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Content Tagged Jonathan
STRUCTURE 08: Jonathan Yarmis, AMR Research
Jonathan Yarmis, VP Advanced, Emerging and Disruptive Technologies at AMR Research is giving us a mini-note to open up the day.
He says:
“The world is about to change, and change in profoundly interesting ways.”
“The enterprise itself hasn’t figured out how to embrace cloud computing; users are figuring it out very quickly.”
When PCs first came in, and even when computers first came in, the first thing we did was task automation. The whole rise of enterprise software has really been around process automation. But at the end of the day, we’ve omitted the social aspect. We’ve solved the CEOs problem; what we haven’t solved is the individual sales person, who is trying to figure out “who do I know who can get me in the door of some company?” They are the poster child of the social revolution, because their job is inherently social.
In mobile, last year, we shipped 1.6 billion units. Growth 20 percent in a bad year. Average life cycle of a cell phone is 21 months. Massive opportunity to create significant leapfrogs in technology. iPhone innovation. Finally here in States broke carrier in monopoly. Dominant platform in emerging worlds will be mobile. That’s an incredible business opportunity, and the question is, how are we going to support this?
EaaS — Everything as a Service.
(from the slide)
- software/applications
- storage
- content — music/video, data
What we ultimately want is software and services independent of devices we’re carrying.
How are we going to pay for it?
All these news stories about social networking failing to be monetized are missing the point. The value is peers. I don’t want banner ads in my social network. What do I really want in a social context and why is that interesting? Least valuable form of communication is company-owned channels. Next-most valued is experts and journalists. Most likely to believe peers, people most like me. That’s where this whole notion of how I believe we’re going to monetize social networks. Facebook Beacon was a ham-handed approach to doing that. Perhaps Facebook was actually brilliant. Zuckerberg might have been “Let’s do something that’s way overboard, then take three steps back, then get ahead of what we wanted in the first place.” It’s going to grow the pot because it’s more effective. Social capabilities are so powerful.
Kids coming out of college will not go to a company that blocks Facebook. Equally importantly, it’s ineffective. It’s all about the user and we’re not going to stop them.
We talk all about Web 2.0 and Enterprise 2.0. It’s time to start thinking about User 2.0 and the attitudinal differences these new users bring to the equation. Now ad-hoc, socially oriented, enterprise agnostic. Users will take wisdom of clouds anywhere, they have no loyalty to company.
New enterprise reality:
- You can’t stop it
- We now have more computing power on personal devices than enterprise devices. Savvy corporations know they should exploit this.
Amazon Now Serving OpenSolaris on EC2
During our on-stage chat at Startup Camp, Sun Microsystems CEO Jonathan Schwartz hinted at some big news involving Amazon and its web services. Today, the company officially announced:
- Sun’s OpenSolaris OS will be available on the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) customers for free. It is in beta for now.
- Sun will provide premium technical support for MySQL database running on Linux and Amazon EC2.
These developments are meant to address the needs and complaints of the developer community. OpenSolaris, which comes with tools such as ZFS and Dynamic Tracing (D-Trace), will be offered for free, in contrast to some Linux offerings that cost money. For instance, if you sign up for EC2 and pick RedHat, it costs $19. ZFS allows instant rollback and continual check-summing capabilities, something developers have found lacking in the EC2 platform. This OpenSolaris on Amazon EC2 beta is currently available by invitation only. Some software vendors, including GigaSpaces, Rightscale, Thoughtworks and Zmanda, are already offering their solutions via Amazon Machine.
From OStatic: As Sun Microsystems’ JavaOne conference kicks off this week, the company has announced its free new OpenSolaris open source operating system. It’s available for download . The big question with OpenSolaris is how it may compete against Linux rivals, especially since it is a fully supported operating system. OStatic, our open source blog, has the details.
If this story interests you then you should definitely check out our
upcoming conference, Structure 08.
Sun is serious about Open Source and the MySQL Community
As we walked into the restaurant I saw a face that I thought was familiar. Jonathan and Rich were standing outside the restaurant talking. However, only when we got inside did I hear Jay saying that that was Jonathan Schwartz.
So just before we all took our places, and while we were trying to work out how we were going to organize payment for the dinner, Rich and Jonathan turned up and quickly ended the discussion. Rich said his credit card would be good for the tab. So thanks to Sun for that!
But besides good food and plenty to drink, it was a great opportunity to talk and ask some questions that have been on my mind since the acquisition of MySQL by Sun. I have expressed these concerns on this blog, and they can be summarized as follows:
How important is open source, and in particular the MySQL community to Sun?
Both Rich and Jonathan were able to give me an adequate answer to this question. I will summarize this in my own words.
Sun bought MySQL to expand its business and influence in the open source world. So the MySQL community is the key to this.
