William;

I think you have something worth trying. It has pros and cons but it is a good plan. I can extend it just a bit. We have a local computer store that occupies four stories and my wife and I know the owners very well. I could talk to the owners and our local VFP User Groups and give a seminar on VFP. We could have the most talented VFP developers in our area contribute towards this endeavor.

There are many educational institutions in the San Francisco Bay Area and with the help of our VFP User Groups we could approach each one and offer your suggestion. Now I would like to extend this to how to approach corporations with the message that VFP is a good tool and should be considered.

I do think the greatest failing of Microsoft towards VFP has been its marketing strategy. It is apparent that Microsoft expects little from VFP sales and why they continue to develop the tool is not comprehensible. We love the tool and corporations love to talk about “the bottom line”.

Without a market VFP will go away as is true of any product or technology. As a close friend of mind stated, “It does not matter what you know. If you cannot sell it, it has no value”! My friend has a degree in Marketing from U.C. Berkeley and I think his words ring true.

1. So we need a market. How do we establish a market for VFP?

2. We need developers and to educate new developers on how to use VFP. We have developers and you have a great plan how to obtain a “new crop”.

3. Then we just have to convince Microsoft to continue supporting and developing the product.

If you had a larger and growing market people would get in line to learn VFP. You could charge them to teach VFP. If the product grew - that is the number of sales of the tool increased - Microsoft might continue to develop and support the tool. Perhaps too many if's!

Somehow I think VFP has become “too mature”. It is very stable and predictable – we know when to use it and what it is capable of accomplishing. It is certain it will be in use for the next few years. If and when .NET takes off it will leave behind a great deal of smoke and dust. Our job is to stay ahead of all of this and survive the ride.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

Tom