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From: hbaker@netcom.com (Henry G. Baker)
Subject: Re: The expense of call/cc (was R4RS)
Message-ID: <hbakerCxHErn.3u5@netcom.com>
Organization: nil
References: <1994Oct8.115151.17399@news.cs.indiana.edu> <hbakerCxEz5z.CEF@netcom.com> <mhamburg-101094094146@macb024.mv.us.adobe.com>
Date: Tue, 11 Oct 1994 00:02:10 GMT
Lines: 27

In article <mhamburg-101094094146@macb024.mv.us.adobe.com> mhamburg@mv.us.adobe.com (Mark Hamburg) writes:
>But remember that the OS
>vendors are interested in selling software.  And if the performance of that
>software on existing hardware is inadequate, it probably won't sell very
>well.  It's one of those chicken-and-the-egg problems.

The performance of M$ Windows has always been inadequate, and probably
always will be, completely independent of the speed of call/cc.  It's
been years since anyone _didn't_ buy Windoze (tm) based on its lack of
alacrity.  Given the way that M$ hires programmers (see the infamous
M$ Interview thread that won't die), this poor performance is unlikely
to improve in this century.

>This also assumes a fair amount of enlightenment in Seattle.  Microsoft
>seems pretty convinced that Visual C++/Basic is the answer.

M$ now has a PARC clone in which several schemers have managed to
sneak in.  Perhaps M$ PARC will spawn a 'Rain Valley' in much the same
way that Xerox PARC spawned Apple, Adobe, ... in Silicon Valley.

Speaking of chickens & eggs: companies that are too chicken to fiddle
with the golden egg, sometimes wake up to find that the golden egg has
flown the coop.  (Apologies to turkeys everywhere.)

      Henry Baker
      Read ftp.netcom.com:/pub/hbaker/README for info on ftp-able papers.

