1.

I understand why Sun stayed out as long as they did, because their strategy was to be the uber-operating system. Why do we need choice when the only choice (according to Sun) is Java? Its internal method of connecting apps over the Internet only works with Java. I could see that this strategy would fail, but I think Sun can be forgiven for not seeing that.

2.

The BigCo's, not just Sun, have a conflict of interest. They sell hundreds of millions of dollars of consulting work, that, with the advent of XML-RPC, can be bought for, at most, a few thousand dollars. They have a strong financial interest in clouding SOAP and XML-RPC in mystery. That's how they support themeselves, not by functionality, but through confusion. They have a conflict of interest that makes them bad husbands for open technology. Their interest forces them to push for confusion.