Hello, John,

I actually recall one of big 'runs' regarding PowerBuilder, back in 1996. I was involved in one, and fought strongly on the side of Fox. (hadn't thought about that one in years).

I've been involved with companies that definitely lost business (and failed to win new business) because of the development tool. I'm glad you qualified one of your paragraphs with "difference seems": the clients I've worked with are ones in an industry with several common business application challenges.

So 'for my perspective' <g>, I don't view the areas as mutually exclusive - I've seen vendors evaluated both for their platform and for how they address issues that are common across manufacturers. (The evaluation is often done by different groups).

I don't dispute for one second that there are many areas where tool/platform choice doesn't have wide-reaching effects. All I can relay are my own experiences, and that over the last year I've spoken with more and more people who have had similar experiences.

I don't recall using specific words that convey a complete dismissal of other experiences. If I have, I truly apologize.

Kevin