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Will iPad be an end of the Mac's historic role in content creation?

Robertus

Robertus

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 5, 2009
61
1
the great state of O-H-I-O
iPad seems like the product of the future: an all-in-one media/mobile device.

Does it means the end of the Mac's historic role in content creation? Will CG/3D hobbyists, amateur and professional designers, 2D/3D artists, and animators see the end of future Mac products (and the Mac OS) from Apple as the company focus more on iPod, iPhone, and the iPad running only iPhoneOS?
Will they be forced to switch...horror!... Windows OS systems for content creation?

I'm really concerned about the future of Mac OS and Mac computers and its historic role in the content creation, illustration and design. Or do I have no reason to worry about it? :confused:

Would like some feedback and insights.
 
Chill
Everything will be OK

Woof, Woof - Dawg
pawprint.gif
 
Did the iPod mean an end of the Mac's historic role in content creation?

Did the iPhone mean an end of the Mac's historic role in content creation?

Will the iPad mean an end of the Mac's historic role in content creation?

Don't be silly.


As a matter of fact, I think Apple upped the ante again in content creation with iBook Store. You watch, anyone will be able to write crappy fan fiction or novels and self publish.
 
Robertus said:
iPad seems like the product of the future: an all-in-one media/mobile device.

Does it means the end of the Mac's historic role in content creation? Will CG/3D hobbyists, amateur and professional designers, 2D/3D artists, and animators see the end of future Mac products (and the Mac OS) from Apple as the company focus more on iPod, iPhone, and the iPad running only iPhoneOS?
Will they be forced to switch...horror!... Windows OS systems for content creation?

I'm really concerned about the future of Mac OS and Mac computers and its historic role in the content creation, illustration and design. Or do I have no reason to worry about it? :confused:

Would like some feedback and insights.
Click to expand...

You need a MacPro, not an iPad. They still sell MacPros and will be updating them later this year. Don't be so dramatic.
 
Robertus said:
Will they be forced to switch...horror!... Windows OS systems for content creation?

I'm really concerned about the future of Mac OS and Mac computers and its historic role in the content creation, illustration and design. Or do I have no reason to worry about it? :confused:
Click to expand...

Um, this shift started happening with Windows 2000 Professional?

I don't know that you have to worry about it though, a .psd or .fla file is a .psd or an .fla file. Use whatever you like.

Nearly all games are and have been made with 3d Studio Max, which is PC only. Final Cut Pro is Apple only. But the phrase "designers only use Macs" or "designers have to use Macs" has not been true for a long time.

And yeah, iPad is a device more for consuming media, than producing it.
 
I don't know about you, but the iPad is going to replace my portfolio book.
 
eawmp1 said:
You need a MacPro, not an iPad. They still sell MacPros and will be updating them later this year. Don't be so dramatic.
Click to expand...

I disagree. I think Apple is going to shift away from producing Macs for content creators, designers, illustrators, 3D modelers, animators, etc. The iPhoneOS is the future for Apple, not Mac OS. It's a question of when, not if.
 
First off
"
Quote:
Originally Posted by SwiftLives View Post
Didn't you hear the part in Jobs' keynote where he said Apple would immediately begin phasing out OSX, Mac Desktops, and Mac Laptops?
No. "

LOL

2nd: Interesting fear. I understand why one could possibly worry about such a focus shift, BUT

I don't think Apple has ever really catered to the "pro, creating customer"

If they did, why do they worry about form factor, weight, looks, ease of use so much?

"Pros" should not care if their computer looks cool and is light weight and easy to use, because hey, we are "pros". We should only care about the computer getting the job done.


Regardless, I understand why you would think that. I had high hopes for the "iPad", but watching the keynote updates my hopes vanished. I did realize that it was a product for the masses, albeit, the masses with a grip of cash laying around, waiting to be wasted.

I don't quite understand why they would make such an obscure product.
Oh wait, for the money, duh. All this device is is a device to give apple money. You cannot create content worth anything on this device, all kit can do is give money to apple.

Genius! :cool:

I am certainly NOT getting one. I actually like the gap between a physical book, and my iMac. I certainly do not need a device to fill every single "hole" in my life. Ha

This just made me think of WallE, how in the future we will be so device-reliant, apple will be making the iChairs that wizz us around while constantly updating our HUD's with our twitter6.0 feeds and facebook pictures and all that other crap that used to be useless.

Until someone creates a service that we never knew we needed.And don't really. I can not stand all of this "social media." It all seems so self-serving, so vapid and narcissistic. Living vicariously through others facebook status updates and tweets.

No thanks, I would rather just be out of the loop, and I plan on staying this way!!!

Ghost shirt society!!! (Not really relevant reference, im just worked up!)

