When I first posted a similar question a couple weeks ago I got a
similar response from someone on the list, and nothing from Sun. The
sad truth is that Java 3D will have a long row to hoe in the
commercial world if: 1) it and all its pre-requisite components do get
included with the major browsers, 2) it and its pre-requisites are not
idiot proof and reliable to install (for whatever reason), and 3) it
and its pre-requisites are not rock-solid stable in those browsers.
IMHO (as well as through personal experience) these were the 3 major
contributing factors for VRML not seeing serious commercial use. In
comparison to VRML, Java 3D has a couple of additional hurdles to jump
(IMHO): It has to perform at least as good as VRML and it has to be
able to do at least as much as VRML (1.2 promises to close the gap).
I'm still waiting to hear some sort of official (or unofficial) word
from Sun on what steps they are planning to take to make sure that
Java 3D does not go down the same road that VRML took in this regard.
Guesses about what they may be planning won't cut it when it comes to
commiting serious time, money, and effort to commercial development.
Granted this go 'round we won't have the same Java VM issues as in the
VRML days and it sounds like Sun may try to automate some of the
installation process, but then again there are more puzzle piece for a
user/e-commerce customer to have to install this go 'round.
Admittedly these are hard questions to answer and unfortunately they
stretch way beyond Java 3D. This also was not intended as criticism
of Sun (and others) who have done a helluva job getting Java and Java
3D to the state it is today. Instead I bring up these issues as being
crucial to Java 3D's success commercially (again IMHO), and we have
VRML to serve as an example of what might happen in a commercial
context if these issues are not addressed.
I'd be interested in hearing from others about their experiences with
trying to build highly interactive web-based 3D commercial
applications with VRML, Java 3D, or even the TGS Open Inventor package
(perhaps off the list since this might stray beyond Java 3D proper).
--jon
> Date: Wed, 8 Sep 1999 12:54:43 -0400
> From: Roberto Speranza <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> Subject: Re: Java3D distribution with browsers
>
> At JavaOne, it was mentioned that Netscape 5.0 will ship with the latest
> version of the Java Plugin released at that time. My guess is that they
> will want to ship with version 1.3 (probably late fall) since that version
> of the Java plugin is supposed to support the extension download mechanisms
> present in JDK 1.3 ie. you can deploy a jar file that specifies in its
> manifest that it needs Java3D 1.x and if it is not present, the plugin will
> prompt the user to download the extension from the Sun Web site and install
> it. The same version of the plugin is also supposed to support local
> caching of jar files downloaded over the internet so that you only download
> a jar file for an applet on a Web site the first time and download it again
> only if the jar file has been modified.
>
> Roberto Speranza
> President, Dot Internet Solutions Inc.
> mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> http://www.dotinc.net/
--
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