1.      What has been Sun's impact on the Internet?  Positive or negative?
Sun as made a positive impact on the internet thus far, and if its plans are able to follow through, there will be even more advancement for the internet through the work of Suns products. Sun was the first company to create an internet designing software, Java, which enabled internet and corporate intranet companies to design websites through any computer operating system and processor. In 1995 this allowed for the growth of the use of the internet to set up companies or get company names and products out to the public. Without a common or easily accessible product such as java introduced to the public and private sectors, there may have been a slower boom in the internet market and especially during the dotcom boom which followed soon after, unless web-sites were actually up, there would not have been the ability for companies to advertise and market as well as the internet has set up for them to do and reach potential customers from a wide audience opposed to their specific store location.

2.       Will Sun continue to set the standards for Internet connectivity?
The Jini system which is being introduced currently should continue to set standards for internet connectivity. With Jini, developers are able to create network centric services that are highly adaptive to change. Jini will allow for building networks that are scalable, evolvable, and flexible that are essential in the work place, regardless of the style of business, but all businesses need the ability to have this easy access to changing networks because the only way to expand is to be able to change with the current environment. Besides what has been created and is being created, Sun Microsystems also spends 10.4% of its sales on research and development which is much greater than any of the other three technology companies in the computer world. By this fact they should be creating more technologies to set the standards for internet connectivity by funding researchers to find ways to make internet life easier.

3.      How might Net appliances help or hurt Sun?

In the situation where sun had the coup with AOL and Netscape, Sun has used its buying power now to ensure customers in the future. As they only spend $350 million in licensing, marketing, and advertising fees for the deal, AOL in return will buy $500 million in Sun servers over the next three years, which will in fact help boost the Sun corporation in their expansion and ability to reach all households across America and the world. By having AOL and Netscape, there is no harm to Sun as there is still free access to Netscapes browser technology still letting people to access the internet, while letting sun Microsystems to develop a system or systems in the years to come that will also provide internet access over the technologies that are going to be used in the following generations. Also because sun is with AOL, the net appliance, will allow expansion and growth in order to compete with companies such as IBM and Hewlett-Packard in developing the systems that will let corporations rebuild their businesses in cyberspace.