This will pave the way for what he and his colleagues call the “network computer” … If you build in Java, you’re not tied to an Intel or Windows architecture, and you’re not required to update the application’ every time those companies change a microprocessor or operating-system design. The whole industry is focused on how to win in this new paradigm.
Predictor: Schmidt, Eric
Prediction, in context:In a 1995 article for The Washington Post, Elizabeth Corcoran talks with Eric Schmidt, chief technology officer for Sun Microsystems, regarding the new Java programming language. Corcoran writes: ”The hottest idea in the high-tech world right now is a new computer language called Java, whose enthusiasts claim it represents nothing less than a revolution in computing … unveiled about six months ago by engineers at Sun Microsystems in Mountain View, Calif., Java is a programming language, cousin to the likes of more mundanely named languages such as C++. What unusual about this language is that it allows programmers to create little virtual machines – known as ‘applets’ – that can temporarily set up shop in a person’s computer and carry out a task. Equally crucial, applets can be safely swapped among people via the Internet without fear of spreading hard-disk-wrecking viruses … What’s exciting about Java isn’t what it is, but what people hope to do with it. Java offers software developers a way to create relatively small, self-contained programs that introduce ‘interactivity’ – change, motion, responsiveness – to the information shared on networks … Anyone could write an applet, suggested Eric Schmidt, chief technologist at Sun. And anyone could pick and choose which tools they want to use for any specific project … [Andy Larson of Oracle] argues that this will pave the way for what he and his colleagues call the ‘network computer’ … That kind of future looks like paradise to critics and competitors of Microsoft, who have long complained that the company has used its strength in operating system software to leap ahead in the applications business. ‘If you build in Java, you’re not tied to an Intel or Windows architecture, and you’re not required to update the application’ every time those companies change a microprocessor or operating-system design, said Schmidt … ‘The whole industry is focused on how to win in this new paradigm.'”
Biography:Eric Schmidt was chief technology officer at Sun Microsystems from 1983-1997, where he earned international recognition as an Internet pioneer. He was also instrumental in the development and widespread acceptance of Java – Sun’s highly successful 1990s Internet programming language. He later worked as chief executive at Google. (Pioneer/Originator.)
Date of prediction: January 1, 1995
Topic of prediction: Information Infrastructure
Subtopic: Language/Interface/Software
Name of publication: Washington Post
Title, headline, chapter name: Java Jumps Into the Net: Proponents Say New Software Language Could Herald Computing Revolution
Quote Type: Partial quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/document?_m=98798d332922c4fe5736225250244396&_docnum=11&wchp=dGLbVlb-lSlzV&_md5=2a79eed22ee9bd9cc86df53e03e58a59
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Sturmfelz, Matt