>Bill is correct in noting that your analogies have some flaws. Take for example the 8 track tape. It was the consumer market place that dictated its failure, not an executive decision at the manufacturer that 1/4" (I think) should replace those gawd awful devices that gobbled tape for breakfast lunch and dinner. Compared to newer technology 8 track couldn't complete. In the case of VFP, it still compares well against the competition but it was an executive decision at MS that killed it, not the natural forces of competition in the market place.
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>Likewise for VHS, DVD, and Blueray. Better technology came along and the older technologies could not complete. Again not the situation that prevails with VFP. Also, VHS tapes are not useless, you can play them on a tape player and if ambitious enough convert them to either digital or a newer media - that's what I'm doing.
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>The technology shifts you describe come from the marketplace, they were not dictated from on-high and they offered advantages to the final consumer. The ultimate elimination of VFP was not a reaction to the marketplace, it was an attempt at picking winners and losers by MS decision makers and understandably has not been well received by the developer community.
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>There is no good rationale for what MS did with VFP To many of us that's obvious and trying to defend their actions is futile. Its better to simply admit MS screwed up, the situation is as it is today, now what direction do you want to go in. What MS did removes loyalty from the equation and makes community driven tools, like Java or Python, so much more attractive.
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>I think this dead horse is pretty much whipped in to something beyond death. Time to go work on some 25+ year old code and fiddle with some prototypes for smartphones.
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Well said. When MS politics control deprecation, rather than the marketplace, why the hell would you ever listen to Microsoft?

MS said use ADO. Now they say don't.
MS said use SilverLight. Now they say don't.
MS said use Blah Blah. Now they say don't.

Ignore Microsoft prophecies. Be smart, follow the herd.

Sidebar Prediction: Windows 8 is going to go over like a turd in the pool.