I have left the Apple professional editing software ranks. To be honest, I left over a year ago. I had already been dabbling in the Adobe CC ecosystem. So when I joined the team at my church, it was an easy transition to Premiere.
I realized that I had this copy of Final Cut Studio sitting in my garage. I know many people still like to edit in FCP 7, so I am making it available:
If you or someone you know needs a copy… Free shipping. Make me an offer.
[Check out my Post WWDC Keynote report.]
On Monday Steve Jobs is scheduled to deliver a keynote during the WWDC, 10 AM PST. (That’s 1:00 Pm EST for us East Coast people.) Apple has indicated that this address will be completely about software. It will be concerning Lion, iOS 5, and the new iCloud service. If I had my way, what would we hear on Monday?
Lion:
Last year Apple lifted the lid on its latest OS, Lion. They showed off a lot of features that had been influenced by the touch interface they pioneered with iOS devices. There are rumors that this will be a very inexpensive upgrade, and may be available through the Mac App Store. I am pretty stoked about the touch integration. I have my track pad ready to go. I just need to not to be so different that it breaks all my production applications.
I think this will be available, in whatever form and price, the same day of the event.
iOS 5:
Apple needs to make a few improvements here. iOS is still a great operating system, but competitors have been gaining.
Supposedly Apple is completely reworking the widgets and notifications system. That is one of the major gripes people I know have about the iPhone. Android users can do all sorts of custom interfaces, but Apple has us in a very tight box. I’m used to that box, but wouldn’t mind a bit of room. I would love the ability to change up the lock screen. A few more options on how notifications work would be great, as well.
I have been hearing rumors about wireless syncing. Someone said it would only be through an Apple Time Capsule, but I cannot imagine Apple making that mistake. Forcing iOS users to buy another device just to get wireless syncing would be a mistake. I’d like to be able to sync my devices to my computer over a wifi network. (Or through a cloud based service?)
Having just gone through this, I’d like for them to address the way you move iOS devices from one machine to another. I just upgraded my laptop, and after syncing my devices and reloading them, all of my folders were gone. I still have not gotten everything back to normal.
We will be waiting a couple of months for this to drop.
iCloud:
This is the big one. I expect this won’t be ready to roll out for a couple of months but it won’t be too long because Apple really has had some pressure put on them by Amazon and Google. Neither of those cloud based streaming services are perfect, but they both offer some nice features. Apple will have to match those, and beat them, quickly.
Unlike Amazon and Google, Apple seems to have landed most (or all) of the major record labels. This should pave the way for Apple to bypass the individual locker file system, so they can store one copy of most songs on a few servers, where we who have purchased the song can stream it. Of course, this would only work with songs we have bought from iTunes. Anything else, from music to pictures to video, would be uploaded and stored by each customer.
I have been hearing a price of $20-25 annually, which is in line with the Amazon price structure. I expect songs bought through iTunes would be available for streaming without hitting whatever storage level you have. This should completely replace Mobile Me. There will be some levels of service that are free (like “Find my Phone”) and that may include a small amount of storage. Probably similar to Amazon’s 5GB level.
At the very least it must be able to do what Amazon and Google can. I am a little excited about the possibility of an integrated iOS Cloud solution. I dropped to a 16GB model iPhone this last upgrade because I have a 64GB iPad. But with my apps and content, I sometimes find storing all my music on the phone difficult. But the interface with the Amazon cloud leaves a lot to be desired. I would love a seamless experience of listening to my music on the phone, whether from files stored locally or stored in the cloud.
And, I would love to be able to stream video from the cloud to my Apple TV. Did I mention I have hundreds of GBs of videos? That ability would push me to buy a much larger storage plan. But, like many Apple services, I doubt this will be available day one.
Speaking of Apple TV:
It’s time to move this device to an app based system. I would love to see a totally new operating system. One that borrows from Roku and boxee’s channel model. One where I can add or delete all sorts of online media content. With Airplay and iCloud as its centerpiece, users could set up Netflix, Hulu Plus, and any number of other channels. I don’t expect Apple to open it up to the extent that Roku has with private channels, but this is definitely a direction I’d like to see.
