Re: A very successful Ada marketing disaster

Re: A very successful Ada marketing disaster

[agate!howland.reston.ans.net!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!slc17!jwilson]

I think we should all commend Gregory Aharonian for his efforts.
I wish more people had the time and inclination to support some
of the ideas he has come up with. It is obvious that we all have
some interest in Ada sticking around, otherwise we wouldn't be
reading this group.

I find it hard to believe that a commercial organization isn't
willing to invest in an opportunity that could improve their
customer base. (Especially when someone is willing to volunteer
their own time. Microsoft is willing to spend money sponsoring
football games to make OS/2 a household name, and _some_ Ada
vendors aren't willing to support a proponent at a conference.

Go figure.

---
Jon R. Wilson                           Work: (205) 215-5477
Senior Computer Analyst                 Fax:  (205) 215-5522
PRC, Inc.                               jwilson@mtgy.gtegsc.com

   << << << Every disclaimer I can think of applies. >> >> >>    

Re: A very successful Ada marketing disaster

[John Cobarruvias]

In article <26kmql$ht@europa.eng.gtefsd.com> jwilson@mtgy.gtegsc.com (Jon
Wilson, PRC) writes:
>I think we should all commend Gregory Aharonian for his efforts.
>I wish more people had the time and inclination to support some
>of the ideas he has come up with. It is obvious that we all have
>some interest in Ada sticking around, otherwise we wouldn't be
>reading this group.
>
>I find it hard to believe that a commercial organization isn't
>willing to invest in an opportunity that could improve their
>customer base. (Especially when someone is willing to volunteer
>their own time. Microsoft is willing to spend money sponsoring
>football games to make OS/2 a household name, and _some_ Ada
>vendors aren't willing to support a proponent at a conference.

Uh.....it's called: MONEY. If there is MONEY to be made, then the vendors
will do whatever is necessary to get their share. And if there is no MONEY
to be made, then they will do something else. 

I think that as long as Greg follows his pipe dream on his own time and
MONEY, while losing MONEY, then more power to him. Whatever gets him off.
But don't go bashing vendors who rely on generating MONEY for not
supporting him. Hey its business and business only.

Hum.....maybe we should elect Greg as a Civil Service employee in the IRS.
His efforts and dedication to the elimination of waste would be a
wonderful resource.
>
>Go figure.
>
>---
>Jon R. Wilson                           Work: (205) 215-5477
>Senior Computer Analyst                 Fax:  (205) 215-5522
>PRC, Inc.                               jwilson@mtgy.gtegsc.com
>
>   << << << Every disclaimer I can think of applies. >> >> >>    
>
>




*************************************************************
John R. Cobarruvias, Texas A&M Class of '78, 
NASA Johnson Space Center Houston Tx.
(713)483-9357

"Your pain will be legendary" (Hellraiser I)
"And to think..................I hesitated" (Hellraiser II)
"These pins are killing me!" (Pinhead in Hellraiser IV)
*************************************************************

Re: A very successful Ada marketing disaster

[cis.ohio-state.edu!pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!math.ohio-state.edu!cs.utex]

In <26kmql$ht@europa.eng.gtefsd.com> jwilson@mtgy.gtegsc.com (Jon Wilson, PRC) 
writes:

>I find it hard to believe that a commercial organization isn't
>willing to invest in an opportunity that could improve their
>customer base. (Especially when someone is willing to volunteer
>their own time. Microsoft is willing to spend money sponsoring
>football games to make OS/2 a household name, and _some_ Ada
>vendors aren't willing to support a proponent at a conference.

Looks like that advertising at that football game wasn't as effective
as it might have been.  OS/2 is an IBM product.  Microsoft would
rather you didn't buy it and would prefer that you purchase Windows/NT
or wait for Chicago instead.

-- 
"Insisting on perfect safety is for people who don't have the balls to live
 in the real world."   -- Mary Shafer, NASA Ames Dryden
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fred.McCall@dseg.ti.com - I don't speak for others and they don't speak for me.

Re: A very successful Ada marketing disaster

[Gregory Aharonian]

>I find it hard to believe that a commercial organization isn't
>willing to invest in an opportunity that could improve their
>customer base. (Especially when someone is willing to volunteer
>their own time. Microsoft is willing to spend money sponsoring
>football games to make OS/2 a household name, and _some_ Ada
>vendors aren't willing to support a proponent at a conference.

   The problem is that most of the "commercial" organizations receiving
the Ada policies, reuse and research contracts are not "commercial"
organizations, but extensions of socialist bureacracies, all of whom have
little interest in the marketing, publicity and evangelizing aspects of
Ada outside the Mandated world.  I mean, 40 companies at Tri-Ada, and at
best one or two at non-Mandated shows.

   And the smaller, entrepreneurial companies who are interested, like
those who participated at the NASA conference and hopefully will participate
at the October show in Boston, don't have access to enough money to fund
a campaign to overcome ten years of the suffocation of Ada.  None of us can
afford the expensive multi-million dollar campaign to publicize and market
Ada into the corporate computing world.

   Given that ARPA is spending $100 million to help support the commercial
CAD industry to reinforce that infrastructure to meet DoD needs, while no
one is willing to spend a similar amount on reinforcing Ada is strong
evidence that the DoD in general could care less about Ada and is looking
for a face saving way to get rid of the Mandate.

-- 
**************************************************************************
 Greg Aharonian                                      srctran@world.std.com
 Source Translation & Optimization                            617-489-3727
 P.O. Box 404, Belmont, MA 02178

Re: A very successful Ada marketing disaster

[Michael Feldman]

In article <1993Sep8.105152.26544@sei.cmu.edu> firth@sei.cmu.edu (Robert Firth)
 writes:
>In article <SRCTRAN.93Sep8102856@world.std.com> srctran@world.std.com (Gregory
 Aharonian) writes:
>
>>   Given that ARPA is spending $100 million to help support the commercial
>>CAD industry to reinforce that infrastructure to meet DoD needs, while no
>>one is willing to spend a similar amount on reinforcing Ada...
>
>But the DoD has spent at least that much on "reinforcing" Ada.  What
>about ALS, AIE, ALS/N, much of the STARS stuff, and so on?

Oh, yeah, these are all great products :-)
>
>Happily, the commercial CAD industry is probably too large to be
>suffocated, even by $100 million of government "reinforcement".  Ada,
>alas, was caught in her cradle.

I always love Robert's dry English humor.

SometimesI think the best thing the government could do for Ada is get the
hell out of the way.

Mike Feldman