[smhinsey]

This is a real problem. It's one thing for apps under continual development because you can generally stay fairly current as a matter of course. Everything changes when you're working with the kind of app that hums along unchanged for years until out of nowhere, years removed from anyone even familiar with the original devs being around, some change is needed that requires unraveling the whole sweater. This is a problem for consultants, agencies, etc. who are especially ill suited to deal with this sort of valueless labor.