>The company that created Java went out of business and was sold to Oracle for a fraction of its original worth. So Java was a business failure -- or at least I'd be interested to see someone defend Java as a business success.

Just as Java is an afterthought to Oracle's database sales today, Java originally was an afterthought to Sun's workstation sales. Java was never intended to make money directly but rather as a conduit into the money-making side of both owners.