Both C and COBOL are entrenched and (for very different reasons given their areas of applicability) are very difficult to displace. I don't disagree on this, it

Both C and COBOL are entrenched and (for very different reasons given their areas of applicability) are very difficult to displace. I don't disagree on this, it's an obvious fact. But COBOL alternatives won. Where COBOL used to rule, Java rules now and .NET languages follow closely. People want to throw COBOL away but can't. C alternatives just can't get past their niches. Even when people don't have to use C, they choose C. It's more than clear to me that this happens because people like C and actively work to keep it entrenched. And liking C doesn't mean being unaware of its problems. But it means people want those problems fixed while keeping the core of what they like. I believe C alternatives fail because they go too far. They fix its shortcomings but also go for a different aesthetic. So yes, my point is largely non-technical. However, our industry is full of examples of things that "won" for largely non-technical reasons.