amorosik
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Sometimes analogies are not intended to be "reality"; sometimes analogies are intended to illustrate a point about logic, which in this case is that the expectation of "forever green products" is not realistic.
The_Doc_Man's more technical explanation is on point. I don't think it's just that it would cannibalize sales from newer products, though.
It's the whole phenomenon of backwards compatibility. It would mean that MS, or Quicken, or Adobe, etc., or any other software vendor would have to guarantee compatibility across all of their products, and do so indefinitely. If you want Office 2013, why not Access 2.0?
Even if the market share for Office 2013 is, say, 10% of the total, and the market share for Access 2.0 is less than 1%, they would have to invest in making sure they were still compatible with the other 89%. They would also have to ensure that security updates were pushed back into the older versions forever as well.
You could offer to pay those costs as part of your license agreement for an older version, I suppose. I'd go along with that, in fact, as long as those costs were borne by the purchasers of older versions and not merged with the costs of owning and using newer versions.
It's also true that companies want to continue to sell newer products. I suppose that's a matter of wanting to stay in business, unless they can figure out a way to get people to keep paying for that Office 2010 installation they bought a decade ago.
Of course, an analogy serves to indicate a logic in treating similar things
And a car is not similar to a software product which is immaterial
And therefore the logic to be used in dealing with these two types of products must be different
"..They would also have to ensure that security updates.."
No, this isn't true
Let's take the example of Office 2021 and Office 2013
If support for Office 2013 ceased in 2015, it is obvious that no request for updates or corrections or technical assistance can be forwarded to the manufacturer.
If technical support has ceased it means that it is over and that's it
But this has no bearing on the impossibility of downgrading Office 2021 to the 2013 version
Which is a formal act with which the manufacturer recognizes the possibility of using Office 2013 to a buyer of Office 2021
All technical issues are of no importance in this case
I am not purchasing a product for which the manufacturer should feel obligated to provide assistance
I am purchasing the possibility of using an old software, no longer supported, and I am aware of it
If it is good for me why shouldn't it also be convenient for the manufacturer?