I wasn't comparing anyone to anyone else at all, just dropping a few more datapoints for my statement that in general, people are attracted to (and not scared away from) technological products when they're really impressed by a preeminent leading figure.
So... back to the topic at hand, then: If we want to find a good way to measure the impact of WL, we probably need some statistics beyond the usual anecdotes. Who is actually using the language, and what are people doing with it? Especially outside of academic contexts, because that's the world many students want to be prepared for. Can we see some concrete quantitative evidence for WL becoming important outside of STEM, and/or outside of academia? (Obviously not a question you or I can answer conclusively, but someone at WRI must have a bit of data on this... Maybe sales numbers and support requests to start with?)
