I was going to bring up the JVM because it definitely was an attempt at the same goal. I think the obstacles this time around will be very similar for WASM, but

I was going to bring up the JVM because it definitely was an attempt at the same goal. I think the obstacles this time around will be very similar for WASM, but it stands a far better chance due to its language and vendor neutrality, as you mentioned. For user facing applications there remains the question of what sort of cross platform UI framework could accompany WASM. Or should WASM just remain coupled to the Web? Java’s UI solutions were often received very poorly and led to Java’s bad reputation amongst consumer software. Analyzing the desires and goals of the big players (Google, Microsoft, Apple) with regards to how Wasm might develop is interesting.