Unscripted Chat With 'The Father Of Java'

May 17 - KGO (KGO) -- Odds are you have no idea what java is, but if you've used eBay or Orbitz to make purchases, you've probably used java software. In either case, you'd probably enjoy meeting the innovator behind it all.

In the world of technology, James Gosling is a celebrity. People track him down for autographs. He's known as the father of java, a computer language programmers use to create software.

He turns 51 on Friday and acts very much like the proud father.

Everything showcased on the floor at Moscone Center was made possible by java.

James Gosling, Ph.D., Sun Microsystems Vice President: "The show here is more about new technologies that should be inspirational for people to think about two, three generations out."

Java lets Google put its interactive maps on cell phones. It powers music players. It allows you to buy goods online.

Java also is on the cutting edge, allowing inventors to create a robotic dune buggy that senses its location and obstacles around it so it can plan its own movements.

Paul Perrone, MS Robotics Engineer: "In the most extreme case, we can use java to control a robotic, unmanned vehicle -- a driverless vehicle -- at high speeds to operate over long distances."

Java is serious, but it can also be playful.

Eric Harshbarger shows Gosling how he uses java to create mosaics out of Lego's. That excites Gosling because there are many more ideas just waiting to be developed. Ideas that will make cell phones, computers and other devices smarter and more useful.

James Gosling: "It was a grand piece of luck that our guesses about what the way of the future would go or could go actually happened."

ABC7's David Louie: "We're in the future now. Is the future what you expected it to be?

James Gosling: "I don't know. I'll let you know when I get there."

To watch our entire interview with James Gosling, click on the VIDEO link above for Windows Media users, or try the link in the video player to your right for the Flash version.

You can also read James Gosling's blog here.

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