I didn't say that the plan to replace the code was always a good thing, you know. Replacing COBOL with Java, for instance, was really popular for a while -- and really stupid. These days, they lean more toward C#, I think.

> I'd say that all the Fortran (and Cobol) that in business terms could be rewritten has, and the hold outs will be running the same code in the same language, from a bio-engineeered mouse shaped AI in the year 4236...

I don't think so. If nothing else, anyone who would otherwise still be running COBOL in 4236 will have gone out of business. That COBOL code will have been "replaced" by evolution, as other businesses fill the vacated niches with their fresh new codebases somewhere along the way.