Orphaned technology refers to computer technologies that have been abandoned by their original developers. Not to be confused with deprecation, a gradual shift to newer technology; orphaned technology is usually abandoned abruptly or without a direct replacement.1 Unlike abandonware, orphaned technology refers to software, hardware, and the practices around them.
Users of orphaned technologies must often choose between continuing to use the technology, which may become less maintainable over time, or switch to supported technologies, possibly losing capabilities unique to the orphaned technology.
Reasoning
While technology can be abandoned due to an unfavourable design or poor implementation, abandoning a technology can happen for a variety of reasons.1 There are instances where products are phased out of the market because they are no longer viable as business ventures, such as certain medical technologies.2
Some orphaned technologies do not suffer complete abandonment or obsolescence. For instance, IBM's Silicon Germanium (SiGe) program produced an in situ doped alloy to replace the implantation step of the silicon semiconductor bipolar process. The technology was orphaned but was reused by a small team at IBM, becoming a leading product in high-volume communications.3
Technologies orphaned due to their developers' failure can be adopted by new investors. One example is Wink, an IoT platform orphaned when its parent company Quirky filed for bankruptcy. However, the platform continued after its purchase by, Flex.4
Examples
Some examples of orphaned technology include:
- Apple Lisa - 16/32-bit graphical computer
- Apple Newton PDA (Apple Newton) - tablet computer
- Apple Classic Mac OS - m68k and PowerPC operating system
- Coleco ADAM - 8-bit home computer
- DEC Alpha - 64-bit microprocessor
- Finale (scorewriter) music notation software developed by MakeMusic from 1988 until 20245
- HyperCard - hypermedia
- ICAD (KBE) - knowledge-based engineering
- Javelin Software - modeling and data analysis
- LISP machines - LISP oriented computers
- Mattel Aquarius
- Microsoft Bob - graphical helper
- Mosaic notation program - music notation application by Mark of the Unicorn6
- Open Music System - Gibson7
- OpenDoc - compound documents (Mac OS, OS/2)
- Poly-1 - parallel networked computer designed in New Zealand for education and training
- Prograph - visual programming system
- TI 99/4A - 16-bit home computer
- Windows 9x - x86 operating system
Symbolics Inc's operating systems, Genera and OpenGenera, were twice orphaned, as they were ported from LISP machines to computers using the Alpha 64-bit CPU.
User groups
User groups often exist for specific orphaned technologies, such as The Hong Kong Newton User Group,8 Symbolics Lisp [Machines] Users' Group (now known as the Association of Lisp Users),9 and Newton Reference.10 The Save Sibelius group sprang into existence because Sibelius (scorewriter) users feared the application would be orphaned after its owners Avid Tech fired most of the development team, who were thereafter hired by Steinberg to develop the competing product, Dorico.111213
References
References
- Leckie, Cameron (15 October 2010). "The abandonment of technology". resilience. Retrieved 2023-06-03.
- Ritter, Arthur; Hazelwood, Vikki; Valdevit, Antonio; Ascione, Alfred (2011). Biomedical Engineering Principles, Second Edition. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. p. 457. ISBN 9781439812334.
- Singh, Raminderpal; Oprysko, Modest; Harame, David (2004). Silicon Germanium: Technology, Modeling, and Design. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. pp. 40. ISBN 047144653X.
- Staff, Connected World (October 2018). "October 2018: Abandoned Tech: When IoT Devices and Solutions Get Left Behind". Connected World. Retrieved 2019-07-16.
- Dell'Era, Greg (2024-08-26). "The End of Finale". Finale. Archived from the original on August 26, 2024. Retrieved 2024-09-15.
- (19 August 2008). Request by Sibelius users for a Mosaic to Sibelius conversion application. Sibelius (software)
- (2 September 2009). Opcode Web site finally taken down. CNET
- "Reliving Hong Kong Newton User Group". Archived from the original on 2007-03-11. Retrieved 2006-09-27.
- "About Us". Association of Lisp Users. Archived from the original on 2013-01-21. Retrieved 2013-06-13.
- "Newton Reference". Panix.com. 1998-02-27. Retrieved 2017-04-03.
- Clark, Kevin. (15 November 2012). Keeping Score: Spreadbury Speaks on Sibelius Team Transition. Publisher: New Music USA (New York, USA)
- (20 February 2013). Sibelius Core Team Now at Steinberg, Building New Notation Tool. Publisher: Create Digital Media (Berlin, Germany)
- Spreadbury, Daniel. (20 February 2013). Welcome!. Publisher: Steinberg (Boston, USA)