Re: Google (not Borland) knows all ;)

From: Brion L. Webster (brion.webster_at_nospam.ci.fresno.ca.us)
Date: 12/14/04 

Date: 14 Dec 2004 14:59:46 -0800

Nick Hodges [TeamB] wrote:

> Brion L. Webster wrote:
>
>
> > When those decisions don't match what we
> > think should be done, we're told we're not representative.
>
> I don't think that "you" are told that at any specific time. I
> think "you", (whoever "you" all are) are pretty much equally
> representative at all times.
>
> > If we're the only ones who can be bothered to speak up in
> > public, then we're the only ones who deserve to be catered to.
> > The silent masses have no business prodding Borland to do
> > something different than what we want
>
> I'm not sure I buy that. First, there are more ways to "speak up"
> than by posting here. In fact, posting here is probably among the
> least effective ways of "speaking up". Second, "making a lot of
> noise" <> "saying things that are smart." Finally, "speaking up
> in public" doesn't give you some moral authority over Borland
> than less vocal customers.

I can see that I'm going to have to disappoint some folks.

Exactly how many heaping ladles of sarcasm do I need to baste my
posts with? Nick, I'm disappointed. Either that, or I can't
detect yours.

While it's comforting to think that if *I* (the generic newsgroup
participant, not me, Brion) see something "obvious", there must be
others out there like me, that's hardly realistic. The stats on
the newsgroup postings clearly point out that the number of posts
have nothing to do with the amount of $ flowing into Borland, since
JBuilder never came close to generating the newsgroup traffic that
Delphi did, yet outsold Delphi for at least one year. Based on
newsgroup postings, Borland should never have looked at the Java
market, and lost out on all that revenue.

For my personal stake, I could care less about WinForms, I don't
care about C#, refactoring, inlining, 64-bit compilers, more
performant run-time code, etc. I would like single-source
Windows/Linux/Mac development, preferably where I could develop on
Windows and deploy wherever, using something very similar to Delphi
7. I know I'm not alone, I've talked to other developers who are
looking for this, but I also know that I'm in direct opposition to
other, vocal newsgroup users.

Frankly, the whole Java thing did take on the flavor of a
distraction, especially since the first JBuilder or two were
written in Delphi by the Delphi team. But was it good for Borland?
I think, in the end, yes. Because it got them back in the
Enterprise space, working on convincing CIO's that Borland wasn't
necessarily a "hobbyist" or expired company. I don't think we'd be
seeing the ALM stuff if Borland hadn't explored the Java world.

Finally, let's be realistic. I "control" exactly one Delphi
Architect license, worth approximately $600 USD to Borland
annually. While I may indirectly encourage others to spend money
on Delphi, I haven't been spectacularly successful. Mostly I just
help keep some existing users on board. I've posted before on
Borland's spectacular failure to capitalize on their grass-roots
marketing efforts, particularly Dale Fuller's personal promise to
make Borland Barbarians mean something again. So, should Borland
listen to what I, and my $600 want? Or should they listen to the
large enterprises who have 100 Delphi licenses, quietly talking
through their Account Manager, who may also be purchasing StarTeam,
Interbase, Together, and all the other pieces of the ALM team?

Do I really want them feeding me pablum, assuring me that they'll
take my needs at the highest priority? Because you know darned
well it only makes sense to work on the paying customer's requests
first, and those who pay the most win. Spend just as much as you
need to to keep a little customer, while milking the big ones for
as much as you can. I'd rather they were just honest about what
they're doing.

Now - you can almost all join me on this one, I'm sure. What would
help the absolute most, I believe, is a public roadmap. Tell us
what you're (Borland) working on, about when we can expect it, and
in what order you'll be doing things. I don't care if you change
the roadmap - in fact, I'd prefer that you update it at least every
six months. For example, you could say "By the second half of 2005
we expect to have an interim release of Delphi 2005 with a C++
personality and Bold for Win32. By the end of 2005, or three
months after the release of .NET 2.0, whichever comes last, we
expect to have a release of Delphi with .NET 2.0 support. By the
end of 2006 we expect to release a preview version of Delphi with
64 bit compiling, and a Kylix personality." You may change all of
that next year, but at least I'd know the direction you were moving.

-Brion

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