Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iLife
You're in charge: iLife '06
Back in August, we refered to an article by James Stoup at Apple Matters that asked the question, "What's next for the iLife suite?" Mr. Stoup had some great suggestions, like an end-user CGI tool he dubbed "Animator," which would make 3D animation accessable to the likes of you and me (Think "Pixar lite"). Also, Mr. Stoup feels it's high time we got an Apple-branded WYSIWYG web editor that wrapped power, elegance, the iApps and .Mac into one happy, aqua package. I'd get behind that. More after the jump.I suggested an application I tentatively named "Podcaster" (I think that name is actually in use now) that, as an integrated member of the iLife suite, would make podcasting as easy as pie. Today, with Macworld looming and new technology like FrontRow and Photobooth available to us, I thought it would be fun to revisit the question. So, what would you add? You had some great suggestions last time. In fact, reader benedict murray's idea now seems quite prophetic:
"...Apple could really do with an elegant Television DVR and organizer. 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 about a Video iPod."
So, what do you say? You're in charge.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Wader said 10:12PM on 11-30-2005
I say please please please improve iPhoto. There's too much of a gap between iPhoto and aperture currently. The file structure needs to be improved as well as the some of the editing features. Also back up functionality should be implemented.... and better contact sheets... and and and.....
I'm left with balancing between iView and iphoto (photoshop too.... and so on).
Wade
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Mark H said 10:39PM on 11-30-2005
Absolute first priority: make iPhoto stable enough to use. I can't use it for more than a few minutes without it crashing. This should have been fixed long ago, but I have lost hope that it will happen before the next release.
Second priority: make the weird iPhoto file structure optional. Give us the option to use a normal file structure, like Picassa (a wonderful program, way better than iPhoto IMO) and GraphicConverter. I don't care if switching to the normal file structure makes it impossible to save originals; just disable that feature when using a normal file structure. Just give me the option to have full control over my pictures! I like the way iPhoto is integrated into the other iApps, but it's just not worth it to me to (a) be locked into a weird file structure and (b) be locked into one (very buggy) program for easily accessing my pictures.
Third priority: whenever possible, integrate iPhoto comments and keywords with EXIF and IPTC data, rather than storing everything in a database in iPhoto. If I apply a comment to a JPEG in iPhoto, it should be applied to the actual JPEG file, not just to iPhoto's database. Same thing with dates and times. If I fix a time stamp, the change should be made to the actual file. That way moving a file out of iPhoto won't discard all the work I've done commenting etc.
Frankly, even if all of these were fixed, I still might not buy the next version. I'm so fed up with iPhoto that something major would have to happen to make me consider using it again.
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Casey said 10:47PM on 11-30-2005
A few things.
First Merge iphoto & photobooth,
A DVR based schedualing ui plus tie in w/ Tivo, IPTV, VODCasts, Music Videos, and a little far fetched- one click DVD staight to ipod/psp (i.e. import cd in itunes) all wraped in a spiffy app and call it like iTube or something. Keep video and music on itunes seperated.
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Jim said 10:59PM on 11-30-2005
I want Front Row, the remote and Photo Booth for my G-5 tower. I don't need the DVR capability because I am a huge TIVO person. But I would like to be able to record some shows and edit them on my Mac but that is more of hardware thing.
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Dan Warriner said 11:27PM on 11-30-2005
pages...great program, but no matter how good you make it people will be forced use word if they need to exchange files w/ windows users...some how make it at least readable in Word or something or else this program is going to waste due to simple compatability and we all know how hard apple is working to make using a mac not seem like dropping u on a deserted island
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Dan Warriner said 11:28PM on 11-30-2005
o shit that's iwork...haha my bad
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James Badcock said 12:22AM on 12-01-2005
For started consistancy in the way they all look. I do like the new iTunes look (though still not happy with mail). I've got a few suggestion on my web site: http://mactimeline.com/macwishlist.html
I think iPhoto could do with some features from Aperture, like smart web pages would be amazingly handy. And I've always wanted a map in iPhoto so I can link pictures with a place and browse the map as well. As far as a I know, no app does this. Maybe a maps.google partnership? :)
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Nick said 12:23AM on 12-01-2005
They should buy Realmacsoftware and make Rapid Weaver part of iLife.
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jomy said 12:50AM on 12-01-2005
FrontRow 2.0 - Add ability to rip DVDs and rent movies in HD
PodCast Studio - for recording, editing, and publishing podcasts and video podcasts (focus on workflow)
iChat Pro - be logged in with multiple accounts simultaneously, search chat history, record audio and video chats, ability to set up rules.
ComicLife - Apple should acquire it and bundle it in iLife '06
Basic Web Design App - Would probably be more appropriate for iWork '06
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Richard Espy said 1:50AM on 12-01-2005
Easy... start using MySQL or Postgres as the backend for iPhoto and iTunes. It's free, and a real database for iTunes would clearly differentiate it from the Windows version.
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Julien Collot said 3:37AM on 12-01-2005
iPhoto has much bigger problems than what database it uses.
