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Larry Ellison is a visionary. Seems like all visionaries have been called liars by some. Steve Jobs is said to have had a “reality distortion field”. Elon Musk

Larry Ellison is a visionary. Seems like all visionaries have been called liars by some. Steve Jobs is said to have had a “reality distortion field”. Elon Musk is a visionary. Are they all “liars” or do “visions” seem like stretching of the truth to us? Are visions simply extensions of the “truth”?

gameswithgo 8y ago
What did Larry envision, exactly?
- wisecommentator 8y ago
  Where should I start? Ellison made the first commercial implementation of SQL. (Granted, Ellison didn't invent SQL, but he instantly recognized the importance of it and made it commercially successful, just like Steve Jobs didn't invent graphical interfaces, but instantly recognized its importance when he saw it Xerox Parc.) Ellison has been talking about what he called "Network Computing" since the mid 1990s. He said "We need computers that do less not more". He was laughed at and ridiculed, but today Chromebooks are the implementation of his "Network Computer" vision. "Computers that do less" are now a reality. What we know today as "cloud computing" was first envisioned by Ellison in the mid 1990s. He called it "network computing". He talked about why it is important to "centralize complexity" and keep the end-user devices simple. Meanwhile Steve Ballmer was touting the "power of the local hard drive". Ellison's vision seems like commonsense today, but it wasn't back then. There are lots of other things. For example he was the first to move Enterprise applications to the Web when web-based applications weren't a thing yet. Oracle Parallel Server was his idea. He even wrote the first implementation himself.
  - phs318u 8y ago
    I think you'll find that Ellison's "vision" of network computing was literally acquired when Oracle bought Sun Microsystems. Sun's fifth employee, John Gage, coined the phrase "the network is the computer" in 1984 [0]. Ken Olsen (Digital Equipment Corp) is also reputed to have shared this view as far back as 1987 [1]. [0] https://www.computerworld.com.au/slideshow/334210/pictures-remember-rise-fall-sun-microsystems/ https://www.computerworld.com.au/slideshow/334210/pictures-r... [1] https://slidex.tips/download/don-t-forget-the-network https://slidex.tips/download/don-t-forget-the-network EDITED to fix URL [1]
    - wisecommentator 8y ago
      >I think you'll find that Ellison's "vision" of network computing was literally acquired when Oracle bought Sun Microsystems. That’s incorrect. Acquisition of Sun cane much later. “Network is the computer” is very different from Ellison’s Network Computing because in Ellison’s vision complexity is centralized and end-user devices are glorified dumb terminals which is very different from Sun’s “Network is the computer”
      - the_duke 8y ago
        You know, most PR firms operate with a bit more subtelty.
- antaviana 8y ago
  He wanted to buy Apple just to be able to put Steve Jobs back in charge. He did not/could not buy it, but was given a board seat when Jobs was back. I remember him speaking very clearly at MacWorld about what Apple should do next.

gameswithgo 8y ago

What did Larry envision, exactly?

wisecommentator 8y ago
Where should I start? Ellison made the first commercial implementation of SQL. (Granted, Ellison didn't invent SQL, but he instantly recognized the importance of it and made it commercially successful, just like Steve Jobs didn't invent graphical interfaces, but instantly recognized its importance when he saw it Xerox Parc.) Ellison has been talking about what he called "Network Computing" since the mid 1990s. He said "We need computers that do less not more". He was laughed at and ridiculed, but today Chromebooks are the implementation of his "Network Computer" vision. "Computers that do less" are now a reality. What we know today as "cloud computing" was first envisioned by Ellison in the mid 1990s. He called it "network computing". He talked about why it is important to "centralize complexity" and keep the end-user devices simple. Meanwhile Steve Ballmer was touting the "power of the local hard drive". Ellison's vision seems like commonsense today, but it wasn't back then. There are lots of other things. For example he was the first to move Enterprise applications to the Web when web-based applications weren't a thing yet. Oracle Parallel Server was his idea. He even wrote the first implementation himself.
- phs318u 8y ago
  I think you'll find that Ellison's "vision" of network computing was literally acquired when Oracle bought Sun Microsystems. Sun's fifth employee, John Gage, coined the phrase "the network is the computer" in 1984 [0]. Ken Olsen (Digital Equipment Corp) is also reputed to have shared this view as far back as 1987 [1]. [0] https://www.computerworld.com.au/slideshow/334210/pictures-remember-rise-fall-sun-microsystems/ https://www.computerworld.com.au/slideshow/334210/pictures-r... [1] https://slidex.tips/download/don-t-forget-the-network https://slidex.tips/download/don-t-forget-the-network EDITED to fix URL [1]
  - wisecommentator 8y ago
    >I think you'll find that Ellison's "vision" of network computing was literally acquired when Oracle bought Sun Microsystems. That’s incorrect. Acquisition of Sun cane much later. “Network is the computer” is very different from Ellison’s Network Computing because in Ellison’s vision complexity is centralized and end-user devices are glorified dumb terminals which is very different from Sun’s “Network is the computer”
    - the_duke 8y ago
      You know, most PR firms operate with a bit more subtelty.
antaviana 8y ago
He wanted to buy Apple just to be able to put Steve Jobs back in charge. He did not/could not buy it, but was given a board seat when Jobs was back. I remember him speaking very clearly at MacWorld about what Apple should do next.