&gt;The vendor abandoned their technology<p>Don&#x27;t forget the other half of this statement: I&#x27;ve always been concerned with basing a product on a locked-in technology from an unproven vendor.<p>And vendors <i>do</i> shut down. I&#x27;ve seen it happen many times. Sometimes they get eaten up by a &quot;bigger fish&quot; that wants to use their technology internally, and they then shut down the external service you were so fond of.