Re: Ada vendors and the art of selling used cars

[tmoran@acm.org]

>Maybe it takes high-volume to get the product to be reliable enough
>regardless of all the variations in conditions of use that prevail
>(ie different configurations of the customers' hardware and software)
>so that sales without support is relatively likely to give the customer
>good satisfaction.  And maybe the Ada market is too small to support
>that kind of product.

  It's not just reliability.  CLAW, for instance, captures a major
amount of Windows.  Yes, it's simplified by using Ada constructs, but
even there, not everyone is up to speed on all the Ada 95 techniques
used by CLAW, so that requires explanation.  Then think of the number
and thickness of "Windows Programming" books.  That suggests a massive
level of documentation.  Then consider the FAQs and Q&A in various
forums on programming Windows.  That translates into customer support.
There are many dark and dirty corners lurking in Windows, many, but not
all, of which CLAW knows about and handles.  True, simple things can be
done with simple code and the GUI builder, but it won't be long till a
CLAW user wants something off the well-beaten path, and he may need help
to do it.  If there's a very large base of expertise, customers can help
each other.  CLAW is not, yet at least, at that point, so a lot of
customer support translates directly to demands on time from RR
Software.