Anyone who has ever had to help their parents with their computers knows that their parents' web browsers have about 20 toolbars installed. All turned on, and none of them ever requested. These get installed when companies engage in poor judgment and install unrequested software into the browser of unknowing people when their unrelated product is installed on the computer.
In the example below, each subsequent installation of the Java Virtual Machine installs the Yahoo Toolbar by default. My parents don't know what the Yahoo toolbar is. They don't want the Yahoo Toolbar but they do trust Sun Microsystems.
When someone like Sun does this deal do they think about it this way? Or do they think about it in terms of $.01 an install?
I actually don't blame Yahoo at all for this. I will say they quite possibly have the most active business development guy on the planet however putting these deals together.
I do blame Sun however. Why would they ever do this deal? Why would they piss off their customers with this? Why would they do this for a revenue stream that surely cannot amount to anything significant for them?
This behavior really makes me mad, and tarnishes Sun Microsystems brand in my eyes. Not because of the Yahoo offer, but because by default it takes advantage of peoples ignorance of what is happening.
lame yes, but reality is that anyone w/ a "large" distribution channel to a desktop falls to this temptation. "free money."
Posted by: jvaleski | 2009.04.15 at 01:14 PM
Amen. If it weren't for the Facebook photo uploader, I would uninstall Java from all of my family's machines. Stupid toolbars, the superfluous icons in the system tray, and outrageous resource hoging, all make Java seem more and more like crapware than a useful tool.
Posted by: Stan James | 2009.04.15 at 01:46 PM
Sun has a revenue stream???
Posted by: Aaron | 2009.04.15 at 01:47 PM
I'm completely with you on this. I just had to install a new version of flash, and it tried to dump the toolbar on me too.
Posted by: Scott Lasica | 2009.04.15 at 02:57 PM
I was kinda surprised the first time an installer tried to install the Google toolbar "for me." I'd expect it for adware or something, but GOOG and YHOO?
Posted by: cthrall | 2009.04.15 at 03:00 PM
@all I have to say, the more I think about this the more it makes me mad. If you really think about it and draw it out to its logical conclusion, Sun is basically saying "Fuck it, we can't make money on servers" lets just install shit on peoples computers by tricking them.
Posted by: Todd Vernon | 2009.04.15 at 03:05 PM
Sun's in good company. :)
http://blog.malwareteks.com/tag/bundled-software/
Posted by: Tom Jordan | 2009.04.19 at 02:10 PM