[MV] software for Tiger

[Chuck Rogers]

Del:

Unfortunately, your only option is to get a new computer at this point. But you shouldn't feel this is "wrong." Here's why:

The overriding reason iListen isn't supported is because Nuance purchased MacSpeech last year, and even if MacSpeech was supporting iListen at the time they were acquired (which they weren't), there would be no economic benefit for them to continue supporting a product with an out-of-date speech engine.

Beyond this is the simple fact that companies like MacSpeech and Nuance (and Apple, for that matter) measure their success by how profitable they are. In MacSpeech's case, there hasn't been an economic reason to support non-Intel Macs for some time. Even though your G4 may suit your needs just fine, there simply aren't enough people out there who a). have older Macs AND b). are still purchasing software for them to provide enough of an economic incentive for software manufacturers to continue making software for them. The bottom line is that software developers have a right to make money, and they are under no obligation to continue supporting hardware that is used by a small fraction of their customer base. I know that isn't good news for you, but it is the harsh reality of the software business.

There is one other reason as well: Apple puts considerable pressure on its developers to support only newer versions of their operating system. This obviously has the effect of forcing people like you to purchase new equipment every so often whether you think you need to or not. Most of this pressure is subtle, but it is there.

Finally, if you do purchase a computer I think you will be amazed at how much faster it is and how much more productive you will be. Tasks that used to take up to a minute or more (such as booting up the computer, launching larger applications, etc.) will now take only seconds.

Chuck Rogers

On Jan 16, 2011, at 10:29 AM, D Stubbs wrote:

>  I contacted MacSpeech and just got a curt 'not supported' reply. It feels quite wrong to be forced to buy an entire new computer just to get one app functioning.