Sorry about the rant. Long day at work :rolleyes:
 
There's no way that a device like the iPad will ever replace the desktop Mac, even if mobile tech is ultimately more profitable than desktop systems.
The iPad is more or less the first step toward leveraging the iPhone multitouch on a larger scale.
Maybe we'll eventually have devices like the iPad (with stylus for drawing ala Wacom) instead of a mouse and keyboard, but I doubt that content creators will ever want to put their hands directly on the main display while working.

BTW, I watched the iPad keynote, and at one point, Jobs loaded a website with Flash content represented by the missing plugin icon; he quickly loaded another site, I assume, to avoid having to explain the missing plugin to the audience on the heels of saying the iPad is the "best" way to view the internet.
I was vaguely offended by this, like he was attempting hide the truth about the limitations of this product.
What else can it not do?
 
snickelfritz said:
There's no way that a device like the iPad will ever replace the desktop Mac
Click to expand...

Of course it will. Stop thinking about *now* and start thinking a few years down the road. These handhelds will become more powerful as time goes by. The screen size might be an issue, ultimately, but we'll see "desktop" Macs looking more and more like their handheld cousins. Eventually there will be very little to tell them apart, both in form and power. At some point (and it's sooner than you think) you'll be able to run full-fledged photo-editing and other creative apps on your iPad.
 
Maybe devices like the iPad will eventually replace desktop systems like the iMac.
But it's not inevitable or an obvious consequence of trends in mobile device markets, especially in the context of Apple's current trend for increasing display size and resolution on the desktop.
The recent introduction of the 27" iMac, for example.

Traditional panel-based apps like Photoshop and Illustrator are not going to lend themselves to small displays like the iPad any time soon.
Certainly not in CS5.

The iPad is more of a consumer toy for a niche market, and a potential revenue stream for Apple and their wireless service providers, than a solution to an actual problem.
After all, most people are accustomed to, and are perfectly happy with, using notebook and desktop computers for surfing the net and such.
And Apple will be happy to continue providing those notebooks and desktops.
 
*LTD* said:
Of course it will. Stop thinking about *now* and start thinking a few years down the road.
Click to expand...

I don't know about you, but I live in the present, not the future. While it's prudent to consider the future, anyone who stops living in and dealing with the present will soon end up living under a bridge and eating out of a dumpster.

These handhelds will become more powerful as time goes by. The screen size might be an issue, ultimately, but we'll see "desktop" Macs looking more and more like their handheld cousins. Eventually there will be very little to tell them apart, both in form and power. At some point (and it's sooner than you think) you'll be able to run full-fledged photo-editing and other creative apps on your iPad.
Click to expand...

No "might" about it. Screen size would be a huge issue. No one in the right mind would use want to use a 10" screen to edit photos from a 12mp DSLR in Photoshop, or edit a 1080p video in FCP, or create 64 track musical composition in Logic Studio. The iPad's external monitor connection isn't even capable of displaying 720p (1280x720).
 
snickelfritz said:
BTW, I watched the iPad keynote, and at one point, Jobs loaded a website with Flash content represented by the missing plugin icon; he quickly loaded another site, I assume, to avoid having to explain the missing plugin to the audience on the heels of saying the iPad is the "best" way to view the internet.
I was vaguely offended by this, like he was attempting hide the truth about the limitations of this product.
What else can it not do?
Click to expand...

I think you are wrong on your take on this. Here is my take:

Steve Jobs runs a tight ship. Apple is working with the New York Times to provide content, and he always knew he was going to pull up the NY Times home page, and the missing flash plug-in would be there for a second before moving on. But this was not an accident, it was on purpose.

Apple and Adobe have been in a cold war for a while. Adobe feels that Apple jerked their chain by switching OS strategies during the OS9/Rhapsody/Copland days. Adobe then said, fine, we will wait until you figure out what to do and then get around to re-writing our apps. Apple released shiny new Intel Macs and there were no native Adobe apps. Mac users had to keep their G5 computers, or get an Intel Mac and use Rosetta emulation. Every day for over a year, Apple had to hear about people who were not buying new Intel Macs until Adobe shipped. I was one of those people. I bet the day Adobe released native Intel apps was one of Apple's better sales days ever.

That was then, Flash is now. Adobe had a "lite version" of Flash, but it went nowhere. Developers had no real interest in pushing lite apps out. And Jobs is not the type to offer a lite experience anyhow, so he punted. No flash on the iPhone. Flash is notorious for being a bit of a CPU hog, and that would affect battery life and Apple wanted no part of that.

I always kind of felt bad for Dell. There computers were what they were, but a lot of their rep suffered because people had Dells and were having issues with things like viruses. Well, when people get viruses, they don't call Microsoft and ask them why Windows and IE is one giant security hole. People called Dell and said "my computer is junk!"

Apple did not want that to play out with the iPhone and Flash. For security reasons, for performance reasons and for keeping the spotlight on the app store reasons. Apple would be happy if Flash went away.

