McNealy Created Millions of Jobs?

cahiha writes "In his blog, Jonathan Schwartz argues that Scott McNealy is single-handedly responsible for making network computing a reality. His timeline is something like that in 1992, the industry was focused on 'Chicago' (Windows 95), while McNealy bravely went his own way-- 'the network is the computer.' He goes on to claim that 'There is no single individual who has created more jobs around the world than [Scott McNealy]. [...] I'm not talking hundreds or thousands of jobs, I'm talking millions.' I have trouble following his argument: client/server computing and distributed computing were already widely available and widely used in the early 1990s. The defining applications of the emerging Internet were, not Java, but Apache, Netscape, and Perl. Sun's biggest response to Chicago was to attempt to establish Java as the predominant desktop application delivery platform, something they have not succeeded at so far. So, what do you think: is Schwartz right in giving credit to McNealy for creating 'millions' of jobs? Or has Sun been a company on the decline since the mid-1990s, only temporarily buoyed by the Internet bubble?"

Comments

IS it good or bad or something else?

[3seas]

Networking wold never have happened had it not been for McNeely?

You can create more work to do by making it require more people to screw in a lightbulb.

But does it mean more gets done?

The reason the Mac hasn't become a big System Admin system is because its easier to use.
I forget where that research was done, but in essence it resulted in fewer needed to screw in the light bulb, decreasing job security and pay scale..

msft did not make computers easier to use

[walterbyrd]

1984: Compare a Mac to a DOS box. Ten years later, msft still did not have an GUI OS, just a "pretty face on DOS."

Apple didn't invent the GUI. Apple just made it practical for the masses. Still, where was msft in all this until the mid 90s? At best msft was badly lagging Apple.

In terms of ease of use, I don't think msft has ever caught up to Apple.

Re:Where credit is due.

[Kiaser Wilhelm II]

He didn't mention a word about Al Gore.