[flowerlad]

> I'm pretty sure Java came from the work James Gosling did on Oak, which was mostly used for embedded systems.

Yes, when it was conceived it was indeed intended for embedded systems but when it was released it was intended as a tech for building client-side smarts into web pages.

Java was originally conceived as Sun's response to General Magic's intelligent agent technology. Microsoft's response to General Magic was Microsoft Bob, because they saw General Magic's social interface as a threat to Windows.