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Subject:
From:
Dale Stanbrough <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Dale Stanbrough <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Fri, 27 Nov 1998 11:04:30 +1100
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>I think the specific words "safety critical" may become more
>appealing in '99 and '00, especially if there is any sort of anti-technology
>backlash re: Y2K.  This doesn't mean this is the only market to approach, it's
>a matter of producing a perception of Ada's strength.
>
>I may be too immersed in this to be objective, but "High Integrity" or
>"Dependable" seem like they could be used to describe applications in other
>languages very easily, so they wouldn't provide the same cache.
>
>Best thing to do though is to test any strategy before a major investment
>is made.
>
>At the very least, if resources permit and someone has time, the suggested
>themes and slogans should be tested on some folks outside of our group:  first
>other Ada people and then target groups beyond Ada. Something that sounds
>clever to us might not mean as much to the people we're trying to persuade and
>we won't know it if we don't ask.
>
>My main point is that we should be thinking about what position in the market
>place Ada can and should own that will best promote growth of its use.  I am
>concerned that the current perceived position outside of the Ada community
>centers on weakness.  I've heard it summed up as a "dead language" or in the
>narrow limiting niche of "that DOD language."


Perhaps we need to directly confront people by juxtaposing terms with "Ada"
that they just don't expect to see.

e.g.
        Ada, the
           OO
           distributed
           <any other buzzword>

        language for today.

I suspect that words like safety critical are not quite right either - that
phrase only makes me think of aeroplanes etc.

A phrase that made you think of Ada as being good for PC type developement
would be good. Certainly we need to change the view that Ada is esoteric.
Perhaps...

        Ada - developing better Windows solutions.
        Ada - building trusted Windows and Unix solutions.
        Ada - helping you to build bug free Windows programs.

...and make sure that people who wear the badges have at least a couple of
good stories to describe how using Ada -actually- did what the badges
claim! :-)

Dale

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