As noted above, it crashes a lot. It uses a strange file structure that disturbs any windows switcher to the point of finding iPhoto very annoying. It doesn't save your changes (comments, timestamps) as updates to the actual photographs but as data in the iPhoto database.
I had to reinstall my machine three months back for a weird bluetooth hardware failure, guess what... I lost all my comments !
Oh, and it crashes a lot... or did I mention that part already ?
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Eric said 4:11AM on 12-01-2005
iChat Pro... I like the sound of that! echo jomy on that one. with friggin encryption for everyone! How many people actually have a .mac account? Out of those people how many actually use that as their instant messaging account?
Definitely include photo metadata in the image itself (is this possible?) I know that the spec for an MP3 file includes the ID3 tag information and this is stored in the file itself. However, does the spec for JPG include the same type of space in the image format for "custom" data? I have no problems with iPhoto stability on my 15" G4 Pbook, but I have always upgraded my albums with each upgrade of iPhoto... ? Not sure if that matters. If this isn't possible, just as Richard suggested... use a real database for this information instead of some flimsy XML or proprietary flat-file system that apparently can't handle it.
Podcast Studio - Again, sounds great!
My biggest complaint with iLife is that basically I'm paying $x for iPhoto... First of all, why is iTunes even on the box? That is ridiculous. I only use iMovie once a year max (maybe this is just me) and only when I use iMovie am I using iDVD... I use Garageband now for podcasts, but until 2 months ago I didn't even have it installed.
So I guess to me it is feeling like a expensive Photo management program with this "other stuff" that I sometimes use. Those programs are very cool when I do finally get around to using them... but the schedule I use them on doesn't really justify the expense.
How about iLife specific automator actions? That would be nice... Perhaps some actions that would actually be USEFUL. Every time i think "Hey! I could use Automator to do that!" I open it up only to realize that a fundamental action of the program isn't available through Automator unless I want to whip out XCode and write it myself... Thanks Apple!
I would like to see a separate App for managing Videos.... or a complete redo to iTunes. I mean even the name is outdated now... i"TUNES" ? Shouldn't it be i"Media" or something now? The performance of iTunes with video isn't the best and if there was a separate App that maintained your videos of different sources (podcasts, movies, imported DVDs, etc) that would allow you to automatically put them onto your iPod if you wanted, that you could "see" from within iTunes... etc. I know that the idea of a separate app conflicts with a lot of existing software infrastructure... So I would be happy with iTunes 7 just not sucking as much... major overhaul.
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DrWho said 7:42AM on 12-01-2005
Include FrontRow
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Jon said 8:11AM on 12-01-2005
iBlog - software to update a blog held on a users .mac site. Integration with other apps to allow easy access to pictures in iPhoto.
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Tim Gardner said 11:26AM on 12-01-2005
An upgrade price for us loyal iLife buyers who've bought previous versions! I hate having to pay full price for what ends up only being a few updated features. But there's always that one feature that is a 'Must Have'.
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Gabe Hamrick said 9:46AM on 12-01-2005
My number one request: Allow me to stream music wirelessly to more than one Airport Express. Or, at the very, very least allow me to stream to one Airport and play through the speakers on the computer simultaneously. That function is almost useless to me without the ability to stream to multiple sets of speakers. I would even buy a faster Mac if it were required as long as I could do what I want.
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Andrew Gormley said 10:57AM on 12-01-2005
After reading all the comments above, I think everyone has a lot of great ideas.
I'm totally behind having a web design app (something along the lines of BBEdit would be fantastic), iChat Pro sounds like a great idea (and they need to add tabbed chatting while they're at it), and I also agree that iPhoto needs quite a bit of work. As an addition, I would like to see a program like Handbrake for converting DVDs to MP4 or H.264 formats.
As an aside: In response to Dan (Warriner)above, I've had absolutely no problems with Pages/Word compatibility. In Pages, you just have to click File > Export > Word and it works like a charm.
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jomy said 11:08AM on 12-01-2005
I like eric's idea
iTube - iTunes for video(organize and purchase videos)
and while we are at it...
Bookself - iTunes for PDF files(manage, search, subscribe to and purchase books, magazines, newsletters, textbooks...)
I like Jon's idea
iBog - .Mac had something like this but it should become a permanent part of iLife.
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Elliot Levin said 12:58PM on 12-01-2005
A podcast app is a no-brainer. The trick is optionally bundling a microphone for 5g iPods, since there are currently none of the market.
Fixing the iApp UI themes is long due.
Nesting photo albums in iPhoto is a silly thing not to have.
And, by the way, what's the problem with how iPhoto organizes things? What makes more sense than organizing by date? Otherwise you're just organizing by activity (Baby's Birthday, Siberian Vacation), and that just don't make no sense (what if baby's birthday was during your Siberian Vacation? Now you're in trouble). Date is the only thing that works all the time. Here's to the status quo!
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Seth just said 2:34PM on 12-01-2005
iTube - great idea. iTunes handles video just like audio and that isn't ideal.
iChat pro - i've wanted that for as long as i've been using iChat
the one other thing i'd like is for garageband to support midi export, cause that's the main reason i don't use it more
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