When I bought my PS3 I searched high and low for a solution to stream media from my Mac to the PS3. There were solutions for Windows, but very few for the Mac. I finally found a piece of software called Rivet. I tested out the trial and it did exactly what I wanted/needed it to do. The software had a healthy life with frequent updates. Then updates started coming more and more sparse. Luckily, the software continued to work with each PS3 software update. Recently, it stopped working. All my media would come up on the PS3 as Unsupported Data. I visit the Rivet website and find no new updates. I check on the company’s blog and find out they are shutting it down.
I have no problem with a piece of software I’ve used for a year and a half no longer being developed. It becomes more a problem when it’s software that I’ve paid for, but can certainly understand the circumstances surrounding the app’s end. Resources in a small business are limited and you have to devote them to the software that sells the best and/or is not a constant burden to keep running (I imagine keeping it up to date with all of Sony’s updates was probably more difficult than just launching the software and running it proved). Here’s my question though: If you can’t develop it anymore and aren’t going to sell it, why not release it into the wild? Let the open source community take control of the software and make the updates. I know there’s a need for the software out there, it would be best to let the people who are actually interested in it take control of the project. That’s not what’s happening though. They are just shutting it down completely. That’s a shame.
On the same subject, I did have to find a replacement for Rivet and that came in PlayBack. Looking at the app, it is pretty much the exact same app. The UI, the functionality, everything is the same. I don’t know if someone purchased the old Rivet code and decided to maintain it or if it’s just a complete rip of someone else’s work, but it suits the needs that Rivet used to fill. The downside is I had to pay $15 for what appears to be the exact same software I already paid $20 for before. Such is life I guess.