From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-0.3 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00, REPLYTO_WITHOUT_TO_CC autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,3a9b49a9162025eb X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 2003-02-03 09:16:52 PST Path: archiver1.google.com!news1.google.com!newsfeed.stanford.edu!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!peernews-us.colt.net!newsfeed.news2me.com!newsfeed2.earthlink.net!newsfeed1.earthlink.net!newsfeed.earthlink.net!stamper.news.pas.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!harp.news.atl.earthlink.net!not-for-mail From: Richard Riehle Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: Bye-bye Ada ? Date: Mon, 03 Feb 2003 09:26:34 -0800 Organization: AdaWorks Software Engineering Message-ID: <3E3EA64A.8B60939C@adaworks.com> References: Reply-To: richard@adaworks.com NNTP-Posting-Host: 3f.bb.80.7e Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Server-Date: 3 Feb 2003 17:16:51 GMT X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.7 [en] (Win98; I) X-Accept-Language: en Xref: archiver1.google.com comp.lang.ada:33736 Date: 2003-02-03T17:16:51+00:00 List-Id: Marin David Condic wrote: > Besides, CASE tools and other programming aids are a tough market. There's a > highly elastic demand and a small number of people (with respect to more > general software) who can actually make use of the end product. It would be > far better to pick some more general industry (like auto repair shops or > beauty parlors or something "professional" like doctors or lawyers) and > research what they'd potentially be able to use to automate their business This is a sensible approach. There is very little money in developing yet more tools for creating software. And that money is being drained away by the open-source movement. > Develop something for a narrower industry that has a large software > component and some other sort of value-added product (like an integrated > cash register or some on-line service - that's where you make the *real* > money) and you've got something where the big players aren't going to drive > you out of the market. This is called a "vertical marketing" approach. Develop expertise in a particular industry, learn its demands, its needs, and its way of doing business. Then, build a product that is easier to use, more reliable, and more closely mapped to the way that industry does business. Keep the product current as the technology advances. Keep the code portable for variations in operating system availability. Robert Lief was on the right track with his medical equipment in Ada approach. I'm not sure whether he ever got very far with it. I have some friends in Silicon Valley who specialize in developing software for small medical devices on the I-8051. They are experts at this after many years of doing it. They quietly make money, don't have any intention of going public, love what they do, and have a clientele of satisfied and repeating business. Ada, although not hosted on the I-8051, could be used to serve a similar market. A lot of lab equipment needs larger processors now. There are robotic assemby lines that need to run on larger processors. When one looks around carefully, it seems there is end to the opportunity for creating new software to upgrade what is already in place, and to sieze the market with reliable software in embedded industrial applications. The problem is that too many people with Ada expertise are not of an entrepreneurial bent. Long years in doing software by contract has stunted their ability to do anything except on-spec. The large users of Ada such as Lockheed, CSC, Raytheon, etc., simply don't have the kind of management that understands free-market risk-taking. I recall a conversation with one high-ranking official of one of the large DoD software developers. He asked what kind of commercial opportunities I saw for Ada. I listed several. His reply astonished me. "But who will fund it?" My answer, stunned him. "No one. You need to fund it yourself once you determine there is a market." Richard Riehle