Of all the proposals for adding code to web pages, Java comes from the easiest vendor to support. Sun provokes little fear in my world. I feel that if pressed to do the right thing, Sun probably will. I see Java as an excellent insurance policy against Microsoft dominance of this area. Developers really do think this way.
Any product has the potential of being a killer app.
Killer apps drive markets, so one woman or man potentially has a lot of power. So sometimes I make choices for purely economic reasons, and sometimes I go the other way just because it reflects my interests. I feel that way about Java. Microsoft supports Java. Netscape supports Java.