>>>Do customers really look at these issues or do they simply look at what the "current fad" is? I'm not sure.<<
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>You know your customers best, trust your own judgement on that, do not be instructed.

True. But some wise guy may evening be looking at the "Decline of VFP" thread. How does one deal with that kind of a situation?
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>Customer expectation, funding or other issues may make it an excellent proposition.

Could you be more clear and specific on this statement? Pardon me for not understanding what you say.
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>FWIW my company has grown a bit but in 1997 we were a "small time developer" that jumped from VFP to Java. Bad mistake, Java was not ready for people like us who needed to make a profit. IMHO: Unless you have all your costs met and do not need to make a profit, you cannot afford to be in the first wave of anything new in IT. It hurts too much.

So stay with VFP? Or Go VFP/SQL?

>if you have stuff you can sell now, make $ while staying abreast of what is going on in the rest of the market. Who knows what IT will bring in the next 5 years?

Good idea. But IT tends to evolve continuously and the puspose of this thread is to see how a developer should position himsefl/herself strategically too.

John - thank you again for your insight into this topic. I am hoping that more gurus would contribute to this thread. Your time is appreciated John. Thanks again.