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"…all of a sudden" What all of a sudden? Apple's policy of dropping support for previous versions of OS X, OS 9, OS 8, OS 7, etc. has not changed. What has changed is the distribution method.

Distribution of upgrades has migrated from Floppy disks, to CDs, to DVDs, to internet distribution. When OS upgrades were distributed on physical media and a new OS version came out there were always copies of the previous version left on store shelves as well as in the grey market and to some extent the black market. Dealers who dealt too obviously in grey market software would lose their franchise and in many cases were taken to court. Apple would quit producing the distribution media well in advance of the new upgrade release in an attempt to drain the supply chain prior to a release but there were always some left for late adopters to purchase, but by and large Apple only directly supported the late adopter market in very limited circumstances.

With today's electronic (App Store) distribution all Apple has to do is delete a file and the distribution channel is empty. Copy a new file to the server and the update is the only thing available and the distribution channel is once again filled but with the new version. There are huge cost advantages to Apple in this arrangement and the customer has benefited in the form of a $100 reduction in the price of upgrades. The grey market has virtually disappeared because Apple has positioned themselves as a sole source of their product, and if you see any copies of Lion or Mountain Lion for sale on physical media other than by special arrangement with Apple, almost by definition they have to be pirated black market versions and an easy target of Apple's attorneys and the FBI.

So Apple has not turned against late adopters lately. If they turned against late adopters as you decry, it was thirty or more years ago. It is simply today's channels for distributing software has severely limited the grey market.