- First name: Robert (Rob) 
  
- Last name: Vogt 
  
- Email address: REMOVED
  
- Home page: () 
  
- Phone number(s): (no thanks) 
  
- Postal code: 48105 
  
- City: Ann Arbor, Michigan 
  
- Country: USA 
  
- Organization(s) you work for or study at 
  (please supply the name and city for each organization): 
  
  NovoDynamics, Inc. 
  Ann Arbor, Michigan 
  
- Fields of interest 
  (e.g. computer linguistics, numerical analysis, business software, 
  medicine, bioinformatics): 
  
  Image processing, particularly via mathematical morphology 
  Document analysis/optical character recognition (OCR) 
  Other imaging problem domains (microscopy, radar, satellite, bio, 
etc.) 
  Automatic programming 
  Machine learning and optimization methods 
  Web applications 
  
- Training/Education: 
  
  M.S & Ph.D. Computer Science, University of Michigan 
  A.M & B.S. Cognitive Psychology, University of Michigan 
  
- Have you written any Lisp-related papers? If so, please supply 
  bibliographical references (and URL's, if possible). 
  
  My Ph.D. thesis, was published long ago by Springer-Verlag (1989) 
  "Automatic Generation of Morphological Set-Recognition Algorithms" 
  
  This was a Lisp-based system for automatically generating simple 
  algebraic image processing algorithms based on 'truthed' examples, 
  which drove a special purpose high-speed image processor to execute 
  the operations, tests, etc. 
  
  A summary paper: 
  "Automatic Generation of Simple Morphological Algorithms." 
  In Proceedings of the IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and 
  Pattern Recognition, Ann Arbor, MI, June 1988. 
  
  No Lisp publications since then, but I am gathering material for 
  one or two such papers based on my current work in automatic 
  programming via macro-generating macros. 
  
- Have you developed or participated in the development of any 
  Lisp-related programs or libraries? If so, please supply a URL, 
  if possible. 
  
  Yes, some for a previous company, some for personal projects, 
  but nothing commercial or available to the public. 
  
- Lisp variants you have used (e.g. Common Lisp, Scheme, Dylan): 
  
  Common Lisp only 
  
- Lisp variants you're currently using or intend to use in the 
  near future: 
  
  Common Lisp only 
  
- Lisp implementations you have used 
  (e.g. CMUCL, Lispworks, Allegro Common Lisp): 
  
  MacIntosh Common Lisp, now Allegro Common Lisp exclusively 
  
- Lisp implementations you're currently using or intend to use 
  in the near future: 
  
  Allegro Common Lisp only 
  
- Computer platforms on which you're using or deploying Lisp: 
  
  MS Windows currently, Unix (Solaris) & Mac previously, possibly 
MacOSX 
 later 
  
- Number of years of experience with Lisp: 
  
  About 30, off and on (mostly off) 
  
- Do you use Lisp: 
  - at work (if so, how much)   Not at all 
  - for study (if so, how much)  N/A 
  - as a hobby (if so, how much)  5-10 hrs per week 
  
- Are you using Lisp as much as you would like to? 
  If not, why not? 
  
  Certainly not, as my current employer is primarily a C/C++, 
  (now Java) software house. (See further comments, below.) 
  
- Do you see any obstacles to further Lisp growth (if so, what 
  is the biggest obstacle in your opinion)? 
  
  Cost, for something like Franz ACL is a major issue for the 
people 
  that I know--or at least that is the complaint I have heard, 
before 
  they then go shelling out not that much less for Java development 
  environments.  I don't think this argument is particularly valid, 
  when you look at overall development time/costs, and so on, but it 
  is a common concern--coupled with the fact that the freeware 
options 
  do not seem to be nearly as capable, nor as well-maintained. 
  
  Of course the simple fact that Lisp isn't as popular, that 
  Java is the 'new wave', and that (especially junior) programmers 
  all want to have good job mobility--are also major factors. 
  
  While it is hard to make arguments against the 'herd' or 'lemming' 
  mentality preference, I still think it is important for Lisp users 
  to publicize how very difficult problems were solved faster, better, 
  or at all versus not, by using Lisp capabilities that are not 
readily 
  available in other environments (macros, automatic code generation, 
  closures, dynamic objects, and others). This must include 'real-world' 
  problems, that do not simply include common 'AI' domains. 
  
  More books need to be written about the use of Lisp, both for 
general 
  programming, and in very domain-specific case studies. Likewise, more 
  papers need to be published in the more commonly read computer 
press. 
  In addition, some effort has to be made in the education area--my 
  understanding is that the huge University of Michigan, here in 
  Ann Arbor, for example, doesn't even teach Lisp at all until the 
first 
  graduate level AI course. 
  
  For myself, I was never very interested in being part of the 
masses--I 
  wanted to work on the most difficult problems, ones requiring that 
as 
  much intelligence and external knowledge be brought to bear as 
possible. 
  After learning several languages over the course of my development-- 
  FORTRAN, PL/I, Lisp, Algol, Pascal, C, and other special purpose 
  languages--at a certain point these all began to seem redundant, 
and 
  a waste of time to (re)learn--given the fact that the single most 
  powerful, ingenious, and aesthetic one was still there renewing 
itself 
  after more than 40 years. 
  
  The real problem I ran into was that the 'teams' of people I was 
  required to work with in different companies were bachelor's and 
  master's graduates, many of whom only learned one language 
  (C or C++ then, Java now)--and didn't want to learn or hear about 
  anything else, no matter what the arguments in favor (in each case 
  threatening the management with quitting if they were forced to use 
  Lisp). 
  
- Would you be interested in a Lisp-related job or contract work? 
  
  Possibly--it would really depend on the particulars. 
  
- Is your organization interested in hiring Lisp programmers? 
  
  Not at all. 
  
- Are you currently participating in Lisp-related meetings? 
  If so, where and how often? 
  
  I went to one Lisp conference last October (ILC 2003), just 
  to verify for myself that there is indeed a real, viable 
  Lisp community--the first ever for me. Normally I attend 
  image processing conferences. 
  
  If not, would you be interested in such meetings? 
  
  Yes, but due to familily considerations, probably no more 
  than once a year, preferably a national or international one. 
  
- Do you know any other Lispers who might be willing to fill in 
  this questionnaire (please supply their email-address if you 
  do)? 
  
  No, not really. I assume you have everyone who was at ILC 2003. 
  
By the way, thanks for making the effort to put this together. 
  
RV