"Dear Apple, maybe we should just be friends"

Welcome to blog number 2 here at The Target Audience. I hope everyone enjoyed the first blog post about my history with video editing. The feedback I've received has been very positive.

This second post is going to focus on one of my weaknesses, my love for Apple products. Specifically how that love is starting to diminish a bit. For those who haven't read my first blog I bought my first Mac in 2003 so I could run both AVID and FCP on the same machine. Of course the other reason was the pure beauty of the 1GHZ Titanium Powerbook G4 and the steady improvements in Mac OS X (10.3 at that time if I remember correctly). As an added history lesson I've included an album of pictures of my Mac's over the years.

I operated in a mixed household for a number of years until late 2006 when I bit the bullet on a 4-Core Mac Pro system. I had built a number of powerful PC systems over that time but the new Mac Pro was so fast, and flexible (Boot Camp was pretty reliable at this point), that I didn't need an actual PC in the house. This also marked my switch to Final Cut Studio as my primary video-editing tool of choice.

Basically I am planning to go over some of the things floating around my mind on this topic, in a hopefully thought provoking fashion.

Forced Obsolescence

A long time ago Apple had a reputation for increased longevity in their professional computers which basically meant older systems were often able to run productive professional software for many years longer than the equivalent PC. It was not uncommon for video and photo professionals to be using PowerMac systems for 5-6 years after purchase in a meaningful way. This usually included support for the latest OS updates for many years.

A funny thing happened though with the change to Intel processors (and I do think the change was needed) as Apple started to accelerate forced obsolescence on the software end of things. This started out with the abandoning of the PowerPC architecture sooner than was needed based on performance and rolled right into the relatively quick dumping of support for early Intel architecture. An example of this is Final Cut Pro 7 dumping PowerPC support in mid 2009. This left very fast quad core G5 computers that were sold in 2006 out in the cold. This cycle has also been noticeable in the Intel era as well with the changing requirements in video cards and processors with new OS/Software packages. For example I recently sold my 2006 Mac Pro, not because of performance, but because it was to difficult to get a new supported video card to help me run the latest Apple software.

I could no longer brag to my PC friends how long my Mac was going to last in comparison to their PC to justify the expense of my purchase.

Another thing to note about this is the 3rd party software developers are very much tied to Apple's software cycle, as Apple is notorious for removing support for older SDKs (software development kits) in order to ensure everyone is on the same page as them.

Upgrade Cycle

This rolls right into the concept of the upgrade cycle. Part of the reasoning I always used in paying more for professional Apple computers was that I would be using the system for a lot longer than a similar PC. If I planned on 4-5 years of professional usage it was completely justifiable to spend more on a Mac Pro or Macbook Pro or whatever because I would be using it for a longer period of time.

If I am going to have to get a new system every 2-3 years anyway due to Apple's use of software/hardware forced obsolescence, maybe it makes more sense to look at less expensive PC's that I can actually customize to my actual needs.

Demise of Professional Products and Choice

This leads to the next part of this discussion, which discusses the question of whether Apple has an interest in supporting the needs of professional users. Apple has long had a reputation for believing they know what the customer needs more than the customer does. I believe this may be mostly true on the consumer end of things but professionals need a certain amount of flexibility to ensure their workflow is doing what it needs to do.

The first sign of this in my mind was the removal of the ExpressCard slot on 15-inch MacBook Pro systems. Apple was one of the first manufacturers to support this slot, which opened the door to faster external storage, I/O options, and various network interfaces. Sure newer machines have Thunderbolt on them but no one is rushing to create cost-effective solutions for this interface meaning this "Professional" laptop has very limited high speed storage options.

Another sign of this new attitude is the stagnation of the Mac Pro line-up of systems, its been left to wither since a pretty minor update in August 2010. I also see signs of this with the discontinuation of SHAKE, and the lack of meaningful updates to LOGIC PRO.

A big part of the professional equation is the need for choice. Professionals use lots of different software, have lots of different workflows, and by definition have varied computing needs. This is not a market that likes to be told you can only use this software, on this OS, with this hardware, and only the way we want you to.

