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Sun CEO On Razors And Blades
Kadin2048 writes "In an interview with BusinessWeek online, Sun Microsystems CEO Scott McNealy sheds some light on the company's new business model and future direction. In particular, he said that Sun's recent open source moves were part of a new strategy, where 'The software is the razor. The razor blades are the servers.' The move was called a huge risk by BusinessWeek, and it would put Sun at odds with the more traditional Microsoft-esque model with high per-seat or per-server software licensing costs and use commodity PCs and servers, which may not go over well with investors. But after having seen its stock slide and users flee for Linux and Windows, they arguably have little to lose. Perhaps the most interesting development to Slashdot readers is that in an effort to draw new developers to the platform, Sun is offering a deal that seems torn from a cell-phone company playbook: offering a "free" Ultra 20 Opteron workstation if you sign up for a $29.95/mo, 3-year service contract."
Let people bitch about how you can build your own for a cheaper price. The Ultra 20 is still the better deal as far as I'm concerned.
* 3 year warranty on both hardware AND software (for which you have to pay extra with just about all other vendors)
* One of the most mature operating systems out there
* One of the most mature 64-bit operating systems out there (TRUE 64 bit)
* The only commercial system that is certified to run the three (arguably) most popular operating systems - Windows, Solaris, and Red Hat
Considering all of those factors, I still consider the Ultra 20 to be a hell of a bargain.
The only catch is that is it NOT $29.95 per month. You pay in three annual installments. I posted an open letter to Sun on a web site that I write for criticizing them for continually advertising $29.95 a month when they actually do not offer such financing. Jonathan Schwartz actually responded to it on his blog stating that financing and legal are the slowest segments of any corporation to respond to new ideas and that the Ultra 20's marketing was rushed. Just an FYI on that.
Still, I'd have that Ultra 20 replace my Sun Blade 100 at home in an instant if I had the finances at the moment.
The Overrated mod is for reversing inappropriate, positive mods, not for voicing disagreement with a post.
Considering that I've been working with Sun hardware for over 10 years, yes, I am fully aware of that.
Am I supposed to care? In fact, is anyone supposed to care? If you want the UltraSPARC line, Sun still has high-end workstations to take care of that as well as ALL of their mid-range and high-end servers. They're all UltraSPARC driven. I love this system for numerous reasons, not the least of which is that the Ultra 20 supports my two favorite underdogs - Sun and AMD.
The hypocrisy on Slashdot is amazing. We all scream and cheer with "It's about time" at the announcement that Dell might sell AMD hardware. But with Sun, suddenly the attitude is "{nose in air} Well! It's NOT an UltraSPARC! Hrmph! Peasantry!"
The Overrated mod is for reversing inappropriate, positive mods, not for voicing disagreement with a post.
Apple's strategy isn't really the same. You can't (legally) get a free copy of OS X or iLife, and Apple is only giving away source code to selected software. Apple is really selling a package: the hardware, the operating system, and the applications all combine to create their product. Sun is trying to establish a model where they sell hardware and give away the software. Maybe it'll work out for them. I hope so. Sun makes good stuff, overall. It's tends to be high quality but expensive, and many companies just look at the bottom line and want to buy the cheapest stuff at the expense of quality.