Will the Java Platform Create The World's Largest App Store?

[odeamus]

http://blogs.sun.com/jonathan/entry/will_java_be_the_world

For some reason I started holding my breath.

[zammbi]

Sweet, I had hoped that they would do this. Can't wait...

[CommanderKeith]

Sounds bad to me.

It's just annoying advertising that will turn people away. It's not like the Apple store where you go to buy useful things. It's boring adverts about products that you wouldn't want to see if you could help it.

Games published by our own members! Check 'em out!

[kappa]

i think its pretty nice idea, a java alternative to Steam? as longs as they have a nice games portal style section this could turn out to be good for java gaming.

[zammbi]

How will it work? Candidate applications will be submitted via a simple web site, evaluated by Sun for safety and content, then presented under free or fee terms to the broad Java audience via our update mechanism.

Sounds fine to me...

[CommanderKeith]

At the end of the blog:

That ubiquity has obvious value to search companies, but it's also quite valuable to banks looking to sign up new accounts, sports franchises looking for new viewers, media companies and news organizations looking for new subscribers - basically, any Java developer looking to escape the browser to reach a billion or so consumers.

Super boring

[zammbi]

Super boring

Even the iPhone store has boring apps.

basically, any Java developer looking to escape the browser to reach a billion or so consumers.

Meaning everyone, well that's what it sounds like to me.

Maybe someone can clear it up...

[trembovetski]

At the end of the blog:
Super boring

It is only as boring as the applications that you submit =)

[dishmoth]

So basically the Java Updater is going to be used for advertising?
Not sure I'm terribly excited by that...
Simon

[trembovetski]

So basically the Java Updater is going to be used for advertising?
Not sure I'm terribly excited by that...
Simon

Sigh. Did you read the blog? I know, Jonathan can be confusing, but please.

All he should have said:
  1. Sun is making money off distribution of Java runtime (by offering partner products during java install) - this has been going on for a couple of years at least
  2. Sun will be offering a store for Java applications, distributed with the Java runtime. YOU can submit your app and perhaps make money.

Games published by our own members! Check 'em out!

[zammbi]

Yes he should of summed it up as that 
Is there any time frame when this will happen? I didn't see any dates.

[trembovetski]

Yes he should of summed it up as that 
Is there any time frame when this will happen? I didn't see any dates.

Can't tell you, but JavaOne is near =)

[Riven]

As with other app stores, Sun will charge for distribution...

Only fair I guess, but... any info on how much will be charged?

[trembovetski]

Only fair I guess, but... any info on how much will be charged?

Have no idea. Will have to wait till J1.

[erikd]

I found it 'interesting' to see how Sun maintains that the consumer's business is not their main point of focus while at the same time they claim they're starting the biggest app store targetting the consumer's market.
Is that just confused P.R. or a real lack of focus? 

However, I do think they might be onto something if they really do it right. And if it works out well (which I hope it will), it could be a really positive thing for us.
I also feel it proves once again (after finally fixing the applet experience) that Sun does take desktop java more and more seriously.

Anyway, I'll stay positive about it at least until we know more about it after JavaONE.

[princec]

If Sun aren't interested in consumers then we wouldn't have JavaFX. There's something going on behind the scenes. It's not really Sun's call any more though - Oracles motives are the important ones and the only things they were after were Solaris and Java.

Cas

[Mr_Light]

It sound like sun's too protective, "we are doing this but it's not our main focus" tis like they are already planning their escape before they even enter the game or something. That or you have two groups try to push their own strategy, which just ends up just making it bad for everyone, or something... anyways enough with the doom and gloom. if any of those problems are really there, then the Oracle business will sort it. Might be a painfull process but yeah.

A steam like platform has big potential. But the updater should be made a hell of a lot more decent. I want at home atleast the option of bug me not just keep everything up-to-date. Also as Mr Melissinos pointed out it should be piss easy to spend money. which is going to mean that they should look at supporting the widest variety of payment methods etc. (like everyone pays with credit cards) And quality control from front to back, top to bottom. This isn't one of those things where you can compensate with great technology.

