4 ms·

> Paying for something that just doesn't work at some point in software because of how upgrade cycles work is interesting. Isn't this just the nature of softwa

> Paying for something that just doesn't work at some point in software because of how upgrade cycles work is interesting. Isn't this just the nature of software though? I mean, my DOS and Win 3.1 software no longer works either...

ghaff 10y ago
>I mean, my DOS and Win 3.1 software no longer works either... Don't know about Windows 3.1 but I'm guessing you could install DOS in a VM with associated software. (I've had DOS running on relatively modern machines but it's been a while.)
toyg 10y ago
Let me introduce you to this thing called DOSBOX, it's quite awesome: https://www.dosbox.com/ https://www.dosbox.com/ The sad thing is that, the way the appstore works, we will likely never get a "iosbox".
- nodamage 10y ago
  While DOSBox is indeed neat, I think the underlying point is that it's probably not reasonable to expect a piece of software written in a particular era for a particular operating system to be supported indefinitely.
  - toyg 10y ago
    Supported =/= working. A 1956 car is obviously not "supported" by the manufacturer or even by road laws of most countries, but it can still work if you make an effort. With iOs apps you don't even get the chance.
    - nodamage 10y ago
      Sure you do. If you want to run an iOS app written for iOS 5 you can go dig up your old iPhone out of the closet (or eBay), put iOS 5 on it, and run it again. If you want to run that same app on iOS 10 on your iPhone 7, well, that's an entirely different set of expectations.
      - toyg 10y ago
        > you can go dig up your old iPhone out of the closet Yeah, but the point is, I don't have to do that with old DOS programs. I get an emulator, whip out my old binaries, and it runs on my shiny new PC. On iOS, strictly speaking, there is no such option -- you will have to go to a non-iOS device to run an emulator - and this assuming either Apple is still hosting iOS5 apps (which probably won't be the case for long), or I have some backup (again on non-iOS) that I can somehow leverage. It would be very kind of Our Betters At Apple to allow some sort of iOS-on-iOS emulator, if they're at all serious with the "iPad for work" concept. Companies already struggle with Microsoft upgrade policies that are much more conservative...
        mod 10y ago
        > On iOS, strictly speaking, there is no such option And more importantly, apple would shut down such an option.
MBCook 10y ago
There is a certain amount of updates in iOS that can change the way things were before so it may no longer work. Among other things Apple is going all 64-bit with their devices, it's not hard to believe the day will come soon (maybe iOS 11 or 12) that they say "we're not going to bother with 32-bit software compatibility" and software that was never recompiled will stop working. As it is some software from iOS 2 or 3 still works, some has been broken horribly for years. Apple does a surprisingly good job with backwards compatibility, but it has it's limits.

ghaff 10y ago

>I mean, my DOS and Win 3.1 software no longer works either... Don't know about Windows 3.1 but I'm guessing you could install DOS in a VM with associated software. (I've had DOS running on relatively modern machines but it's been a while.)

toyg 10y ago

Let me introduce you to this thing called DOSBOX, it's quite awesome: https://www.dosbox.com/ https://www.dosbox.com/ The sad thing is that, the way the appstore works, we will likely never get a "iosbox".

nodamage 10y ago
While DOSBox is indeed neat, I think the underlying point is that it's probably not reasonable to expect a piece of software written in a particular era for a particular operating system to be supported indefinitely.
- toyg 10y ago
  Supported =/= working. A 1956 car is obviously not "supported" by the manufacturer or even by road laws of most countries, but it can still work if you make an effort. With iOs apps you don't even get the chance.
  - nodamage 10y ago
    Sure you do. If you want to run an iOS app written for iOS 5 you can go dig up your old iPhone out of the closet (or eBay), put iOS 5 on it, and run it again. If you want to run that same app on iOS 10 on your iPhone 7, well, that's an entirely different set of expectations.
    - toyg 10y ago
      > you can go dig up your old iPhone out of the closet Yeah, but the point is, I don't have to do that with old DOS programs. I get an emulator, whip out my old binaries, and it runs on my shiny new PC. On iOS, strictly speaking, there is no such option -- you will have to go to a non-iOS device to run an emulator - and this assuming either Apple is still hosting iOS5 apps (which probably won't be the case for long), or I have some backup (again on non-iOS) that I can somehow leverage. It would be very kind of Our Betters At Apple to allow some sort of iOS-on-iOS emulator, if they're at all serious with the "iPad for work" concept. Companies already struggle with Microsoft upgrade policies that are much more conservative...
      - mod 10y ago
        > On iOS, strictly speaking, there is no such option And more importantly, apple would shut down such an option.

MBCook 10y ago

There is a certain amount of updates in iOS that can change the way things were before so it may no longer work. Among other things Apple is going all 64-bit with their devices, it's not hard to believe the day will come soon (maybe iOS 11 or 12) that they say "we're not going to bother with 32-bit software compatibility" and software that was never recompiled will stop working. As it is some software from iOS 2 or 3 still works, some has been broken horribly for years. Apple does a surprisingly good job with backwards compatibility, but it has it's limits.