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,FREEMAIL_FROM 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: 2003-11-11 11:49:41 PST Path: archiver1.google.com!postnews1.google.com!not-for-mail From: 18k11tm001@sneakemail.com (Russ) Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: Clause "with and use" Date: 11 Nov 2003 11:49:41 -0800 Organization: http://groups.google.com Message-ID: References: <3FACCBFB.9D288CF2@fakeaddress.nil> <3FAF8C99.5040201@noplace.com> <3FB0B57D.6070906@noplace.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: 63.194.87.148 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Trace: posting.google.com 1068580181 28774 127.0.0.1 (11 Nov 2003 19:49:41 GMT) X-Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com NNTP-Posting-Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2003 19:49:41 +0000 (UTC) Xref: archiver1.google.com comp.lang.ada:2370 Date: 2003-11-11T11:49:41-08:00 List-Id: Marin David Condic wrote in message news:<3FB0B57D.6070906@noplace.com>... > There isn't anything wrong with "marketing" per se. It serves a useful > purpose. But it isn't done by some manager getting into his head that > "XYZ is what the public will love, so let's make our product have XYZ in > it..." Marketing is done with research and statistics, among other > tools. You don't *assume* that your potential customers want XYZ - you > go find out for sure what they want by asking them. > > A fair approach would be to have a survey of some sample set of > C/C++/Java users who had some familiarity with Ada and ask them if they > would consider doing their next project in Ada if....... (fill in the > blank with a number of possible changes) I'd imagine that doing so would > likely reveal that either they'd not be willing to consider it at all, > or they'd only consider it if there were such radical surgery on it that > it basically stopped being Ada. > > Guesswork is interesting in a newsgroup, but deadly when trying to make > major decisions about a product in a business environment. You don't > guess at what is going to make your existing customers happy. You > respond to their requests for changes based on the priorities they set. > You also don't guess about what would attract new business from > potential customers. You ask them what they'd want in your product and > try to address the highest priorities they set. To do otherwise will > have you bankrupt very quickly. OK, let me see if got this right. We have limited resources, so rather than just removing the clutter from the front yard before we sell the house, we should perform a marketing study to see if it will be a wise investment. I give up.