[yousir]

> but it could be fixed if the market demanded it.

The market (my mom for example) is unaware there is a fix.

> there is no pressure from anyone to maintain backward compatibility.

You and your manager are both part of the problem. And the phone makers, because they invented a market place for shit companies that wants to ship unfinished software and push daily updates to their users to eventually reach a point where their API is stable.

There used to exist software developers who took great pride in (API) backwards compatibility. These days, where are they? My guess is they have been overrun by the a huge crowd of new people who have never maintained a backwards compatible API and who don't know how to. Management love fast-moving people who say "yes sir" and "not a problem sir".

[ryandrake]

This is a good point too. There are people unaware of the better way! The world is coming, where one day there won't be anyone left alive who remembers things like:

1. Software that would work, un-modified, for decades.

2. Software that worked without access to some back-end.

3. Software that didn't require permission from a third party to run.

4. Software that didn't collect personal data from users.

5. Having root/admin access to your own computer/devices.

We can still prevent this from coming true, but it's going to happen if nobody pushes back on these practices.

[RcouF1uZ4gsC]

There is no money in selling software apart from a service these days. Part of it is due to the open source movement and expectation that the software is free while you pay for support/services. Software as an entity that you buy apart from a service has been devalued.

[Analemma_]

I'll brush off your sneer at my perceived lack of ability. Of course I can do API back-compatibility. But everything comes at a cost that has to be weighted against the corresponding benefit, and the apparent benefit (to management) in this case is near-zero: most people don't care, and the ones who do care aren't going to single out and stop using our app because of it, because all the other apps do it as well. It is, unfortunately, a coordination problem that is not likely to be solved anytime soon.

[arbie]

> I'll brush off your sneer at my perceived lack of ability.

This is an admirable sentiment. Thank you for making HN a better place.

> But everything comes at a cost that has to be weighted against the corresponding benefit, and the apparent benefit (to management) in this case is near-zero

Software can have virtues that do not present short-term benefits, but instead contribute to a wholesome UX, even to captive users. It is the responsibility of the software developer to make these hard calls and stick to their guns in the face of management pressure.