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Javahahaha

It's funny how everyone gets this one wrong. The latest to do so is Rick Ross, who writes:

Microsoft is shrewd and successful at using what is tantamount to "petty cash" for the monopolist to make its problems go away. I have noticed people pointing to the investment Microsoft made in Apple some years ago as a model that predicts success for Java here. My recollection of that event has not dimmed, however, and I still regard it as one of the cleverest ways Redmond ever killed multiple birds with one stone. For a mere $150 million, which was subsequently recouped with profit from stock value increases, Microsoft was able to pay Apple to abandon its commitment to Java compatibility, and they also got to keep their weakened competitor alive so that they would have a leg to stand on in their antitrust defense. As an added plus for free market competition, Apple promptly used the money to foreclose innovation in its market segment by shutting down all the Mac clone vendors.

Uhm, where to begin? How about "no, no, not quite right, no, not even close, no, and no. Oh, and no."? Gee whiz… Did this deal have anything to do with Java? Once again: no.

2 Responses to "Javahahaha"

  1. Apple abandoned Java? That *IS* funny. Having had to support MRJ on OS9 I can happily say that OSX's java support is light years beyond OS 9.

  2. I find it interesting that the founder of "Javalobby" is apparently unaware that Java runs great on OSX, and that Apple offers a large web applications framework in Java that they use themselves.