Lightroom Map Module no longer works in old versions

[JohnZeman]

https://helpx.adobe.com/lightroom/kb/map-view-no-longer-supported.html

I learned this the hard way today when the map module failed to load in version 6.14.

Looks like I might be adding my original raw files to IMatch.  Up until now I've managed them in Lightroom.

[Mario]

This is a convenient (and probably profitable) side-effect of using cloud-based services like Google or Bing Maps etc.

The vendors change their APIs (application programming interfaces) frequently, sometimes retiring entire API versions. If you use an application that uses these services, the application has to be kept up-to-date with these changes. Else it will fail at some point.

For example, IMatch must adapt to changes done by Google on Maps/Reverse geo-coding, Bing Maps, GeoNames.org, changes in the OpenStreetMap and the OpenLayers API. I do that, but of course not for outdated versions of IMatch.

Few users understand that they are making themselves totally dependent by using subscription-based or cloud-based software. This is much different from how software was sold and used in the past 20 years, where you've bought a software version and then used it until it broke - or you upgraded to the next version. Now you can use the software only as long as you pay for it.

[newmikeman]

That's what brings me here too !
I have been using LR 6 for some years and it has suddenly failed to provide the maps I was accustomed to using. I resisted going to the subscription model because I didn't trust Adobe to keep the old software running after I eventually stopped subscribing when I became too old, weak and frail to squeeze a shutter button. Now I'm looking for a replacement or at least a replacement for the Map view.
I understand the issue and that Google and the like completely fail to understand the concept of backward compatibility. When I was in the software business we considered this as really important as it was appreciated by our customers. Customer satisfaction seemed to lead to increased sales, partly through one customer telling his/her friends what a great software firm we were. When you have millions or billions of customers maybe that's less important, but in our niche we counted 90 of the world's top 100 banks as customers using our very expensive software .
Well Marion I wish you a very long and satifying life because I expect I'll be among your paying customers very soon.
regards, Mike

[Mario]

I understand the issue and that Google and the like completely fail to understand the concept of backward compatibility.

Google is not a software company.
They only make money from selling advertisements and data about people. And from selling computing services in their cloud.
Google is well known for dropping products they don't like anymore. Recently they dropped Google+, which once started to replace Facebook. Google's annual spring cleaning is somewhat features by users of their technologies, toolkits and APIs.
To be fair, Google does not drop toolkits of APIs out of the blue. You'll get a warning six months or more in advance.

The data Google gathered about users using maps (directly or embedded in an app) is precious and makes them a lot of mooney. They also charge for Map usage.
This gives hope that Google Maps will live for many years.

When I was in the software business we considered this as really important as it was appreciated by our customers.

Backwards compatibility requires extra effort, testing and money. For Adobe it's just not worth the effort to back-porting updated Google Map APIs into legacy products nobody is paying them for anymore.

Neither it is for me. For example, I cannot continue support for users of IMatch 5 to keep the Map their panel or reverse geo-coding running.
IMatch does not stop working when you don't upgrade, but some of the technologies used by it may degrade over time, may become incompatible or just stop working.

I keep up support for the previous major release for six month after a new major release has been published. This is in accordance with my fair upgrade and update policy  which hasn't changed in the past 10 years. This includes email support and fixes for catastrophic bugs at my discretion.

IMatch 2018 is downward compatible with IMatch 5.0 and later. It can open and automatically upgrade the database, settings and presets.

The last 'breaking change' was the switch from the ancient BASIC scripting language to the modern HTML / Javascript-based app ecosystem we have now. I've kept BASIC scripting support running for many years, despite the fact that it became harder and harder and the annual license fee for the BASIC interpreter cost more than all my other tools and libraries together. I finally made the cut with IMatch 2017, announcing this six months earlier. This step was inevitable. I've never regretted it. We've gained so much from the modern technology and the inclusion of IMatch WebServices^TM in IMatch.

Customer satisfaction seemed to lead to increased sales, partly through one customer telling his/her friends what a great software firm we were.

This is still the case. Users telling other users about a great software is the best marketing. And the only marketing I can afford. Adobe is spending more money on marketing per day than I make in several years... 

I could do Google Ads or Facebook ads. But they consider 20 to 50 US$ per day as a minimum to create any useful result, and that's already a lot of money for me. Throwing thousands of US$ at Google/Facebook in the hope to get some clicks or maybe even a sale is something for medium to large companies with deep pockets. Very hard and often expensive to do for small companies like me. It can work for a local shop or similar, but not when you participate in the same market as Adobe, Canto or Widen. They can always outbid my ads.

I hope that IMatch works for you!