Doesn't really matter how big a stick may be used to corral people into migrating to whatever-is-the-latest version of J!, people will remain "content" to stay with whatever-version-of-J!-they-are-currently-using, right?
For instance, this forum is rife with people asking questions (and expecting help) about J! 1.5, J! 2.5 or anything less than J! 3.9.22 and what is the typical response from volunteer experts? Need I say more?
People—our colleagues, friends, clients—will use whatever they want to use (or can afford to use given their budgetary/time constraints) and that's just a fact of life. For those people who want to venture from the safety of what is currently defined as "stable"—those bleeding-edge, early adopters of new technology—they're in a category all by themselves. For those people who remain mired and reliant upon outdated technology, we could (unkindly) refer to them as dinosaurs.
Sometimes one has to adapt. For example, it's impossible to use telephones designed in the mid-20th century with today's telephone infrastructure or, as another example, to use a TV (or VHS recorder) to receive analogue TV broadcasts. These devices may have their use ... perhaps in a museum or in a display case ... but they may have little practical use without significant modifications to them. Is it worth it to modify some antique for everyday practical purposes?
I build websites using technology that I'm comfortable with, using technology that's in mainstream, "widespread", general usage, using techniques that I'm familiar using and using techniques and technologies that deliver reliability, durability, flexibility at the same time as affording me security. When one ventures into a kind of "unknown" future, by adopting something that hasn't been proven against those architectural parameters, it's all a bit of an experiment. One does not want to live in the worst house on the street, and perhaps it not a good idea to over-capitalise on your property to have the best house in the street, but we try to keep up with the neighbours. When it comes time to sell the house, you'll realise whether you invested the "right amount", enough to deliver a good ROI. And, in my opinion, I think that's what it all boils down to.
We're in the middle of a house renovation at the moment: re-painting the interiors and exteriors, tidying the garden, a little bit of building (I want to make some stairs to make things easier to get from one level of the garden to another level). However, we're getting older and one day the house will be too large or costly for us to maintain and we'll sell and move somewhere else. It's similar, in some respects, to webcraft. You do what you can, when you can ... but I'm finding woodcraft is more enjoyable and more gratifying than working in the virtual world of webcraft.
![Wink ;)](./images/smilies/icon_wink.gif)