I believe this means that Sun is not interested in commercializing any parts of the MySQL server, and here I am referring to the massive discussion that has resulted from the announcement MySQL to launch new features only in MySQL Enterprise on Jeremy Cole's blog. After all, it is clear that MySQL's bottom line (although profitable) makes no difference to Sun. They are interested in access to the over 10 million users of MySQL to sell services and hardware, those things that Sun already does well.
It is the MySQL's task to expand the user base, not endanger it. So I think we will see a change of strategy in the coming weeks and months.
And I can add the following: from what I have seen of it, MySQL's enterprise offering is really a great package without having to add a proprietary version of the server. It has everything a serious user of MySQL wants: 24 hour support, monitoring tools, design tools, service packs and priority bug fixing. And with Sun's backing, nobody doubts anymore that they can deliver this service.
Jonathan and Rich clearly demonstrated their support for the MySQL community by coming to the dinner. Besides clearing up some important questions, it was a great photo op.:
You may have seen this photo already on Ronald's blog. The picture is of Jonathan and I with the PrimBase Technologies conference T-shirt. If you look closely you will see another little detail. I have a dolphin in my pocket! I wonder if that has any symbolic meaning...
Jonathan tells a great story on his blog. But what is significant is the picture of Monty he posted, who is wearing a shirt that says "my free software runs your company". We have every reason to believe Jonathan fully supports this sentiment. So note that the T-shirt does not say "my partially free software ..."!
Oh, and in the picture of Monty, do you recognize the shirt of the person standing next to him? Since I generally only wear a shirt once, we know that this picture was also taking at the Community Dinner.
Jonathan Schwartz?s Keynote at the 2008 MySQL Conference
Jonathan Schwartz’s Keynote at the 2008 MySQL Conference can be played directly in your browser or you can download the 147MB .wmv file. (Please do not download the movie on the conference wireless system!)
I finally realized who Jonathan Schwartz reminds me of:
That’s right, comedian and magician Penn Jillette.
Schwartz started by saying, “enough of this free software stuff!” It got lots of laughs. He started to talk about Sun’s agenda, and mentioned that MySQL and Sun had similar values, as well as similar dysfunctions as well — particularly that each engineer has his/her own opinion.
But Schwartz goes on in earnest to say “The future will be defined by free….and freedom,” that “freedom is a price tag *and* a philosophy.” I agree completely.
He sees “the network is a social utility” much like heat and electricity are utilities. His talk somewhat reminded me of the Free as in Water post I made in June 2007.
He finished up by comparing the Amazon River to Sun — The Amazon River is really ecosystem of many rivers — 10,000 smaller rivers. Sun is really an ecosystem of many communities — Java, Open Office, Solaris, Open Solaris, MySQL, and so on. I was very pleased to hear that he feels that community is not only inclusive of all users, paid or otherwise, but that the ecosystem cannot exist without each part of that “smaller river” contributing to the whole. And *that* is Sun’s agenda, to continue to build that river, so if one part has problems, the entire river is not damaged.
Also, Sun has a quote that “innovation happens elsewhere,” so it is crucial to build those bridges (mixed metaphor unintended) so that Sun can support and enable the innovation. In a world where diversity is key, this is an excellent message.
Bravo, Jonathan!
It’s Dinnertime, Why Are You Still At Work?
I was ready to write off today because earlier I felt under the weather. Now, after lolling about in a daze and reading to my toddler, I’m feeling a bit better. The best part about lolling about was instead of focusing on news related to television delivered via WiMax, I was able to read the 18 pages in this week’s Economist devoted to how mobile communications are affecting our lives. It addresses just about anything you can think about, from architecture for nomadic workers to the unintended conversations you may have had with a stranger, who unbeknownst to you, was speaking on a Bluetooth headset. I suggest you read it.
For me, the most relevant article focused on constant connectivity and how that affects people’s personal and work life balance. The general consensus was that different people handle it different ways (although I like that Jonathan Schwartz, the CEO of Sun, insists on two hours of “rolling around time” with his sons in the evening before getting back to work.)
My worry is that with constant communication and a social norm tending toward multitasking with work, play and our family lives, that a whole chunk of the population gets discounted or disenfranchised.
People like me, who leave at a certain time on most days and who don’t check their email/blogs/Facebook accounts except for once or twice on the weekends seem to be in short supply. And while people often talk the talk about family time being important, I’m amazed at the pitches I get for breaking news sent to me at 9 or 10 at night for news that will go out in a few hours or early the next morning.
