The Internet Is Dead

• By Doug Barney
• 08/27/2007

While Cuban made his billions from the Internet, he's not too excited about what he sees in today's cyberspace. Cuban argues that the Internet "is dead" and -- in a huge surprise to kids all over America -- that the 'Net "is for old people."

Cuban loves to stir things up, but he makes some excellent points in a lengthy interview with Portfolio magazine. His main concern is that broadband speeds aren't increasing fast enough and aren't nearly snappy enough to support revolutionary applications like quickly downloading high-quality movie files.

In a move I'll happily back, Cuban is calling for home connections to be 1GB per second. Now, that's some serious downloading!

A Fresh Look at Microsoft and Open Source
We at Redmond have been semi-fans of what Microsoft is doing with open source interoperability. Clearly, Microsoft has a Windows-first approach to interoperability and management, such as its support for Centeris, Centrify and Vintela (now owned by Quest), which all do a fine job of helping Windows tools like AD to manage Linux, Unix and other systems (even the Mac!).

And Microsoft's détente with Novell is very real, unlike the deal with Sun which seems to have turned into nothing besides an agreement not to publicly flog each other.

Microsoft critics continue to harp on the flaws, arguing that Microsoft doesn't "get" open source licensing and, as a commercial (read: capitalist) concern, is trying to define (read: control) how interoperability happens.

The critics are absolutely right, but so is Microsoft. It's doing the best it can given the limits of self-interest. But that's just my opinion. Tell us what you think at [email protected].

Quick Take: Java Is Back, Baby!
Sun, to my mind, has been a mite shy about Java lately. It's been years since I've heard Scott McNealy talk about "write once, run anywhere," and how Java is going to take over the world.

But Sun apparently cares a lot more about Java than I thought, as it's changing its stock symbol from SUNW to JAVA (a little more catchy, eh?).

This is actually pretty cool, as it signals a long-term commitment to the Java community.

SOA What?
ROI researchers Nucleus Research have found that when it comes to dollars and cents, SOA doesn't always make cents (or dollars). A recent report shows that only a minority (37 percent) of SOA shops have gotten their money back on SOA investments.

I worked for a bit for Nucleus and can tell you that its methods are pretty darn solid. The group has debunked many a vendor ROI claim, saving customers probably millions.

That said, these findings don't mean that SOA is no good. It's just that today, SOA is complex, expensive and not always fully backed by developers.

I questioned SOA in a recent editorial, asking if it was too complex and grand for its own good, and if we would even be talking about it five years from now. What do think? Is SOA the Lord's gift to software or a scheme for consultants and vendors to make money? Let us know at [email protected]!