Have we reached the asymptotic plateau of innovation in programming language design?

While reading slashdot, I've stumbled on the following blog entry:


Research in Programming Languages
Is there still research to be done in Programming Languages?
http://tagide.com/blog/2012/03/research-in-programming-languages/


Quotes:
- But the truth of the matter is that ever since I finished my Ph.D. in the
late 90s, and especially since I joined the ranks of Academia, I have been
having a hard time convincing myself that research in PLs is a worthy
endeavor.
- And herebs the first itchy point: there appears to be no correlation
between the success of a programming language and its emergence in the form
of someonebs doctoral or post-doctoral work. This bothers me a lot, as an
academic. It appears that deep thoughts, consistency, rigor and all other
things we value as scientists arenbt that important for mass adoption of
programming languages.
- And, finally, all of these new languages, even when created over a week as
someone's pet project, sit on the shoulders of all things that existed
before. This leads me to the second itch: one striking commonality in all
modern programming languages, especially the popular ones, is how little
innovation there is in them!
- So one pertinent question is: given that not much seems to have emerged
since 1979 (that's 30+ years!), is there still anything to innovate in
programming languages? Or have we reached the asymptotic plateau of
innovation in this area?


So, what are your views on this subject?


Rui Maciel
[Personally, I'd say there's been precious little new in programming
languages since Simula gave us OOP in the late 1960s. In your responses,
please remember this is comp.compilers, not comp.semicolon-placement.flame.
-John]

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