It's adleast good to hear that things haven't come to a halt pending the Oracle ordeal.

[ChrisM]

Sounds bad to me.

It's just annoying advertising that will turn people away. It's not like the Apple store where you go to buy useful things. It's boring adverts about products that you wouldn't want to see if you could help it.

May I ask how you would know this before you even saw what apps would be available?

[TheAnalogKid]

This sounds all good and feel positive about that too. One keep point to me though is about marketing/advertising: I'm eager to know how that app store will get advertised? It's great to have a good product but if marketing/advertising isn't strong enough then success is risky. Anyway, I speak too much as we all need to wait for the announcement, details and see how it goes.

[brackeen]

Sound interesting but yeah, the details are vague. There are tons of questions on user experience, the infrastructure, etc. I guess we'll have to wait and see. I wonder what the store is written in - HTML/AJAX or a Java app? If it's JavaFX, it will be nice to see Sun eat it's own dog food.

Also I'd like to see comparison of the Java Store to services like BMTmicro, Kagi, etc.

[CommanderKeith]

May I ask how you would know this before you even saw what apps would be available?

That ubiquity has obvious value to search companies, but it's also quite valuable to banks looking to sign up new accounts, sports franchises looking for new viewers, media companies and news organizations looking for new subscribers - basically, any Java developer looking to escape the browser to reach a billion or so consumers.

Like I quoted from J Schwartz above, he says that instead of advertising the google toolbar, the java updater will advertise a new bank account. woot woot. From what Dmitri says it sounds like J Schwartz is not describing it properly though.... let's hope!

[Mr_Light]

[size=9pt]about http://blogs.sun.com/jonathan/entry/will_java_be_the_world the link to kindle is broken as it points to http://blogs.sun.com/jonathan/entry/www.amazon.com/kindle opposed to www.amazon.com/kindle[/size]

[dishmoth]

Sigh. Did you read the blog?

Yes, thanks.  Just feeling cynical.

Presumably Sun appreciates how much more successful the Java Store will be if it's well-stocked with games on launch day...?

Simon

[kappa]

oh game across this comic on dzone http://twittch.com/14/

[Ranger]

oh game across this comic on dzone http://twittch.com/14/

Haha!  But that comic is wrong.  Sun estimates 1 billion (not million) customers.  ...still 100 times smaller then iTunes.  Although, I would like to know if iTunes even has this.

I'm all for the Java App Store.  However, I've never liked the updates bundled with extra apps.  I guess I'll just keep hitting the "No Thanks" button.   

[Riven]

So let's say you have this website that has some applet on it.

When you discover that the visitor has no Java, you have to drag him to the download site to provide him with a decent JRE.
This is very annoying to the casual visitor already. He has to install things, click through a few security warnings and OK buttons.


And now Sun is going to distract them from your website, by showing the wonderful App Store with lots of slick games??!
No thank you! It was hard enough already! Don't steal my visitors!


It's just cashing in quickly, but nobody thinks about the long term user experience.
Let's see how long it takes to go down like RealPlayer.

[princec]

My games drive people to my website anyway - not so much of a problem. However I've had a lot of trouble convincing people to pay for Webstarted applications (tried it a few years ago - only had webstarted version up - conversion rate plummeted).

Installing a good JVM isn't too much of a problem on Windows for most users - it's as quick and painless as Flash. MacOS and Linux are boned though.

Cas

[Riven]

Installing a good JVM isn't too much of a problem on Windows for most users - it's as quick and painless as Flash.

Currently yes, but the Java Store might/will change that. I don't want my customers to see any other (competitive?) product during JRE installation!

[TheAnalogKid]

You never heard about the Java deployment toolkit, which download and installs any JRE version automatically?

[princec]

There's no such thing as "automatic", and "painless" is also a rare adjective.

Still. Meh.

Cas