Sun Microsystems is changing its stock symbol from ‘SUNW’ to ‘JAVA’. Here’s the long-winded explanation. Excerpt:

But SUNW represents the past, and its not without a nostalgic nod that we’ve decided to look ahead.

JAVA is a technology whose value is near infinite to the internet, and a brand that’s inseparably a part of Sun (and our profitability). And so next week, we’re going to embrace that reality by changing our trading symbol, from SUNW to JAVA. This is a big change for us, capitalizing on the extraordinary affinity our teams have invested to build, introducing Sun to new investors, developers and consumers. Most know Java, few know Sun – we can bring the two one step closer.

It’s strange to me that Sun — a big company with lots of hardware and software products — wants to identify so closely with a single product. A single product, in fact, that many people see as slow and unstable, and which some analysts think is in decline.