> Erlang could likely have a more C like syntax [...] so that people can slowly start out and get to know a language

This reminded me about famous Linus rant against C++ - in the same vein it can be argued that "cryptic" (actually very readable and consistent IMHO) syntax would be a win even if it did nothing more than keep C (style) programmers out of Erlang development :)

You're certainly right from business perspective, however.