Re: Re (tilly) 2: The Decline of Perl - My Opinion

[beebware]

I know, but that's how head of departments and corporate management think: these are the people that believe the FUD that Microsoft put out ('XP is more secure - we best get it then', never mind that Linux is more secure and the Windows 2000 machines are also secure). Sometimes it's just the brand name which also helps - I know of a certain sausage manufacture who makes sausages for two major supermarkets. People say 'Oh, that's from Supermarket X' upon tasting, although it is just the same sausage.

All in all - it comes down to packaging. 'Tart' something up by packaging, brand names and high prices are, despite the rival product being better in every respect, the 'well packaged' product will win.

[tilly]

Issues of branding and so on are more complex than we techies seem to often think.

If you really want to learn more about how they work, I have heard Information Rules by Shapiro and Varian (both well-known and respected economists) be highly recommended by people who should know. I haven't read it myself, but it is on my list of books that I really should get around to one of these days. (Particularly since I got a copy for my brother and he liked it...)