Most successful languages were initially created for a very specific target. C -> UNIX OS. C++ -> network simulations. PHP -> Rasmus's homepage. JS -> interactive web pages. C# -> WinForms apps.

From scrolling through that list of prototypes, which are all over the place, it looks like they couldn't decide what language to make because they didn't know what they were making it for. I think there's a real lesson here in being specific with your product at first and then generalizing later. It's very hard to be all things to all people from day one.