Guido at Google

[Alex Martelli]

<bonono at gmail.com> wrote:
   ...
> So exactly how high is python in Google's priority list ? Or in other
> words, if python is in a stand still as it is now, what would be the
> impact to Google ? As an outsider, I can only base on public info, like

And so can I, as an insider, when I communicate with people who are not
employed by Google nor have signed non-disclosure agreements.

> a press release mentioning Guido has been hired.

If only press releases count, then I believe Google has made few hires
in 2005 -- Elliot Schrage, Johnny Chou, and Vint Cerf, would be about
it, I believe (e.g., I can't even see any press release specifically
about our hiring Kai Fu Lee at http://googlepress.blogspot.com, though
he's mentioned in the press release about Chou).


> > An example of rhetorical question:
> > "Do you really think that a specific technology [including a software
> > one, such as a programming language] cannot have, in certain cases,
> > *extremely high* strategic priority for organizations with thousands of
> > employees?"
   ...
> Surprisingly, I don't see this as an rhetorical question at all. It is

Then you don't know what "rhetorical question" means; you'll find many
explanations on the web, but one of my favorite is "a question that
conveys a point rather than expects an answer", which is exactly what
this example IS.  ((I don't personally find it all that surprising that
you don't know what a given English expression means)).

> quite netural to me as a "I don't agree with you" without indication of
> silliness, just a style of writing.

As I said, and I quote:

> > Rhetorical questions are a perfectly legitimate style of writing

although they can be overused, or weakened if they're fuzzy or badly
expressed.  More specifically, a rhetorical question may often be used
"for effect" and emphasis, as several of the definitions you'll find on
the web mention.


Alex