# iLife '04: Don't waste your money



## kanecorp (Jan 16, 2004)

If you gotta have it, download it, worth about 5 bucks. 
I'm so pissed i drove all the way out to the apple store this for this s**t. 
like, 7 new DVD themes, so minor updates to itunes and iphoto, garageband is a joke... 
I'm very mad right now.


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## Arden (Jan 16, 2004)

Maybe you're more cut out for the crappage that seeps onto Windows PC's than the refinement of Apple programs.

- GarageBand is awesome.  I used it for 5 minutes and came up with a great melody.  And it's one of the reasons my friend wants to switch to Mac.
- iPhoto has been sped up considerably.  It's able to handle a huge library size, much bigger than before.  That doesn't seem minor to me.
- I don't think iTunes was changed with this version of iLife.

I know this is your opinion and I can't change that, but I wouldn't consider iLife a waste at all.  It's worth the $50 for GarageBand alone.


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## kanecorp (Jan 16, 2004)

I'd never been upset with Apple (well, panther was quite upsetting as it is still very buggy), but never as unsatisfide as this.
I'd return it if i could, that's all i'll say


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## Arden (Jan 16, 2004)

I'll give you $25 for it.


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## kanecorp (Jan 16, 2004)

Arden said:
			
		

> I'll give you $25 for it.


I'd take you up on your original offer of $35


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## Arden (Jan 16, 2004)

Nah, I can get it at the educational store for $29 so it would be a better deal to buy it new.


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## kanecorp (Jan 16, 2004)

eBay it is!


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## Neal Colingham (Jan 16, 2004)

I just loaded it, the increase in speed in iPhoto is amazing. iMovie allows trasitions now with this version so my son is producing his High Schools Senior movie with iMovie instead of iDVD. We got the education discount so it was 29 + tax. Programmers and software this good cost allot of money so I gladly support Apple. Apple is on a roll and I for one am very happy to see it. 

Neal


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## Giaguara (Jan 16, 2004)

35$? Shipped?  me wants..


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## boi (Jan 16, 2004)

kanecorp said:
			
		

> If you gotta have it, download it, worth about 5 bucks.
> I'm so pissed i drove all the way out to the apple store this for this s**t.
> like, 7 new DVD themes, so minor updates to itunes and iphoto, garageband is a joke...
> I'm very mad right now.


the iphoto update is pretty major. you'd notice it if you used iphoto a lot. iphoto was crazy slow before, now it's crazy fast. just hit the scroll down button and hold it. wowee.

garageband a joke?
are you a musician? do you have a midi keyboard? if not, then it's probably not for you anyway. did you expect it to create music for you? i'm really interested in your backing up "garageband is a joke".
heck, soundtrack was a decent audio app, and this is leaps and bounds better.
i'm not switching over, because i use live and i love it, but it's extremely formidable-- especially considering the competition is $400+.


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## ipants (Jan 16, 2004)

can't please everyone...


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## azrad (Jan 17, 2004)

i have not try the new iLife... but from the Video Streaming of Steve Job KeyNote...

i bet my office boy (who  is a PC guy) would scream what the GarageBand can do... 

eheheh... for more... maybe u can read Arden post on #2


im still a happy Mac User...


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## dixonbm (Jan 17, 2004)

I see garageband as being a specialty app for a small number of people. I'm surprised they would put so much effort into a program that few would use. I enjoy listening to music, but I don't know anything about making it, let alone have a midi keyboard.

So I would stand by the questioning response to Garageband.

However, I really would like to get my hands on a copy of the new iPhoto. I do use it fairly regularly, so I may end up spending that $50 again. I got it last time it came out because I wanted functionality between iMovie and iDVD which I had lost when I upgrade the free download of iMovie.


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## Randman (Jan 17, 2004)

Why did kane buy the iLife package if he/she didn't know what was involved? Caveat emptor anyone?


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## Arden (Jan 17, 2004)

Dixon: Even if you aren't a musician, fire up GarageBand and check out what you can do with the loops.  You'll find that if you at least know how to click and drag, you can make some great sounding stuff.

Kane: Oh well, I can understand you might want to sell it to someone else.  If Gia will pay you $35 for it, then by all means go for it.


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## monktus (Jan 17, 2004)

dixonbm said:
			
		

> I see garageband as being a specialty app for a small number of people. I'm surprised they would put so much effort into a program that few would use. I enjoy listening to music, but I don't know anything about making it, let alone have a midi keyboard.
> 
> So I would stand by the questioning response to Garageband.



You forget that Macs are the industry standard for making and recording music. I would say that GarageBand is the opposite to a speciality app, it opens up the possibility of creating music on a mac in a cheap and easy way. It's a little like saying that iPhoto is a speciality app for a small number of people because not everyone has a digital camera. You don't even need a MIDI keyboard to use GarageBand.

