…at least, that’s what Jonathan makes it sound like in his post here. Looks like Sun is going to be changing its stock symbol from SUNW to JAVA in an effort to appeal to people who don’t know what “SUN” is about, but have heard about “Java” in all their daily use.

While I agree with the fact that many many more people have heard of the “Java” brand on just about every technical device made, those people are also not exactly the kind of people who I would imagine spending their money buying stock in a large computer corporation. Yes, you might appeal to the 14 year old with the cell phone because he/she knows that Java is what runs the games on his/her phone, but will that same 14 year old actually be purchasing stock in Sun?

Another thing that worries me slightly about this change is the face that Sun is presenting to its corporate and business clients, it sort of seems like they are shifting their complete focus into the Java/software industry, and perhaps diminishing their focus on Solaris and hardware (I know this isn’t true, but for someone who doesn’t keep up with the company, it could seem that way).

I really hope for the best for Sun in this case, it would be nice if their stock price tripled and they gained more market share, maybe then more people would switch to Solaris :D. As more me though, I think this is more of a marketing gimmick than anything else (but hey, companies have to market, right?).

What do you think of the ticker change, is Sun changing their priorities and direction, or are they just making an attempt to grab media attention?

[edit]: Hahahaha…reading the comments, I would have to agree with some of the commenters about what most people first think of when they hear Java: It’s Slow.