PC. It has taken us TWO DECADES and even after all that IBM still has billions in mainframe revenue. Cool new technology always expands rapidly into NEW areas (where there is a vacuum). Pundits always say that this is going to kill the old businesses - eventually that happens but not anywhere near as soon as they say.

Re: Bill Gates: I'm literally losing sleep over Java (1996)

#23

Post by allisdust » Thu, Jan 05, 2023, 6:05 AM UTC

shmerl wrote: post #9

> it seems like it could make it easy for people to do competitive operating systems. Wow. Losing sleep becasue progress might actually happen in the operating systems space. How very '90s Microsoft.

If your current OS is the market leader why wouldn't you lose sleep over it. They are running a business and have to worry about the competition. Progress on competing products might be good for consumers but not for the employees or shareholders of the company.

Re: Bill Gates: I'm literally losing sleep over Java (1996)

#24

Post by ryanmccullagh » Thu, Jan 05, 2023, 6:05 AM UTC

Oracle had already acquired Sun by the time I was in the technology industry. The respondent states that Sun is so set on giving things away. Can someone comment on the culture of Sun at that time?

Sun seems to have left a legacy in the open source community. What was the business logic on giving away the software for free? I know it's very common today, but Sun may have been a leader in open source. Any books recommendations would be appreciated too.

Re: Bill Gates: I'm literally losing sleep over Java (1996)

#25

Post by PeterHolzwarth » Thu, Jan 05, 2023, 6:05 AM UTC

Filfre.net / The Digital Antiquarian has a two-part (and ongoing) series of articles on this era in regards to web browsers and the perceived threat of Java to Microsoft (specifically, the idea that was floating around that users could have access to all the software tools they need via a browser and JAVA: no need for MS tools or software, etc).

https://www.filfre.net/2022/12/doing-windows-part-11-the-int...

https://www.filfre.net/2022/12/doing-windows-part-12-david-a...

Re: Bill Gates: I'm literally losing sleep over Java (1996)

#26

Post by cujaneway » Thu, Jan 05, 2023, 6:06 AM UTC

hinkley wrote: post #12

I still have a JavaOne tshirt in the back of my closet that says, In a World Without Fences, Who Needs Gates?

That's great lol

Re: Bill Gates: I'm literally losing sleep over Java (1996)

#27

Post by brundolf » Thu, Jan 05, 2023, 6:06 AM UTC

legitster wrote: post #22

> New things are NEVER a threat to the old world as soon as people say. Look at the mainframe vs PC. It has taken us TWO DECADES and even after all that IBM still has billions in mainframe revenue. Cool new technology always expands rapidly into NEW areas (where there is a vacuum). Pundits always say that this is going to kill the old businesses - eventually that happens but not anywhere near as soon as they say.

This has been my gut feeling about the new AI technologies we've seen recently. We'll see what happens

Re: Bill Gates: I'm literally losing sleep over Java (1996)

#28

Post by wayeq » Thu, Jan 05, 2023, 6:08 AM UTC

mccorrinall wrote: post #6

Javabeans give me nightmares too

I still don't understand what they are.

Re: Bill Gates: I'm literally losing sleep over Java (1996)

#29

Post by faefox » Thu, Jan 05, 2023, 6:08 AM UTC

eddsh1994 wrote: post #18

> Virtual worlds could be such a thing Haha, Metaverse talk while Zuckerberg was in preschool

Oh man, VR and metaverse-style concepts were big in the 90s even if the technology obviously wasn't quite there yet. Active Worlds predated Second Life by several years and surprisingly enough is still online to this day.

Re: Bill Gates: I'm literally losing sleep over Java (1996)

#30

Post by resonious » Thu, Jan 05, 2023, 6:09 AM UTC

> First, the excitement is overblown - at least from a business perspective. At the moment Java is expanding into a vacuum. It allows you to make cool web pages, and that is a very attractive thing for people. It gives programmers something new to learn, book people something new to sell books on, software tool companies a way to issue new development tools etc.

This is a pretty interesting take, and it feels relevant to this day with respect to both frontend and backend frameworks. I always thought of frameworks as just fads where people simply enjoy to try new ideas and are just having fun. I've always agreed with the overall sentiment that, for example, no one will be going out of business just because their frontend isn't React, but it's interesting to consider that people also profit off of these "fads" by selling books and tools, resulting in a sort of perpetual motion machine.