Re: True faiths ( was Re: The true faith )

[Christian Lynbech <christian.lynbech@ted.ericsson.dk>]

>>>>> "Preben" == Preben Randhol <randhol+abuse@pvv.org> writes:

Preben> On Sat, 12 Jan 2002 10:46:36 +1100, israel r t wrote:
>> Yet, if Kent is right, they may have all been " rejected ...  for
>> substantial reasons and not just superficial ones."

Preben> This implies that the marked is rational and logical. It has
Preben> shown time and time again that it isn't.

Exactly, the market is made up of armies of individuals that behave
according to their own small views of the world. If enough individuals
falls for a myth about something being smart and cool, then that will
be the markets collected reaction as well.

Preben> Capitalisme will need to adjust itself in the near future from
Preben> the short-term gain view to a long-term view.

Unfortunately, I do not share that optimism. To survive in the market
place, it is good enough that you do not do any worse than your
competitors in certain areas and then you can be better in some other
areas. So using C as an application language will not a business if
the competitors do the same. Of course using something better than C
will increase the advantages of that business, but it isn't a
requirement.

So as long as enough people believe something, and the market will
provide a selfsustainable weight to a belief once it is there, it will
not be working against you, even if it is downright wrong.

A real bummer for payrollers such as myself that needs to depend on
management seeing through the myths to be able to work with lisp, but
certainly also a great opportunity for the entrepreneur with a good
idea and an understanding of what lisp can do for him.

In the land of the blind, the one-eyed is king.


------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------
Christian Lynbech       | Ericsson Telebit, Skanderborgvej 232, DK-8260 Viby J
Phone: +45 8938 5244    | email: christian.lynbech@ted.ericsson.dk
Fax:   +45 8938 5101    | web:   www.ericsson.com
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Hit the philistines three times over the head with the Elisp reference manual.
                                        - petonic@hal.com (Michael A. Petonic)