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Sun Unveils Network Computing Initiative

$995 device gets mixed reviews; plays on cheap and easy support theme.

By James Niccolai (IDG News Service)   

The JavaStation is a sleek, trimmed-down device that has no hard disk, slots, or CD-ROM drive. It resembles a laptop computer stood on end. The device derives its applications and storage power from servers via the Internet or corporate intranets, which Sun officials said can reduce network maintenance costs by more than 50 percent over traditional PC-based networks.

The basic JavaStation is priced at $742 with a keyboard and mouse. A $995 version includes a 14-inch color monitor, and a fully configured version is priced at $1,565. The device is expected to ship in December.

Sun officials said the key advantage of the JavaStation lies in its ease of maintenance and operation and its potential for long-term savings. %dquotThe initial cost really just doesn%squott matter,%dquot said Scott McNealy, Sun president and CEO. %dquotJavaStations would be a great deal at even three times the price. The issue is that we think we can bring running costs [of each workstation] down to $2,500 per year.%dquot

The company also announced more than 300 independent software developers will support its JavaStation products.

Sun also introduced its Netra J server line, with an array of software to help businesses deploy Java across multi-platform networks. The five servers offer browser-based administration and management tools and support traditional PCs as well as workstation clients. They range from entry-level servers for 20 to 50 network computers, priced at $7,695, to high-end servers that support thousands of computers, priced at more than $200,000. Sun also unveiled HotJava Views, its Java-based %dquotWebtop%dquot environment, featuring e-mail, HTML browsing, calendaring and a name directory.

But while Sun officials heralded the network computing initiative as a new paradigm in computing, some analysts said Sun will have to work hard to convince IS managers to shed their PC mindset to appreciate the benefits of the promised long-term savings.

%dquotThese days you can pick up a Pentium computer for under $1,000,%dquot said Mary Hubley, an analyst at New Jersey-based Datapro. %dquotWhen companies buy computers they%squotre often shopping for people who are interested in short- term investment gains. Sun will have to do its marketing right to pull this one off.%dquot

Another analyst was disappointed the JavaStation only has a single Ethernet connection port, with no ports for ISDN or Token Ring. %dquotThat%squots going to slow them down,%dquot said analyst Sandy Sampson of InfoSpin, a New Jersey-based consulting firm.

McNealy said Sun plans to introduce more network ports in the next version of JavaStation, which may be released in early 1997. %dquotWe have a long way to go before we reach perfection,%dquot McNealy said. %dquotBut this is at a highly workable stage.%dquot

Sun must also get rid of the perception that the network computer is %dquotjust a dumb terminal hanging off a mainframe,%dquot Sampson said. %dquotIt isn%squott, but people will see it like that until they adjust to this network computing model.%dquot

Sun officials were quick to dismiss challenges presented by Microsoft and Intel, who yesterday answered the threat posed to traditional PCs by network computers by announcing they would offer hardware and software to make it cheaper to load copies of programs onto multiple computers. McNealy dismissed their notion of a so-called thin- client PC as %dquotan oxymoron.%dquot

%dquotPeople call it a fat-client PC on a diet. I call it a PC in a corset, with the strings pulled real tight and a red face. You can%squott change what it is. A fat PC is a fat PC,%dquot he said.