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Apple Announces New Pro Software
yroJJory writes "Apparently, Apple has just announced new pro software today. First off is the new app Motion, which is a new motion graphics program with real-time previews, procedural behavior animation and Final Cut Pro HD integration. Second, is Final Cut Pro HD, boasting the beauty of HD with the simplicity of DV. Capture DVCPRO HD over FireWire, edit using camera-native footage and output over FireWire with no generational quality loss. RT Extreme, now for HD, can deliver multiple HD streams, effects, filters and transitions in real-time to an attached Apple Cinema Display. Last, but most important to me, is DVD Studio Pro 3, which has slick new transitions, superb HD to MPEG-2 encoding, Graphical View, support for all professional audio formats -- including DTS -- (FINALLY!!), and integration with Final Cut Pro HD and Motion. Motion will be available this summer for $299. The Final Cut Pro HD update is available now for FCP 4 users. DVD Studio Pro 3 is expected to ship in mid-May." Reader green pizza writes "Apple today introduced Xsan, a clustered filesystem for Mac OS X systems."
Microsoft's biggest failure is that they keep using the legacy code they've created.
Even though I don't particularly like OS-X, Apple had the right idea migrating their platform to a solid OS to replace the crap that was OS-9 and below. That said, things like Apple's refusal to provide simple UI enhancements (can we say 2nd mouse button standard, as has been on PCs since around the mid-90s?).
If MS was really smart, they'd be working on a unix-based backup plan as well. However I don't think they're going to do that. Eventually, it will catch up with them.
"Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence." - Charles de Gaulle
At least they want you to think that. In reality, Apple wants vertical markets like content creation. Where's Apple's Photoshop competitor? They don't have one because there isn't one they can buy out and slap their name on.
iTunes, there's some premium software.
I know I will get Karma-nuked for saying this, but Apple hardware has seriously gone down hill from years past. I have a half-dozen of the more recent blueberry iMacs in my school that have crashed hard drives and fried network cards...and eMacs? A neighboring school district had a 50% failure rate on video cards for awhile. Sure, this may have been a wire problem blah blah blah...but this would NOT have happened a few years ago. Apple's hardware is rapidly turning into the same glitzy plasicky crap that Dell and HP have been shoving out the door for years. I have switched to plain-brown-wrapper computers for my school...the Apples and Dells of the world offer no advantages in reliability, and I have the machines to prove it.
"What slashdot wrote: (see above)
/. are more CPU literate than me, so I greet many headlines with, "WTF?" But I'm always glad to hear when somebody is underwhelmed with Apple's creative offerings. I don't need any more competition. I'm sure you guys don't get all that happy when people realize the career potential in proper coding. Too many people are too good these days.
What I hear:
Apparently, Apple has just announced new pro software today. First off is the new app Motion, which is blah blah blah blah blah. Second, is Final Cut Pro HD, boasting blah blah blah. Capture blah blah over FireWire, edit blah blah blah. Blah blah, now for blah, can deliver blah blah blah to an attached Apple Cinema Display. Last, but most important to me, is DVD Studio Pro 3, which has slick new transitions, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah, and integration with Final Cut Pro HD and Motion. Motion will be available this summer for $299. The Final Cut Pro HD update is available now for FCP 4 users. DVD Studio Pro 3 is expected to ship in mid-May.
Apple today introduced Xsan, a blah blah for Mac OS X systems."
See, I can understand that. Most on
1. I have upgraded to Panther 10.3.3, and from what I have heard, this is not a bug, but considered a feature.
2. My consumer-lever Sony video camera has letterbox, and the open-source amateur video program Kino has letterbox. Apple cannot go around pretending that this is a professional feature if they want to charge that amout of money for iLife.
3. I don't have to do "jiggery-pokery" with any of my free Linux players to get Ogg support, and I don't see why I should have to for something I paid money for.
One interesting thing I have found about Apple users is that most have no experience with a modern Linux/BSD interface like KDE 3.2 -- figures, actually, because they are probably very happy with Mac OS X. As a consequence, they don't seem to realize that OS X, as flashy as it is, is going to have to get a lot better very quickly if they don't want to be run down by the Open Source crew.
Anybody who doubts this should ask themself this question: When is Apple going to be able to double the number of its developers again? With Linux and Co, this is just a question of time. As clever as Apple's developers might be, sooner or later, those numbers are going to catch up with them.