Sun changes stock ticker to JAVA

Sun Microsystems has announced that it will change its Nasdaq stock ticker symbol from SUNW to JAVA. The stock ticker change will go into effect on Monday, August 27, 2007. From the press release:

Sun today generates license revenues from Java technology, but more significantly derives revenue from the software, storage, servers, services and microelectronics that power the datacenters behind global Java deployments - whether on handsets, personal computers, or in the network. Sun believes its business is advantaged by such exposure, and the change in ticker symbol more effectively connects it with the marketplace.

Jonathan Schwartz has more to say in his blog:

Granted, lots of folks on Wall Street know SUNW, given its status as among the most highly traded stocks in the world. But SUNW represents the past, and its not without a nostalgic nod that we've decided to look ahead.

To be very clear, this isn't about changing the company name or focus... But we are no longer simply a workstation company, nor a company whose products can be limited by one category - and Java does a better job of capturing exactly that sentiment than any other four letter symbol.

I know I talk about Java a lot here in this blog, but that's because after years of developing in C, Java feels like programmer heaven. I've used C#, Ruby, Perl, Python, ... you name it, but my first choice for any large or long-lived coding project is Java.