And they could have benefitted mightily from acquiring Sun, moreso than simply owning Java. How was Groupon worth 6B in their eyes and Sun not 7B? Maybe hindsight is ruining my perspective more than I can see.
What would Google have done with Sun's hardware business? Shut it down? Gone into the hardware business themselves?
Groupon is pie in the sky sort of stuff and thus easier to acquire logistically speaking.