Object Pascal Stigma, Useless Survey Question

Does anyone here think that new developers who see the original name of our favourite language ("Object Pascal") get put off by that?

I'm thinking of the following categories of people:
* Those who've used Pascal, but never Delphi.
* Those who've been educated in Java, C, C++, or C#.

Do you think anyone of these categories of people who sees "Object Pascal" is put off by that? Do they look at it and think: "I'm not touching that, it is Pascal, that's almost as bad as using Object Cobol... nah... I'll give it a miss?" or "Pascal, hasn't that been around for eons?" or "Pascal, isn't that a teaching language?"

I think Borland renamed Object Pascal to Delphi for good reason. They assumed that the name Pascal was perceived as negative for marketing. Or at least that was part of the motivation. Part of it was ownership of the language I guess... I've never seen that reasons published anywhere.

Now, the question is: Was that the wrong move?

Personally, I've seen that people who've seen what Delphi is have been very impressed. Most developers wouldn't mind switching to Delphi once they realize what it is. They just get a negative impression when they see that it is Object Pascal (IMO, the "Object" in it isn't enough to change the negative perception).

Is it perhaps better to educate people that Pascal has changed and that Object Pascal is _WAY_ different?

Is it therefore a good thing to not pretend that Delphi isn't Object Pascal?

So, a little survey question...

Who thinks that:
(1) We should be trying to "convert the masses" by changing the perception of "Object Pascal"? After all, people don't really see the "Pascal" association as such a negative so it isn't that much effort... They'll change their minds eventually.
(2) We shouldn't fight the tide- rather avoid using "Pascal" and use Delphi as the name of the language? Pascal was a teaching language etc. Delphi is a much cooler and more modern language name, like Java etc.
(3) Other

I'd appreciate some feedback from people who have been in one of the two categories that I named above that had no exposure to Delphi initially. So when answering this question also include that bit of info.

Cheers,
Kevin.
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: A VB6 fan asks... why do YOU stick with VB6???
    ... and developers. ... I also agree that they can do far more with Delphi to ... used years ago as a teaching language and they let that go completely. ... simply because things "fit" better into the whole. ...
    (microsoft.public.vb.general.discussion)
  • Re: Turbo Delphi... Why ? :(
    ... language will they be using - C++, Delphi Win32, C# or Delphi .NET. ... So you will never need to use more than one language at a time? ... The thing is, BDS satisfies some of our customers needs, and Turbos ... In addition - NEW developers and students how ...
    (borland.public.delphi.non-technical)
  • Re: If Borland had owned Windows for many years now...
    ... and they're definitely not through "cleaning up" the language. ... developers, developers". ... signed, and the total sigs have now passed 10,000. ... the need to automatically assume they would do the same with Delphi. ...
    (borland.public.delphi.non-technical)
  • Re: The Pascal - isation of MS and C++
    ... It's interesting that MS is encouraging C++ developers to use the plumbing ... This seems easy enough for Delphi developers (even when using C# ... > performance language choice within the .NET stable. ... And what should strike any Delphi programmer right away is ...
    (borland.public.delphi.non-technical)
  • Re: Over 100 Microsoft MVPs Have Signed Online Petition - Give Us Back VB!!
    ... My prime interest is *language* stability. ... "VB data controls" are com controls, ... > I wouldn't ever want to use them in Delphi - or in VB; ... My code is core to the app, business logic that is focused on the market I ...
    (borland.public.delphi.non-technical)