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=-1.9 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00 autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,60e2922351e0e780 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 2003-11-13 04:12:22 PST Path: archiver1.google.com!news2.google.com!news.maxwell.syr.edu!elnk-pas-nf1!newsfeed.earthlink.net!stamper.news.pas.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net.POSTED!d9c68f36!not-for-mail Message-ID: <3FB3751D.5090809@noplace.com> From: Marin David Condic User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.0.1) Gecko/20020823 Netscape/7.0 (OEM-HPQ-PRS1C03) X-Accept-Language: en-us, en MIME-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: Clause "with and use" References: <3FAF8C99.5040201@noplace.com> <3FB0B57D.6070906@noplace.com> <3FB22125.1040807@noplace.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2003 12:12:21 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 209.165.22.196 X-Complaints-To: abuse@earthlink.net X-Trace: newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net 1068725541 209.165.22.196 (Thu, 13 Nov 2003 07:12:21 EST) NNTP-Posting-Date: Thu, 13 Nov 2003 07:12:21 EST Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net Xref: archiver1.google.com comp.lang.ada:2445 Date: 2003-11-13T12:12:21+00:00 List-Id: Ever heard of hiding a lamp under a bushel basket? You can have the greatest technology in the world, but if you can't effectively *communicate* that to a wide number of people how are they going to know about it or be inspired to try it out? Ada has been one public-relations disaster after another from its inception. People felt it was being rammed down their throats. They had the perception it was slow, buggy and way too expensive. They didn't think it addressed their problems and that it would not work. We can stand here all day and say "That's not true!!!" but effectively, that message did not get sent to the wide range of potential users. Marketing, advertising and sales might have helped that a lot. Even more recently, we had a major language revision come out in 1995 - pretty close to the time that Sun was starting to hawk Java. Java had merits. Sun wanted to make sure the world knew about those merits. (Please don't deny that Java had some merits - it *was* an improvement over other things and provided capabilities not found with other languages - like portable executables across the net and a large library.) Sun made sure that there were ads in magazines, radio spots, interviews and "Puff Pieces" on various radio shows (I recall hearing one on NPR & I think there were probably others). Ada95 had merits - like high integrity, portability and object oriented programming. What did you hear about it anywhere except within the confines of places frequented by the already-converted? Was there any publicity? Any hype? Any stories about how wonderful it was getting planted in the press? So we've got another language revision coming out. The problem is it is more of an "incremental" revision - relatively minor enhancements to the language rather than anything new and big with respect to capabilities. If Ada had some revolutionary new thing to offer, it might have something to hype within the media. (Like if it had a library that went beyond what people traditionally expect?) If it had something *new* to hype that might interest the general media, and it had someone running an advertizing campaign, chances are, it could get some interest and stories done about it. If it had some vision for the future - rather than essentially some "Me Too!!!" kinds of capabilities - it might get some good press. If it had a large institutional backer, it might have some money to place some ads in journals and get the word out that Ada is cool. People don't conduct scientific studies to find out what is the best technology to apply when it comes to tools. They buy the tools based on what they have heard about and what seems to address their problems the best. That's just human nature. Who goes to the hardware store to buy a set of socket wrenches and conducts a study on the strengths and weaknesses of every different brand available at every store? Nobody. You find a brand that has a good reputation, is available at a reasonable cost and looks like it meets your needs. People buy "Craftsman" or "Snap-On" because they are good quality, meet the needs and are generally available at a reasonable price. Maybe there's "Fred's Hand Tools" out there with *superior* products - but who ever heard of them to even know about investigating them? That's why all that marketing, sales and advertising is really important for Ada. Perhaps instead of trying to come up with an all-volunteer, freebie library, we should have an all-volunteer, freebie advertising blitz? :-) MDC Vinzent 'Gadget' Hoefler wrote: > > Yes. I agree with you here. But that is what scares me a little bit. > Why do you need a bigger budget if you already have the better > product? > -- ====================================================================== Marin David Condic I work for: http://www.belcan.com/ My project is: http://www.jsf.mil/NSFrames.htm Send Replies To: m o d c @ a m o g c n i c . r "Trying is the first step towards failure." -- Homer Simpson ======================================================================