Anyhow, Jobs knew that the missing plug-in was going to show up and guess what? We are seeing lots of articles about the demise of Flash. A return to server side and web standard technologies. Javascript has risen from the dead. If there is a missing plug-in icon on the NY Times, it's up to the NY Times to make sure they are developing a web site that just works.

I heard a great phrase the other day, the internet has become the splinternet. It's no longer only desktops and laptops connecting to the web, it's phones and now iPads with who knows what capabilities, it's web services consumed by all sorts of things, etc.

The onus is on the developers to develop for the new splinternet, it's not up to the hardware makers to make sure their devices support Flash if it's not appropriate for their device.

Hell hath no fury like a Steve Jobs scorned.

Anyhow, that's my take, it's my opinion, love it or leave it.
 
decksnap said:
I don't know about you, but the iPad is going to replace my portfolio book.
Click to expand...

That is an awesome idea!
Beats dragging round a portfolio of printed samples that get damaged when people want to "have a closer look" and being able to show booklets and full content.

Is there any app already available that can do that for iPhone/iPod Touch?
 
smurfjammer said:
That is an awesome idea!
Beats dragging round a portfolio of printed samples that get damaged when people want to "have a closer look" and being able to show booklets and full content.

Is there any app already available that can do that for iPhone/iPod Touch?
Click to expand...

I've used my iPod Touch like this before, though I wouldn't use it in that capacity for an official interview.

There are several ways to do this with a website, which any creative professional should have, but I'm approaching this with the assumption that you can't rely on having an internet connection.

The quick-and-dirty way, which I've often used to quickly transfer a PDF for viewing, is to simply send yourself an email from your computer with a PDF attached. Open the attachment in your iPhone's Mail, and as long as you don't close that email message, you can close Mail and reopen it and still be able to access the PDF (or jpeg, whatever) even without an internet connection.

The much better way is to use an application like Files that lets you store iPhone supported content on your device. You can just save PDFs and JPEG's of your work so you can quickly flip through your portfolio and zoom in on details. Unfortunately, simple USB file transfer is only available if you have a jailbroken device- the file apps like Files work using FTP, which does the job but is sometimes a hassle.


Ultimately, an iPad would be the ideal portfolio replacement, for it's as easy to pass around and show to multiple people as a paper portfolio, and doesn't have the awkwardness of trying to use a laptop for that purpose. The iPhone and iPod Touch simply have too small of a display to use as a professional portfolio, though they are good to use for a portfolio-in-a-pinch.
 
smurfjammer said:
That is an awesome idea!
Beats dragging round a portfolio of printed samples that get damaged when people want to "have a closer look" and being able to show booklets and full content.

Is there any app already available that can do that for iPhone/iPod Touch?
Click to expand...

I would just export all my work as images into iphoto. Then you can just pull up the album and swipe through it. We do something similar with frontrow on a TV.
 
Robertus said:
I disagree. I think Apple is going to shift away from producing Macs for content creators, designers, illustrators, 3D modelers, animators, etc. The iPhoneOS is the future for Apple, not Mac OS. It's a question of when, not if.
Click to expand...

so let me get this straight, Apple is going to be involved more in displaying content but not making the machines THAT MAKE THAT CONTENT IN THE FIRST PLACE! where do you think movies, music, cover art come from? the magic creation tree?

talk about a company shooting itself in the foot if they did that. They are expanding not moving in a different direction...
 
Drama Queen indeed.

Robertus said:
iPad seems like the product of the future: an all-in-one media/mobile device.

Does it means the end of the Mac's historic role in content creation? Will CG/3D hobbyists, amateur and professional designers, 2D/3D artists, and animators see the end of future Mac products (and the Mac OS) from Apple as the company focus more on iPod, iPhone, and the iPad running only iPhoneOS?
Will they be forced to switch...horror!... Windows OS systems for content creation?

I'm really concerned about the future of Mac OS and Mac computers and its historic role in the content creation, illustration and design. Or do I have no reason to worry about it? :confused:
Click to expand...

why on earth would they get involved in content consumption only to turn their back on the content creation for the exact same device? thats like nabisco making knives forks and plates and stopping making food

Apple needs the movies music etc that fuel itunes and the public consumption...
 
Hell hath no fury like a Steve Jobs scorned.
Click to expand...

Maybe, but who honestly gives a damn?

Steve might have sold millions of expensive designer gadgets, but he does not own the future of the world nor will he be able to keep riding this wave on the long run. The hype around the iToys won't last, and the iPad didn't receive the excited welcome that the iPhone had received.

With so many similar, trivial apps on sale, the gold rush for developers is over and so far the only winner has been Apple because they own the infrastructure. Especially smaller developers are currently waking up and Apple has pissed off so many developers with their arbitrary and unpredictable "approval" process for the AppStore, that they those developers have already begun to abandon the Apple ship.

He hasn't noticed it yet, but the closeness of his platform and his own arrogance are already biting Steve in his own butt.

Developers make or break a platform. And hell hath no fury like a disgruntled and disappointed software developer.
 
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