There's No Java Conspiracy

Hey, Ted:

I think it is safe to say that IBM wants to sell more servers, and preferably more powerful ones (who wouldn't). It is also true that Java is slow; or, more precisely, on the same piece of hardware, a business function written in RPG will execute faster than one written in Java. But I don't think that there is some kind of conspiracy inside IBM to exploit the poor performance of Java to sell more and bigger servers. Java was invented by Sun Microsystems, and IBM jumped on the Java bandwagon after Java became popular.

Java became popular because:

• Java, like C++, on which it is based, is an object-oriented language.
• Unlike C++, Java does not allow the programmer to manipulate pointers, a major source of bugs in C++.
• Java is only partially complied and can therefore offer true "write once, run anywhere."

These are the three main reasons why Java became popular in the first place. Typically, 20 to 30 percent of the total cost of developing and maintaining software goes into development. The rest goes toward maintenance. Object-oriented programming promises to reduce maintenance cost, hence the rush for object orientation.

IBM is using and promoting Java because its programmers can write their programs once and deploy them across multiple platforms--iSeries, Mainframe, PC, Unix, Mac, etc. That saves IBM money, and it can address niche markets--for example, customers that want to use Mac instead of Windows. If it sells a little more hardware, that's a bonus.

But selling hardware can hardly be the primary reason for pushing Java. Hardware accounts for 20 to 30 percent of the total cost of IT. Software and people cost most of the money. Furthermore, hardware is getting cheaper every day. Gordon Moore (founder of Intel) predicted that processor speeds would double approximately every 18 months. This "law," now called Moore's Law, has been true for a few decades now and is expected to remain true in the foreseeable future.

So very few companies can count on hardware to make money. IBM is no exception; it makes the most money in services, followed by software, then hardware. IBM uses hardware to lure in customers and then sell software and services. Java is just one piece of the puzzle. The only way IBM may be using Java to sell more hardware is that more customers would consider an iSeries because Java runs on it.

Finally, I am not an IBM employee. Like many of your readers, I have been on the AS/400 and iSeries platform for many years and would like to see IBM do a better job of marketing it.

--A

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