I recently came across this article:
The browser wars are once again upon us
The author comes to the conclusion that JavaScript is 'The Language of the Future.'
This argument is based around the usage of JavaScipt in each of what the author considers the three major players in the RIA wars:
Apache Apollo
Microsoft Silverlight
Web Standards
The author notes that JavaScript is 'something of a universal in the RIA space.'
I found the article very interesting to read and recommend it.