Air, Hotel and Car Rental deals at HopJet.com

Sun lets Jini out of the bottle

By Richard Morochove

First published February 4, 1999

SAN FRANCISCO - In yet another attack on Microsoft, last week Sun Microsystems uncorked its Jini technology that allows electronic devices to communicate without the need for a Windows-based PC. However, Sun's lack of experience in dealing with consumer concerns could hurt acceptance of the new standard.

Jini (pronounced GEE-nee) is a networking system based on Sun's Java programming language that's designed to make adding a device to a network as easy as plugging a telephone into a phone jack. Unlike many other networks oriented towards business computers, Jini is aimed at networking everyday devices. For example, Sun showed how you could pay a cab by just touching a few buttons on your wireless PDA. Sun Microsystems executives answer questions at Jini launch

Sun's ambitious objective is to link everything from dishwashers and heating and air conditioning systems to consumer electronics devices such as televisions, audio systems and cellular phones. If your dishwasher goes on the fritz, a remote technician could use the network to diagnose the problem and possibly repair it. Ultimately, if it runs on electricity, Sun wants to network it.

Rumours of Sun's new system for "network dial tone" have circulated since last summer, but this announcement shows the scheme now has backing from more than three dozen big players.

Jini supporters include IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Novell, America Online, Kodak, Motorola, Sharp, Toshiba and Canon. Sony and Philips will incorporate a bridge for Jini in their new HAVi (Home Audio-Video Interoperability) consumer electronics networking system. The system will allow you to access your home entertainment system and set your VCR to tape a program while you're away from home.

Sun expects a few Jini devices will be available later this year, with many more delivered in 2000. Jini will work with both wired and wireless networks. You needn't snake networking cables through the walls to take advantage of Jini. Some devices will work by using the AC electric wiring in your home as a low-speed network.

Sun's dreams for Jini could prove a nightmare for Microsoft. You see, Jini doesn't need Windows to work. Recently, Microsoft announced a Plug 'n Play networking scheme that appears similar, at least superficially, to Jini. However, Microsoft's system isn't ready yet and it places a Windows PC as front and centre, in control of the other networked devices.

Sun's Jini software, in contrast, doesn't require a PC to take charge. Jini devices co-operate with one another. Moreover, Jini software is available now for device manufacturers to download from Sun's website.

While Sun doesn't charge for the software, it's not open source code available for anyone to modify, since Sun wants to keep control of the Jini communications standard. According to Mark Tolliver, president of Sun's Consumer division, the company will make money by charging manufacturers a few cents per device for licensing the Jini logo and trademark in quantity.

What is Sun, which built its reputation on high-speed servers, doing in the consumer market? The company's antipathy towards Microsoft clearly has something to do with it. Sun wants to use Jini as a tool to make the issue of the operating system irrelevant, just as Netscape tried, and ultimately failed, to make its browser more important than Windows.

While Sun's Tolliver concedes the company has little experience marketing to consumers, he points to Sun's impressive list of partners as an indicator of future success.

Sun reminds me of another engineering-based computer company that moved into the consumer space. The "Intel Inside" marketing campaign spotlighted a once-anonymous chipmaker and turned Intel's Pentium processor into a household name.

Yet Intel stumbled badly when it refused to replace Pentium chips with a math bug for a more than a month after the defect was first reported. Intel, with all its engineering wisdom, knew the bug wouldn't affect most users. However, consumers knew they didn't want a buggy chip.

Intel learned from this unpleasant episode. The chipmaker reacted within days to the latest uproar about the potential lack of user privacy due to an identification number inside the upcoming Pentium III processor. Intel proposed the chip ID be turned off as a default, although this may not be enough to placate privacy groups.

There are also privacy concerns with Jini. A Jini wireless device announces your presence to networks in the local zone, allowing you to direct an incoming fax to a Jini-enabled printer in an airport lounge, for example. Potentially, this allows someone to track your movements. What's Sun's reaction?

"You have zero privacy now," said Sun CEO Scott McNealy at the Jini launch. "Get over it!"

Jini won't succeed if it rubs consumers the wrong way. My advice to McNealy: take a tip from Intel and respond to consumer concerns rather than dismissing them. In McNealy-speak, take your "I know best" attitude and stuff it! CW

Richard Morochove, FCA, is a Toronto-based computer consultant.

Air, Hotel and Car Rental deals at HopJet.com

Visit the ComputerWatch Archive to see more columns

Post any questions or comments about this article to Computer Watch WriteBack.