Gene wrote, "Freedom of choice is fine up to a point but you are implying, in an analagous context, that people should be allowed to use Model T Fords to preserve freedom of choice. Too much choice equals stifling choice for many others. it is not reasonable nor practical to expect backward compatibility indefinitely."

To which I cannot say, more loudly, "Amen brother!!"

I really don't know why people think that the cyber world can, will, or should offer indefinite backward compatibility when none of the rest of the world ever has. Whether it's because it's too cumbersome or difficult or because a given vendor just decides "time's up," the loss of stuff in the cyber world is a fact of life just like it is "in real life."

The fact that it is easier, often by far, to cling to something in the cyber world long past its "expiration date" only complicates the problem.

Brian