Making money is the theme of mini-symposium for professionals
New York — As Grady Booch, one of the godfathers of object-oriented programming, likes to say: “The ultimate test for all this Java stuff is whether it makes any money.” And though Booch was not present, that clearly was the sentiment of those who attended the July 25th one-day conference on “Making Money with Java: Developing and Selling Your Skills,” sponsored by Java Users, a special-interest group of the New York Amateur Computer Club. “Amateur” was far from the password to this event, however. Convening at the Information Technology Center, at 55 Broad Street, about 200 developers, entrepreneurs, and artists exchanged insights, strategies, and visions in a setting located literally in the shadows of the New York Stock Exchange.
“The first companies to adopt Java are going to be the first to reap the rewards,” said conference organizer Olivia Whiteman, the Java Users chair. “The future is going to show that Java applications will be a key technology for integrating total communications systems — not just something for Web sites.”
“Companies involved with Java are going to be the next darlings of the venture capitalists,” said attendee Elliott Werner, president of Millennium Systems. “It is rare for computer conferences to be held in the Wall Street area. The fact that a Java conference was held only yards from the Stock Exchange shows its economic importance.”
The conference featured seven workshops, ten exhibit-hall presentations, and a keynote address from JavaSoft’s Internet Market Development Manager, Roger Thornton.
Thornton pointed to interactive content delivery as the largest looming marketplace for the commercialization of Java-enabled products and services. And in doing so, he also touted the potential for wide acceptance of the embryonic network computer (NC) phenomenon.
Thornton began his presentation by holding up a diskette and a CD and asking the audience which of the two they would currently prefer for listening to their favorite song. Obviously, the CD won hands-down. “But why should you need either one of these?” Thornton asked. “All you want is the music. For content delivery — in music, video, animation, and on and on — Internet-based Java solutions open up the application market enormously. The end-user’s equipment restrictions simply no longer stand in the way. This shifts the balance of power toward the content provider.
“However, right now there is a mismatch between the tools available for content creators and these new opportunities in the means of distribution,” Thornton continued. “We are going to see a wealth of new tools developed to bridge this gap in the very near future — we are seeing them now actually. This is a tremendously fertile area.”
