Nova Spivack

When Java was announced in 1995 it promised to fundamentally change the landscape of the computer industry. Java offered not only a revolutionary means of writing and distributing software for the Internet, but something even more important: freedom from platforms. But today that dream is threatened by a number of attempts to "platformize" Java. One possible solution is to make Java into a true open standard. Platforms, the proprietary hardware-OS environments created by the likes of Microsoft-Intel ("Wintel"), SGI, IBM, Apple and yes, even Sun, have been the organizing principle of the computer industry since it began. By strictly controlling access to their platforms and, therefore, their audiences, these leading companies have built strategic channels for themselves and their ISV's. But Java threatens these empires because the Virtual Machine would make software... (more)