Backwards Compatibility of Software

I just tried to purchase Compressor 4, to use with Final Cut Pro. If I had purchased this several months ago, it would have been no problem. But due to the fact that Apple recently created a new version of Compressor for the new operating system, Maverick, a version that is no longer compatible with the Mountain Lion OS, or any other earlier OS, I was not able to purchase it from the app store. Moreover, Apple is consistently making it impossible to find and purchase any earlier versions of their software once a new version is released. (I just called Apple Sales to try to buy a previous version of Compressor and was told that it was not possible.)

I can understand that Apple wants to be progressive, and keep customers updated to the latest and greatest of everything. I share the vision. But this begs the question, is this decision more about profit than vision?

Consider this, you have ten or fifteen different 3rd party premium software programs installed on your computer that you use regularly for your business, or even for fun, then, on a whim, you upgrade to the latest operating system in order to purchase a $50 program such as Compressor 4, and all of a sudden 50% of your high-end applications no longer function until you pay for the upgrades to each one of their latest versions that are compatible with the new OS.

We are not ONLY talking about thousands of dollars in software upgrades, but a week or two of work upgrading everything and checking configurations, just to add a $50 program to your setup. And then you realize that if you would have purchased the new program you wanted a couple months earlier you would have been able to install and use it for months, or even years, until you were ready to invest the time and money into upgrading your entire setup. But now that earlier version has been removed permanently from every website, everywhere! That is when anger and resentment begins to set in.

Suggestion: If Apple wishes to avoid the tech support problems from having dozens of compatibility issues with different versions of software when they release a new version, I can understand, none of us want to be like Microsoft. But at least provide a minimum of backwards compatibility, a year or so, for issues such as described above. Not doing so makes us feel like Apple has figured out some quick money making techniques, getting everyone to buy a lot of new software whenever any one program is upgraded to a new version, and has stopped caring about its customers. This tactic appears to be much more about money and profit than about quality and vision.

Please remember that customer loyalty to high quality technology is the thing that has kept Apple strong all these years. It would not take long for a few bad, profit-based, corporate decisions to destroy it all.

Note: If there is any way to get this comment to the decision makers, please forward. And If I have got it all wrong here, wonderful, someone please explain, I care about this company.

Kevin