> But Symbolics had to develop not only the language and IDE, but also the OS, the hardware, the microcode, and everything else all at once
This was forty years ago. Doing LISP advocacy like this just makes people sound like they're that Japanese guy who refused to surrender until the 1970s. The world has moved on; there have been other opportunities; and LISP has not won them either.
The timeframe doesn’t matter. What matters is that C++ triumphed not because it was a better language, but because it was sold better. It had better advertising.
This was forty years ago. Doing LISP advocacy like this just makes people sound like they're that Japanese guy who refused to surrender until the 1970s. The world has moved on; there have been other opportunities; and LISP has not won them either.