Software is the food that runs our computers and other digital devices. We get hooked on this digital food, whether because we actually need its functionality to do our work or simply because we enjoy using it for fun.
But as with everything else in life, a change is gonna come. One day your favorite software either won’t run (because you updated your computer, tablet or phone) or it won’t be developed any more because it was sold to a developer who doesn’t intend to keep it alive or simply wanted it out of the marketplace.
Remember Adobe Freehand for illustration? GoLive for web design? Both were great software packages that large groups of holdouts are still begging Adobe to revive (good luck). I personally got caught up in the GoLive situation and used it for 10 years past its funeral date! (Thankfully, I found a modern replacement package, Sparkle for Mac.)
What got me thinking about this circle of life yet again is a recent development you will recall. The current saga started back in 2012, when Google acquired Nik’s collection of Photoshop plug-ins. “Wow, great news!”, we thought. “Now the software will have a powerhouse company behind its development and it will become even better!” Well, that’s not how it turned out. Google wanted Nik Snapseed and got the plug-ins as a package deal.
Google, trying to Do No Evil, then re-branded the plug-ins and sold them for less than we paid before. A minor patch or two later, Google then began giving the plug-ins away for FREE. More great news! Again, no. A permanent giveaway is usually the first sign of disrespect for any software. Then suddenly, back in May 2017, we read this terse statement on the Google/Nik website:
“We have no plans to update the Collection or add new features over time.”
Oooh, sounds like an epitaph (that’s why you see it on the headstone in the illustration above). So now what?
The good news is, if the Nik collection is running on your computer right now, it will continue to work. If you’re like me and love running system and other updates (who likes old news?), you run the risk of breaking Nik’s functionality. One thing you can do to buy more time is to have a hard drive partition running a slightly older, compatible operating system/imaging host setup with Nik installed and boot from it as needed. Or extend that concept all the way and maintain a separate legacy computer that is used only for older software that is incompatible with anything from the present or future.
But perhaps the best advice is, keep up. I know there is a cost to that (financial, hardware, software, effort), but the computer industry is one that is definitely not going to stay still and have mercy on those who resist change. And if you use computers, you have to expect this. You can live on borrowed time for only so long.
The good news is, there is so much going on in the world of digital imaging and related software that you won’t miss the old worn slipper software for long.
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