I question why they would think I’m working and what they are doing working at that time. If it weren’t time sensitive news, I would consider it a function of their lives and schedules, but somehow thinking I might respond anywhere near that time is crazy. So this “all-work-anytime” culture is a problem in my opinion, because it expects a rapid response at any time of the day or night, and also breaks down an accepted time and place when business can be conducted. I doubt that is sustainable, and already is driving a lot of stress.
The moral? Turn off your CrackBerry, step away from the computer and take some time to read the articles, and think about what an always-on nomadic culture will mean for you. Then decide how you choose to participate in it. I’m choosing to turn off my computer now.
FCC May Examine ‘D’ Block Auction Fiasco
BOULDER, Colo. — FCC commissioner Jonathan Adelstein said Sunday that he and the agency will “definitely look into the allegations” of rumored shadowy deals that may have led to the collapse of Frontline Wireless and the apparent failure of the “D” Block segment to attract a minimum reserve bid in the ongoing 700 MHz spectrum auction.
First reported by Harold WFeld on the WetMachine blog, the rumor that machinations by Morgan O’Brien of Cyren Call fame may have helped to scuttle the plans of Frontline Wireless — perhaps the most likely bidder on the mixed-use D Block bandwidth — is something Adelstein is taking seriously, following what he called the “great disappointment” of the apparent failure of any winning bid for the D Block spectrum.
Adelstein’s pledge to look more deeply into the matter came during a question-and-answer period following his participation in panel discussions here at the Silicon Flatirons conference, one of the nation’s top telecom policy gatherings.
The FCC’s rules for the D Block spectrum, which would have required the winner to negotiate the building of a network that would be jointly used by public safety entities, apparently were not attractive enough to attract bidders, Adelstein said. (So far, the D Block has only attracted one bid for $472 million, which is far below the reserve price of $1.3 billion set by the FCC.)
“We clearly misjudged the interest [in the D Block] and set rules that apparently inhibited the financing [for bidders],” Adelstein said. “It’s a concern, and it’s something we will re-visit with our friends in public safety.” Since the current auction is not yet completed, Adelstein said there were no plans yet on how to deal with a possible re-auction of the spectrum.
Adelstein and others present at the conference were not hesitant to opine that the apparent failure of the D Block auction was in part an indictment of lawmakers’ unwillingness to fund a public-safety network for first responders.
“It was kind of a jury-rigged public/private system,” said Adelstein of the D Block rules the FCC came up with for the auction in an attempt to finance a first-responders’ network. Congress, he said “should have stepped up to the plate” and funded the network itself, a point several other speakers at the conference agreed with.
“The D Block [situation] is a failure of values,” said Mark Cooper, research director at the Consumer Federation of America. Cooper derided lawmakers for “covering their asses” by authorizing $1.5 billion to fund free set-top-boxes for the upcoming DTV transition while pushing the construction of a first-responders’ network into the uncertain terrain of public-private partnerships and spectrum auctions. “Congress should have just funded it themselves,” Cooper said, noting that the cost of such a network was small in comparison to what is being spent on the war in Iraq.
Paul Kapustka, former managing editor for GigaOM, now has his own blog at Sidecut Reports.
Pizza Boxes Are Power Hogs
As everyone knows, you get what you pay for. That maxim certainly holds true for Internet infrastructure, especially when it comes to servers. Over the past few years there has been an explosion of low-cost appliance servers – also known as pizza box servers — and they now account for a formidable portion of the Internet infrastructure. And though cheap in price, they are turning out to be power hogs.
“These servers are cheap to buy but consume a lot of energy and their utilization is pretty low,” said Jonathan Koomey, project scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and consulting professor at Stanford University, who recently conducted a study on the power requirements for servers. “The utilization is below 20 percent and we really need to focus on virtualization to get more from these boxes.”
According to his estimates, volume servers, or the low-end devices that include the pizza box servers, consumed over 50.5 billion kilowatt hours in 2005, up from 19.7 billion kWh in 2000. That number surely must have increased by now. From 1996 through 2006, the sales of volume servers jumped from 1.41 million units to 7.282 million units, according to information collected by International Data Corp., a market research firm.
“Some of these (pizza box servers) throw up a lot of heat and are power hogs,” said Tim Sullivan, Chief Technology Officer of Internap, a data center and CDN provider, during a call with company’s management earlier today. He said that they are asking clients to better utilize the data center space and putting fewer of these pizza boxes in a more efficient manner.
One of the reasons these pizza box servers are inefficient is because they’re being made to do tasks for which they were not built. Back in the late 1990s, the form factor became popular with the large corporations, and there was plenty of space (and power) in the data centers. However, as web infrastructure needs have increased, so has the number of servers. Even tiny startups are beginning to buy 1,000 of these boxes to just stay in business.
As their numbers increase, and the problems mount, it makes me wonder if we’ll soon see the pendulum swing to the “big iron.” Thoughts, anyone?
