This is the final segment of a 3 part interview series with Jonathan Schwartz, EVP of Sun Software. In part 1, Mr. Schwartz talked about how Sun is expanding its software business. In part 2, he talked about why Sun isn’t worried about Linux. Today, Mr. Schwartz talks about the future of the software business.
Sun’s Schwartz on the Future of Software
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Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
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I read this guy’s interviews, and either he is clueless or I am. Either his “answers” are intentionally evasive and vapid, or his intellect is so far beyond mine that I can’t grasp his pearls of wisdom and insight. I walk away shaking my head, thinking “This is why Sun’s in trouble – their senior management just doesn’t think the way the rest of us do.”
I wonder if Schwartz was on crack or what for this part of the interview?
Future of software industry? ¨Hollywood.¨
What keeps him up at night? ¨Helicopters looking for terrorists.¨
Plenty of room left for more power? ¨Oh yes. Absolutely.¨
What he hasn´t got a clue about? ¨How to make Solaris work on x86.¨
That last one was even funny.
I feel sad for the Sun shareholders. Sun’s management and culture are rotten to the core, focusing on hype and endless corporate politics instead of market opportunities and merit.
Actually, the helicopters make sense. I’m sure Schwartz is a corporate terrorist hired by Microsoft to infiltrate Sun and help destroy it from within. All it takes is one incompetent executive to sink the ship.
Schwartz is obviously a dotcom guy. Glib and slick but without brain cells or experience. I bet Microsoft got him for cheap even.
Check this Dow Jones Business News:
¨Jonathan Schwartz sold 213,307 shares for $3.82 to $3.85 each. After the transactions, he directly owned 778,109 common shares.¨
Humm, now I know why he answered that the future of software was in… games.
I don´t think this guy cares much about what he says or does at Sun anymore.
So Michael I guess you are right: top management at Sun is rotten. 🙁
A pity, really. They had the best workstations back in the old times…
>> Yes. I’d love to hear from them what
>> we need to do to make Solaris Intel
>> work for them.
Talk about retrospective wisdom, and getting wise when it is way too late. If they had done a compelling Solaris on Intel a few years back, maybe they’d actually have had a chance.
So while SUN is going down the toilet we have a moron like this making decisions. I’ve contacted Sun management before, and they’re more interested about bashing Microsoft than actually looking at Microsofts software line up, learn, then learn from the mistakes Microsoft has made. Believe me, Microsoft has made alot of mistakes.
They had the best workstations back in the old times…
I know! Bring back the li’l stackable SCSI pizza boxes! And put firewire on ’em. And use Linux.
I am the ape man
Part 2 of the interview links to an <a href=”http://siliconvalley.internet.com/news/article.php/2201491“>inte… with McNealy where he discusses horses:
“I believe you are going to see consolidation in the middleware,” he said. “From an engineering and licensing perspective, we’re trying to integrate our middleware. I like to think of it as ‘metal or plastic wrapped’ software that comes with the server and you only have to update once a quarter. I mean, think about how much of your company’s business is available on the browser. The stumbling block had been the user interface, but we’ve been able to address that with Mad Hatter and Star Office 6.1. But people still ride horses.”
Such is life under the influence of horse tranquiliser.