I am not sure what exactly the plans are for the older machines, I am sure they aren't going to give out new control boards, but it would be an awesome upgrade to not have to use an old machine with outdated hardware and software... That's for the people at Shopbot to articulate though.
I can tell you from beta testing stuff for ShopBot, and other companies that they do listen to the feedback. They are actively reading these posts. They are actively developing the new boards and interface. I can tell you, because I talked to the people that are actually doing it that it's no easy task.
And you do have the resources to build awesome stuff today! So many software companies make software that creates GCode to control machines. In fact, there's one on the App Store now that you can sketch out lines and have them turned into ShopBot GCode.
What's stopping you from writing a lighweight web app that could make some killer GCode? I was at NC Maker Faire a few weeks ago and there were a bunch of people doing just that, they did some really awesome stuff. I could name off 15 things off the top of my head that I would build as a lightweight webapp for my Handibot. All they'd have to do is make GCode.
There was a guy who made a simple webapp that had nice big touch buttons on it that you could sketch things and have them passed directly to the machine. That alone would be fantastic on my Handibot with it's little touch screen because it could run right in a browser.
I've had a ton of other ideas too: A door drilling app. Something where you could setup a particular backset and diameter of a door knob hole that needed to be drilled. The web app could show it nice and visually, and show you how to mount a fence on your bot. Once you've made your choices, BAM, it builds Gcode for you that you can cut.
A "drill press" would be awesome. There's a ton of potential right there.
A radius corner app. Guys that fabricate countertops would love to be able to radius corners with just a few taps. You could totally do that in a web app.
Going even further you could take a Sketchup Ruby script and have it build Gcode based on something you drew. I did up a whole concept on that when I first got my bot.
Barring web apps, if you prefer something like VCarve where they do a lot of the heavy lifting of toolpaths for you, they've got Lua scripting. You can write some crazy awesome apps in that.
The guys at VCarve, per my request made me a Lua script that will allow me to take an entire Wikihouse model right from Sketchup into Vcarve and automatically make all of the toolpaths. I can literally print houses from Sketchup using a ShopBot (or any other CNC)
Here is more information on writing gadgets:
VCarve GadgetsNow I'm not a coder, at all. The last language I knew how to program in was Pascal. I am envious for what you all could potentially do. There more than enough to get started.
If there is one thing I've learned about testing things for people, and then getting them to develop what I want is you have to make a case for it. You bought this tool because you want to develop on it and extend it's capabilities. You can do that now, it make not be the way that you want to do it, but there are tons of options. No one can make a better case about how an SDK should be, or what features sure be included better than you trying being successful, and also failing.
I can't tell you how many bits I broke, plywood I damaged, and hours I burned playing around with the Handibot when I first got it. Because of what I, and many other people did I know have a better machine, and so will all of you.
Just like the guys at Vectric, and the folks at Shopbot, when I made the case for something by trying to do a thing with the tool, they stepped up and helped me solve my problem. Go out and do something with what you have, there's already a lot and you could shape the future the way you want it.