Hi,
Kevin gave you most of the basics, I just thought I’d share a few thoughts.
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The “web based” vs. “web deployed” point that Kevin mentioned a lot is an important one. He used the term “native” when I wouldn’t, since it’s still Java, but the point is that it’s a full application, not a web page. This means a few things: clients are fast, they have way more logic in them, which helps the server, and they are more interactive.
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As for speed, a lot of what people have in mind is from 10 years ago. The modern hotspot vm is really very good at what it does, and has been shown to be pretty much as fast as C++.
Also, for what it’s worth… do they criticize .Net applications the same way? Probably not… but the reality is that the two technologies act and perform very similarly.
- As for the price, it’s easy to make jokes, but real answers are hard to come by. There are few important points though: FIRST off, it’s not cheaper because we outsource or are located in thailand or anything. Our entire company is in one office near Sacramento, where you’re welcome to come by (and where you’ll end up, if you come to training). That said, we’re cheaper because we can be, because we don’t have decades of bloated infrastructure to support, and frankly because we think everyone else is too expensive. We also look at it from the perspective of generational technology: most IT software isn’t nearly as expensive now as it was 20 years ago, why should this market be different?
Ultimately it’s really too bad that people need to pay more to feel good, otherwise who knows, we might still be selling it for the original price of $895* 
[size=50](*original FactorySQL price, 2003)[/size]
There are a variety of other things I could mention, but I’m sure other actual users will chime in with their own thoughts. It’s not all roses, and I would be happy to discuss the negative aspects of java, but there’s really no way that they are any worse than the negatives that come with any other platform.
Good luck!