Addition Of Generic Type Parameter Causes Member Type Clash

Got a problem with generics, which I'm still pretty new at. Here's a program that compiles fine:

import java.util.ArrayList;
import javax.swing.JComponent;
public class Experiments {
public static void main(String[] args) {
ListHolder holder = new ListHolder();

[Code] ....

It's useless, but it compiles. If I change Line 14, however, to add a generic type parameter to the ListHolder class, Line 10 no longer compiles:

import java.util.ArrayList;
import javax.swing.JComponent;
public class Experiments {
public static void main(String[] args) {
ListHolder holder = new ListHolder();

[Code] ....

I get this error:

Uncompilable source code - incompatible types: java.lang.Object cannot be converted to javax.swing.JComponent
at experiments.Experiments.main(Experiments.java:10)

Apparently, the introduction of the type parameter leaves the compiler thinking that aList is of type Object. I can cast it, like this:

JComponent c = ((ArrayList<JComponent>)holder.aList).iterator().next();

That makes the compiler happy, but why is it necessary? How does adding the (unused) type parameter to the ListHolder class end up making the compiler think the aList member of an instance of ListHolder is of type Object?