Re: The Hobby Lobby was Windows CE?

[Chad Robert Meiners <meinersc@cse.msu.edu>]

I agree.  Perhaps the effort should instead be that of building support
for Ada.  A cheap "Programming for Dummies"-like book that comes bundled
with the GNAT compiler and AdaGIDE would most likely have a better effect
because it would target individuals that are less likely to be biased and
make Ada their first language.  Since they most likely would be learning
how to program on their own time, they would most likely form a positive
opinion of Ada.  I am unsure what costs of getting the books onto the
shelves would be, but it seems more likely a book will catch the impulse
buyer than a compiler kit.

-Chad R. Meiners

On Thu, 27 Sep 2001, Marin David Condic wrote:

> No, it isn't strictly necessary to get it into store shelves, but it sure
> helps a lot if you want to sell lots of copies. :-)
>
> The case you cite is a bit different. Fortran, as a language, has an
> extremely large number of users in a wide variety of application areas.
> These users already know the language and use the language, so you don't
> need to sell them on the language itself. Ada - while it has a dedicated and
> non-trivial following - does not have such a large base of existing users.
> So you first have to sell "The Masses" on the notion of using the language,
> then you can sell them on the particular implementation.
>
> I'm sure among the dedicated Ada users already in existence, that most of
> them have no real need to go to a store to buy it. They either get it
> downloaded from one or more sources off of the net or already have
> relationships with vendors or at minimum know who to go to in order to get
> something they already wanted. This is analogous to the Visual Fortran 95
> users you cite - just not as large a number. But how many sales are there to
> people who have no current use of Fortran or no special knowledge of Fortran
> or who may not even know what Fortran is?
>
> That particular group of potential customers is what Ada has to reach out
> and get to.
>
> 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/
>
>
> "Gary Scott" <Gary.L.Scott@lmtas.lmco.com> wrote in message
> news:3BB340C6.DC51CB98@lmtas.lmco.com...
> > Hi,
> >
> > But is it even necessary to get it onto store shelves.  Visual Fortran
> > 95 from Compaq/Intel isn't in any stores that I'm aware of and it's
> > selling like hot cakes (estimate about 100 copies at my site alone).
> >
>
>
>
>