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McNealy, wisecracking and serious on education

Stephen Shankland Former Principal Writer
Stephen Shankland worked at CNET from 1998 to 2024 and wrote about processors, digital photography, AI, quantum computing, computer science, materials science, supercomputers, drones, browsers, 3D printing, USB, and new computing technology in general. He has a soft spot in his heart for standards groups and I/O interfaces. His first big scoop was about radioactive cat poop.
Expertise Processors, semiconductors, web browsers, quantum computing, supercomputers, AI, 3D printing, drones, computer science, physics, programming, materials science, USB, UWB, Android, digital photography, science. Credentials
  • Shankland covered the tech industry for more than 25 years and was a science writer for five years before that. He has deep expertise in microprocessors, digital photography, computer hardware and software, internet standards, web technology, and more.
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Stephen Shankland

SAN FRANCISCO--Educational issues were at the forefront of Sun Microsystems Chief Executive Scott McNealy's thoughts this week at the JavaOne trade show here. It's not a surprise, given that his sons are 3, 5, 7 and 9 years old.

There was the serious call to arms, when McNealy urged involvement in a project to create a shared online educational materials for students in kindergarten through 12th grade.

Then there was the barb at his peers: "Steve and Bill and Steve, they all dropped out of school early, but I got my degrees, so I got a late start," he quipped about Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, who dropped out of Stanford Business School, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, who dropped out of Harvard as an undergraduate, and Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who dropped out of Reed College. McNealy graduated from Harvard and got his business degree from Stanford.

Then there was McNealy's self-deprecating humor: "I majored in golf."