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My wishes for iLife '06

by Dave Caolo Aug 1st 2005 at 1:00PM

ilife_boxThis morning at Apple Matters, James Stoup asks the question, "What's next for the iLife suite?" He proposes three great applications, including an end-user CGI tool he's calling "Animator." With Animator, anyone can make their own talking clown-fish or incredible superheros. I think it's a great idea and very feasible. Apple has a history of bringing sophisticated software to home users, like iMovie, iDVD, Garageband and to a slightly lesser extent, Final Cut Express. I can see an end-user animation application fitting nicely within this strategy. When integrated with iMovie and iDVD, it could be a lot of fun.

He also describes Site Builder, a website-building application that would bridge the gap between the free wizards some webhosts offer and the pricey big boys like Dreamweaver and Adobe GoLive. I know there are inexpensive applications already available that fill this role (Realmac Software's Rapidweaver being my favorite), but to have one designed by Apple that was beautifully integrated with its iLife siblings would be great. More after the jump.


You should read Mr. Stoup's article, as I've only skimmed some highlights here. While condsidering his suggestions, I've come up with a suggestion of my own, tentatively called "Podcaster." I think of Podcaster as a do-it-all application that will record, edit, enhance, upload and publish your podcast. With Podcaster you can select photos from your iPhoto library to use as chapter markers and import Garageband tunes to use as theme music or background audio. Podcaster will also generate a feed for you and publish either to your .Mac account or the FTP location of your choice. Today, producing a podcast usually involves, at the very least, two different applications. I'm confident Apple could get the whole shebang done with a single application, which would be great. They've made retrieving podcasts so easy via the iTunes Music Store, why not make producing them just as simple?

As far as enhancements to existing iApps, I'd like to see video playback available right in iPhoto (for all those .avi movies I import with my digital camera), as well as an option to send videos stored in iPhoto to iMovie. So what do you all think? Have an idea for a brand new iApp? Want to improve on an existing one? Let's hear it.


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This morning at Apple Matters, James Stoup asks the question, "What's next for the iLife suite?" He proposes three great...
 

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iband

I'd like to see the customization of the photo books from Apeture in iPhoto. The templates are nice, but to be able to move a photo within a frame and customize pages would be sweet.

January 03 2006 at 4:59 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Stephane

i don't like the idea to manage video files frim itunes. fine for video clips but for movies? I'd therefore like a king of ivideo app distinct for itunes, with an ivideo store. or why not a more complete integration of app look and function betwwen iphoto, itunes and eventually this imovie to switch easily for one to another one... an i'd like iphoto and itunes to place the video files into the movie folder of finder.

November 10 2005 at 8:32 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Chris

#19 - iPhoto already does multiple libraries - Command-Click to launch gives you a "which library this time?" dialog.

October 17 2005 at 8:59 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Porchland

iPhoto: I'd like to see multiple libraries. It would be nice to separate out broader image groupings to separate work work, personal, etc. iMovie: new titles, maybe intergate the library with iPhoto for more seamless mixing and matching for projects iTunes: Smarter Playlists that tweaks the randomization to balance out a lot of content from one artist: just becaues I have every Dave Matthews Band album doesn't mean I want DMB on every mix. I had hoped that this is what "less random" would mean, but it didn't. iTMS: Radiohead (finally!)

October 05 2005 at 4:10 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Chris (Amateur Traveler Podcast)

I found out today that I know the Apple engineer who worked on podcasting in iTunes. I will see if they take requests. :-)

August 06 2005 at 3:22 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
ben murray

right I know Herr Jobs dislikes the Tellybox quite vehemently but apple could really do with an elegant Television DVR and organiser. With that Apple touch we all know'n'love Like Tivo to Go but more universal, maybe bring out a nice bit of hardware as well I am supremely jealous of Media Centre PC and with a TV app we'd be so close And then the rumours can flood over bout a Video iPod...

August 02 2005 at 6:42 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Rob Knight

Here's what I want from iLife (next version)... I don't want to have to pay $70/year for new software in January that doesn't feel quite bug-free until the June/July upgrade. Yes, the price is good, but it is pretty unfair to make Joe User *buy* a new UPGRADE every 12 months. Functionally, I'd like to publish slideshows with the Apple templates to somewhere besides a .Mac account. I like the simplicity Apple has given to beginners, but some of us have moved beyond .Mac and we'd like to put our Apple created content elsewhere. It seems like it would be good marketing for Apple to have their templates show up elsewhere besides .Mac member pages. A Podcasting tool would rock. ComicLife would make the upgrade worth paying for.

August 02 2005 at 4:06 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Shane

I want nested folders in iPhoto, so I can have a "Family Events" folder that contains sub-folders of the specific events.

August 01 2005 at 8:32 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
yinyang

I think something like Comic Life should be incorporated into iLife 06, though Apple should just buy the company out and not do a Konfabulator/Dashbaord on them!!

August 01 2005 at 8:10 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Wylee Coyte

For the whole suite make it easier to share libraries without having to resort to the miriad of hacks out there. In the real world nobody has a purely personal, never to be seen by anyone else library of books, paintings, music etc. So why in the electronic world should we. The hacks out there are akin to using a chainsaw to cut your way into the library!

August 01 2005 at 7:48 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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