I'm not much of a programmer but Java is easier to use but it has reached its maximum potential. Companies have been pushing it for too long now. It's time to revamp its application across the internet. Java applications can't run out of the box (I mean JRE has to be installed). There is a need to refocus on accessibility rather than asking people to install Flash player, Silverlight, Adobe Wave, JRE and what not.
Well again, I don't think the need for installing JRE is a big problem as almost every computer today has it installed. Also that reminds me that Java is platform independent. Works on any machine that has JRE installed. Which is also the reason why you need JRE to run Java code.