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Networks
Over the past decade, the
emergence of the Internet has given computer networks a place in everyday
life. Already, life without email or the Web is beginning to seem distant and
impossible. The Net already functions like an immense repository of
information, organized in a complex fabric of interconnected servers. It is
characterized by the complexity of the network, which provides richness of
content, yet makes navigation difficult. Existing Internet technologies -
TCP/IP, email, the browser - are ingenious, but not perfect. There is plenty
of room for improvement. By creating a distributed
system where every hardware component is “Plug-and-Work” in compliance with
an established industry standard, the very meaning of the word computer is
called into question. Joy’s ultimate goal is to see an age where the
individual is not limited by the platform/operating system one is running on
a personal machine. Much like what he and Sun did in introducing the platform-friendly
Java programming language, Joy seeks to generalize computing access further with
the next revolutionary product, Jini. This distributed system would allow computing
access simply by plugging one’s monitor into the network and using the shared
resources of the internet. Sun’s motto is “The
Network is the Computer” and soon via Jini and language Java, it hopes to
make this a reality by universalizing access to everyone on the planet. |