If someone who calls himself a "master" painter asks me whether use brand A or brand B, without telling me about the advantages and disavantages of brands A and B, I'd reconsider my hiring skills. He's the expert, and I should value his opinion more than what I might have heard on the Discovery channel.

If they always hear about Java, but have never heard of Perl, how do you think they'll react if one guy suggests implementing something in Java and the other in Perl?

So, Java first got the mass-media coverage, and then became a popular language? My memory might be screwed up, but I think that Java established itself as a popular language without the "masses" knowing about Java.

Abigail