Personally, I think "poser" will exist even if there are no further updates to the program.  First, because of the wealth of pre-made content and second, due to the the compatibility of the content in programs such as Carrara, Vue, Bryce, DAZ Studio etc.  Essentially, poserdom and poser usage has become more about content than the programs - the programs are just tools.  I do think for SM to really succeed, they are going to have to think about the entire poser package, including content, and really assert themselves as the leaders of the poser universe in terms of quality and versatility and not just as distributors of software with default figures.