One More Thing:
Of course there will be one more thing. And I think it will be the long awaited iPhone 5 announcement. (Or will it be the iPhone 4S?) Announced Monday with a fall release date. Delayed by the entrance of Verizon this year, it’s time for the annual upgrade to the iPhone line up. It will be a sort of slide-grade. I think the new model will be 64GB max, with the same processor the iPad 2 uses. I expect an 8 megapixel camera, but probably still 720p video resolution. I don’t think we will see a huge change. Some have suggested a larger display, but that won’t be until the next model. Oh, and the antenna thing will be fixed.
Unless, the old rumors of a smaller iPhone are true. Imagine an iPhone Nano, without much local storage, but tied to your iCloud account? Probably not, but iCloud does open some doors.
I like apps.
I have said for a long time that the thing that makes an iOS device work is the apps available for it. The iPad will live or die based on the apps that are written to take advantage of it’s hardware. The iPhone sells so well precisely because of the apps on it. Apple knows this, as you can see from their ads (“There’s an app for that…”).
And there are a ton of great ones. Some of them cost a bit, but you can find quite a few that are free and very functional.
I think it is admirable for developers work hard on a app and deliver it for free. I have no issue when developers charge for an app. People have a right to get paid for their work.
But do that up front. Do not release a free app, and then load up an update with annoying in app purchase notices and “donate” messages. If you want to capitalize on your free app’s popularity, release a 2nd version for pay.
My kids like an app that records their voice and plays it back through an animated cat. Nothing big, but it was a pretty popular app. Recently an update was released. Suddenly the main screen is crowded with in app purchase icons. My kids kept accidentally hitting them, launching the purchase dialogue. No fun for the kids. Pretty much ruined it for me. I deleted the app. An app that popular could have carried into a version 2 for a fee. Instead, they decided to tack it onto the free app, and clutter the interface.
I had a free note app for the iPad. It was great. Then an update added a pop up box, asking for money. And, incidentally, a bug that hampered the app. It became too annoying to use. Then the company launched a pay version of the same app, a “pro” version. I moved on to another note taking app.
Free apps should remain free. Don’t annoy your customers. If you think your app should cost something, do that on the front end. Don’t offer it for free and then try to stick to those of us that download it.
Dear Developer,
As you are aware, Apple announced the iPad last week. It’s a new kind of tablet device that builds on the iPod Touch/iPhone interface. There are some things I would like for you to develop for it:
Apps I would like:
Boardgames- I would like to see some board games that fill the screen. Monopoly, Sorry, and other games that don’t require secrecy to play (like card games or scrabble do) could be developed. The iPad could become a staple of family entertainment.
Accessories I would like:
Headrest Mount- I want to be able to hang the iPad off the headrest in my car. I want to be able to watch any of the massive collection of videos I have available in my iTunes while driving. I don’t have a DVD player, so this would be much better than trying to let my kids watch my iPod. If you are really inventive, and the software allows it as hinted by some developers, you could devise a second mirrored screen for the other headrest.
Scanner- While I don’t really need one, I would like some sort of scanner. If the iPhone camera can scan barcodes and allow apps to catalogue or check prices, you can figure out how to do something similar. It will take the iPad more firmly into the business world as small businesses can use it to do inventory, etc…
If you take an idea from here, all I ask is for a free version of the final product.
I was never able to fix the licensing issue that caused all of my Adobe products to stop launching. I tried everything I could think of, find on the internet. nothing worked. I finally had to completely wipe my computer and start over. No Time Machine back up, just re install everything on a fresh install of Snow Leopard. Then try to rebuild.
I did pull over my documents and such from my Time Machine back up, but couldn’t use any of the automatic processes. This fixed my licensing issue.
Scott Link Media 