Re: Ada vendors and the art of selling used cars

["Marin David Condic" <dont.bother.mcondic.auntie.spam@[acm.org>]

We've kind of been around this bend before. But why should that stop us from
talking about it all over again? :-)

From what I saw of OA's environment in the past it was reasonably spiffy -
but not very distinct from Microsoft's offering - basically you had to know
MSVC++ and Win32api from some other source in order to really use what OA
gave you. I'd probably have a lot easier time with it now given that I've
had to learn MSVC++ in some detail. The price for a basic development kit
was in the ballpark so it could be a contender.

IMHO, something like OA needs to offer more product distinction - say a more
Ada-ish interface to Win32api/MFC - something that does it different/better.
Adding some additional tools/utilities might make some difference. (I'll
have to take another look at it as soon as I can get that elusive Round
Tuit, just to see if maybe it comes now with any additional features.)

I imagine GNAT could also be a contender in the same field - possibly with
the advantage of portability across platforms. (That could be a major
selling point!) But it would have to have better packaging than it currently
does to get to play in that arena.

It might be hard to sell Ada like MSVC++ is sold if you aren't Microsoft. I
understand that. But I think it has to at least come close to being a
visible spot on the horizon if it is to stand a chance. To do that, it has
to have the kind of kit-form that MSVC++ has and offer something
extra/better/different to the developer. It also needs to show up at least a
little bit in the forums in which people find MSVC++. That industrious
college kid or part-time hacker or hobbyist who doesn't know much about Ada
(if anything at all) has to see it and be presented with something easy to
use out of the box or they won't find much reason to go out of their way to
try it & maybe decide to like it.

OA might make a good starting point. I could imagine how if they took what
they have so far and said "well, yeah, you *can* build stuff with Ada for
Windows the same way you do with C++, but why would you want to? Here we've
got 'Ada-face' - the portable OS interface & GUI builder that lets you build
an app that runs on Windows or Linux (and others) with no changes - and
we've got a really good 'How To' book along with the usual debugger, editor,
etc. Oh, and BTW, we outdid the MFC by providing a bunch of data structures
and utility code that does more than make up for the weaknesses of C++ -
since Ada doesn't have those weaknesses." A portable OS/GUI interface might
make a good fit with their other products as well if things like Software
thru Pictures took advantage of the interface by providing prefabricated
design components that lined up with it.

(Maybe I should apply for the job of Vice President of Product Development
with Aonix? :-) Nahhh! I'd have to move out of Florida! :-)

MDC
--
Marin David Condic
Senior Software Engineer
Pace Micro Technology Americas    www.pacemicro.com
Enabling the digital revolution
e-Mail:    marin.condic@pacemicro.com
Web:      http://www.mcondic.com/


"Ted Dennison" <dennison@telepath.com> wrote in message
news:Zccg7.8098$2u.59102@www.newsranger.com...
> Given that OA Professional is going for roughly the same price as VC++, it
would
> clearly be in Aonix's best interests to sell this way. But we already had
an
> insider's report about how they tried to do this and failed. Admittedly
there
> are more options today. However, given that they still aren't
mass-marketing it,
> I'd have to assume that either:
>
> a) They are complete morons
> or
> b) There is some good reason why this just isn't cost-effective.
>