Blog: Claudia Imhoff

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Sun Sets on SUNW -- Have a Cup of JAVA Instead

Sun Microsystems has decided that its stock ticker for 21 years just doesn't reflect its new face. The company, formerly known as SUNW, now wants to be known as JAVA. Good move or bad?

And here's a quiz for you -- what does SUNW stand for? Think you know? Read on...

Yes -- Sun decided on August 23 that it will change its NASDAQ stock symbol to JAVA to reflect its devotion to the computer language. According to Jonathan Schwartz' blog: "I know that sounds audacious, but wherever I travel in the world, I'm reminded of just how broad the opportunity has become, and how pervasively the technology and brand have been deployed. Java truly is everywhere."

Uh huh...

I highly recommend that you also read through some of the 364 comments (at the time of this blog) on his blog regarding this move. Here are just a few:

"In the minds of many people, Java == slow. With all the recent rebranding, the first thing we always have to do is to convince the customer that no, the desktop window manager is not written in Java, the directory server, etc. etc. is not interpreted and slow."

"What a TERRIBLE idea! When we used "Java" in the name of all our software products a few years ago, customers were confused and frankly just laughed at us-- Java Desktop System was the prime offender, as it mostly uses no Java technology whatsoever. We're still licking our wounds and only just beginning to change the name of JDS now in OpenSolaris. So why use it for a company where most of the staff and products aren't Java-related either?"

"As a Sun investor I see this as a horrible idea. Not many people know that what the W in SUN stands for, and it really doesn't matter. What does matter is JAVA is more of a limiting factor than this illusion of infinite possibilities, Java is only a single platform and not representative of all of your wonderful products. SUNW allows for more possibles instead of being known as only the Java company. This is a sad day. :( "

"What a waste of money. How do all the people you're laying off soon feel about this? How many of their jobs could you have saved, how much security to worried families, with the money this must be costing Sun in admin fees?"

Ouch!

And my own -- for those who may want to buy some of Sun's stock? Do you think they will know that Sun now starts with a "J"? Call me old fashioned but I would think most people would look up a company by some of the letters in its name...

I think I now know what happened to the marketing person who came up with the brilliant idea to get rid of the old Coke flavor -- anyone remember that one?

Now for the answer to my quiz -- SUNW stood for Stanford University Network Workstation -- a respectable albeit academic acronym. What must Scott McNealy think?

Yours in BI and rebranding success,

Claudia

Technorati Tags: SUNW Sun Microsystems, new ticker symbol, Jonathan Schwartz, rebranding Sun

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