Apple dumbing down acquisitions? Think again.

[Peter Kirn]

On Sunday, January 12, 2003, at 04:40 PM, luke wrote:

> apple seems to dumb software DOWN after they absorb companies - eg: 
> Soundjam

Uh . . . Final Cut Pro? Apple took a second-rate video application with 
no market share, VASTLY expanded its features (and continues to do so, 
responding to customer feedback) and literally revolutionized the world 
of digital video editing! Granted, Avid is now making a really hard 
push for the low-end segment of the market, but ironically I think Avid 
can claim more legitimacy in that segment because of what Apple did, 
demonstrating that you can create pro video without high-end hardware.

We can also assume the FireWire 800 on the new PowerBooks is thanks to 
the acquisition of that FireWire company last year. Then there's 3D 
apps like Shake being used on Lord of the Rings.

Nothing against SoundJam, but I think you can rest easy as far as the 
pro world is concerned. :-) Granted, this is Apple's first real go at 
audio and music, but they're already giving work to some great veterans 
of the platform on the OS X team, and Emagic could mean great things 
for us.

The truth is, I can't find ANY way of looking at this acquisition as 
bad news. I think users will stay fairly loyal to their DAW of choice 
-- most people I talk to using Cubase already are sticking to that, and 
speaking as a DP user I'm not planning to jump ship any time soon. But 
all of us look forward to enhanced OS X support with the muscle of 
Emagic. And it's nice to see Apple continues to promote products from 
MOTU, Digidesign, and Steinberg -- yes, theoretically competitive, but 
Apple's making a LOT more money selling hardware than software so it's 
no skin of their nose!!

The only folks for whom this is really bad news is Logic's PC user 
base. And because Apple isn't dropping support, a lot of Logic diehards 
say they'll stick with the current version of Logic on Windows as long 
as they possibly can. (Though there's no question Cubase SX has won at 
least a few converts over there.)

Strangely enough, I have to say Apple gets straight A's + on pro 
software . . . and only a C+ on pro desktop hardware. Their software is 
good enough that most of us don't complain. Here's knocking on wood for 
new IBM Power4 PowerPC-based desktops by the fall to fix Apple's 
hardware side.

Peter