Final Cut X

I'm not going to spend a lot of time on Final Cut X but it ties into the concepts of the lack of professional products, choice and forced obsolescence very nicely.

With X Apple has basically told professionals they must work a certain way if they want to use their software and that outside tools are to be frowned upon. Of course one of the biggest issues in my book with Final Cut X is that it is extremely resource intensive and barely runs well on the latest and greatest Mac Pro hardware. This is the same hardware that Apple has decided not to upgrade in over a year.

I find it extremely dismaying that Adobe Premiere Pro CS 5.5 and AVID Media Composer both run much better on my new MacBook Pro than Apple's own video editing software. Of course I can also configure a PC to run Adobe and AVID even better due to the greater choices in video cards in that market.

Anyway, enough said about Final Cut X, it's not the real point of this post.

Windows 7

Lion is not the end of the world as we know it for the Mac OS, but it is a sign of things to come in the future in regards to less control over what the OS does and more of a tablet style experience for Mac users. If anything Lion showcases Apple's desire to go further down the path of the "walled garden" environment for application development and software distribution.

The thing that is more interesting for professional Mac users is that Windows 7 is a very good operating system. Vista was a disaster, no question at all in that regards. Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit is a stable, attractive, flexible, and customizable OS that is very pleasant to use.

It isn't quite pretty as OS X, and it's missing some cool features like Expose, and some things are a bit more complex than they need to be, but it works. With various add-ons a lot of things I like about OS X can be integrated into Windows 7.

Of course the included software in a Mac is much better than a PC but I've been finding myself using other alternatives more often these days. The same thing goes with the iLife suite of applications. At one time in my life I would have recommended a Mac just for iMovie, iPhoto, iWeb, iTunes, and Garageband. These days I find I don't use these applications often as they have become bloated, buggy parodies of their former selves.

Windows is no longer the bad joke of the OS world.

It's a consumer world

Apple makes great phones and tablets (even though I have moved to Android on both those counts myself), and makes wonderful consumer level computers that do everything that most users need. Unfortunately professional users are not most users for Apple anymore and are not a large part of revenue stream flowing into the corporate coffers.

Apple makes money from iPads, iApps, iPhones, iMacs, and Macbook Airs. They make a lot of money from these products. They don't make a lot of money from Mac Pro systems, or pro applications, or even from supporting professionals. In fact the professional side of Apple's world probably costs more in R&D and support than it brings in.

I understand why Apple does what it does, but it doesn't make me happy. I used to be involved as an Apple reseller during the time that the pro market kept Apple in business. It upsets me to see this market neglected but that's the way the cookie crumbles.

So what about me?

I guess this is the end of the post, the part where I magically conclude a solid answer based on my research and deliberations.

Unfortunately life is never that easy and emotions get in the way. Yes that's right, for me computing is an emotional experience and I enjoy identifying myself as a Mac user. Its been part of my daily life for so many years that the thought of change is hard, but I need to remember that change is good. Even though many of the advantages that I have commented on no longer exist or are limited in their appeal I have a strong desire to keep using Apple computers.

But I am not stupid either and I have a business to operate and a life to lead and if the Mac environment is no longer the best choice for me things will need to change. Change can be hard but it can often be good. I had a hard time moving to Android for my phone and tablet experience but I can honestly say I don't miss my iPhone in the least.

As it stands I have probably purchased my last Mac as my primary work computer (my recent Macbook Pro) for video editing and professional purposes. Since I have moved most of my editing to Adobe and am looking at working more with AVID changing to a PC for this purpose should be a smooth transition. I'm actually looking forward to speccing out my next editing computer in the not to distant future.

Of course, I will almost always keep a Mac around in a secondary computing capacity since I know I will have clients who need Apple interoperability and it will always be good to keep myself abreast of whatever pro software Apple may be selling at the time.

So I'm not rushing out to sell all my Apple stuff but the change has started and it will be interesting to see how it all works out in the end.

Feel free to argue and discuss to your hearts content.