Most software is being written by 15-30 year olds. They cannot fathom why anyone would possibly complain about low contrast colour schemes.
The reason we are complaining, Tsetso, is that past the age of 45, everyone's eyes are trash. White is too bright, black is no longer black, stray light is everywhere, focus ring is stuck, and everything that is not high contrast becomes hard to read. Also, we use 2008 vintage monitors, which have half the resolution, and not nearly as much contrast ratio as a new one.
Please take pity on ex-geeks. Get a high contrast scheme project going. FOUR YEARS have passed from the original question. Does it mean that it is a non-issue for you? Likely.