There's a big discussion (a few actually) on Slashdot about iLife and the consensus seems to be, "stop whining, it's a bargain! Apple owes you nothing,  they're great to you!". That might sound a little harsh but it's true. The current versions of iPhoto and iMovie are still free and downloadable. iDVD was never available free and is too big for a download. GarageBand is also about 2GB with the loops etc included so isn't feasable for download. Apple has put a lot of R&D into these programs and it's fair for them to charge, if only to cover the cost of media and distribution. Also, if you were to buy applications seperately with the same features, you'd be spending quite a lot of cash, so the Slashdotters are right. The new iLife is a fantastic deal.

Also, GarageBand will do wonders for Apple in terms of publicity, reputation and overall sales. Look what they've achieived with iMovie and Final Cut, well GarageBand will most likely help sales of Logic Pro and Express (yes, they've repackaged it in line with Final Cut).


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## pds (Jan 17, 2004)

Randman said:
			
		

> Why did kane buy the iLife package if he/she didn't know what was involved? Caveat emptor anyone?



What does iLife have to do with buying caviar?


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## twister (Jan 18, 2004)

I still want it.


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## dixonbm (Jan 18, 2004)

monktus said:
			
		

> You forget that Macs are the industry standard for making and recording music.



No I haven't forgotten. But serious musicians and production teams don't use programs like garageband or even soundtrack for that matter. They use professional programs like Pro Tools. 



			
				monktus said:
			
		

> I would say that GarageBand is the opposite to a speciality app, it opens up the possibility of creating music on a mac in a cheap and easy way. It's a little like saying that iPhoto is a speciality app for a small number of people because not everyone has a digital camera.



Everyone that I know who owns a Mac has a digital camera too. So I would disagree. I think iPhoto is more widely used than iMovie or iDVD.


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## drunkmac (Jan 18, 2004)

not really....feelin iLife. Garageband is ok but pointless if you own Soundtrack.


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## symphonix (Jan 18, 2004)

It has value, but I think it comes down to whether or not you are going to take advantage of that value. Kanecorp, why did you drive all the way out to the Apple store and buy it if you didn't know what you were getting?
There are a lot of new features in there that might be useful, and for the 30 or 40 percent of users who like to play music but have never set up a studio, GarageBand is worth every cent. 
I guess it comes back to one thing though. If you go out and spend money without actually finding out what you're buying, then you're bound to end up very upset - even if you are getting a pretty good deal.


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## monktus (Jan 18, 2004)

I wouldn't say GB is pointless if you own Soundtrack, they're entirely different programs. You can't do multitrack recording with Soundtrack and it doesn't support MIDI. It's more of a loop sequencer for working with video. GB is far more useful in general, I'd have it over Soundtrack any day.


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## Randman (Jan 18, 2004)

Regardless of GB vs. Soundtrack, the point should be why someone doesn't do a little research on something before buying it, then complainafterward that it's not what he wanted. It's not like he had to buy Life '04 (I'm hoping my is in today).


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## diablojota (Jan 19, 2004)

After watching a show on the iLife package (brief but nice), I was most impressed with the iLife package.  As for GarageBand, that is exactly what I am looking for to record my music that I have composed.
As for iPhoto, I have been hoping for an update to this program for a long time since it runs like a dog.  I have over 2k pics in my iPhoto.  I can not wait to get my hands on this update.  I don't use iMovie, iDVD.  Just iTunes, iPhoto, and I can definitely see myself spending countless hours on Garageband (as long as my fiancée will let me).


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## lilbandit (Jan 20, 2004)

I don't think Steve mentioned it during the Keynote (lost my connection a couple of times) but I'd like to give GarageBand a go in the classroom. A colleague recently showed me how he was using those cheap-o dj programmes in the classroom. They were terrible programmes, tacky and usually sparse on features but the children were able to put together some amazing stuff. The instruments were awful synthesizers and the loops were based on cheesy dance-inspired samples. Yet, put 3/4 children working together and the results were astonishing. I'm practically tone-deaf but even I realised what they could do with GarageBand. I'll definitely buy iLife 04 just to try it in the classroom! Might even serve to inspire one or two to take an interest in music!


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## orbstah (Jan 20, 2004)

A lot of people hate pying money for apps they own already, but they seem to forget that most new macs come with ilife bundled. Anyhows Garageband rocks, as soon as i can get it to install and not crash  Soundstudio is faster but it still looks like a 9.x app  There is some nice additions to iDVD like the dvd map and the intro movies ( i got a 6 weks old baby so me dvd creations is about to rocket hehe). iPhoto is such a vast improvement, how we managed to live with the previous version i will never know. imovie is very cool to for making nice transitional effect for me photos.
To be brutally honest, most people enjoy the programs that apple release and couldnt live without them, so when Apple spend a lot of time updating and tweaking them and then ask us to pay for a disk, i feel annoyed that anyone could be argue with $50 dollars for what is essentially 5 apps that allow you to do everything you need toon your mac. Similar apps of this quality would cost you a fortune to buy on a PC.
iLife should be essential buying for every Apple owner.
Long Live Apple and Long Live OSX


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## karavite (Jan 25, 2004)

I am ordering iLife today mainly for iPhoto, Garage Band and iDVD. I am a little dissapointed with the lack of tons of ready to go new iDVD themes and/or more flexibility in editing them, but I can live with it without having to go buy and learn DVD studio. However, the one thing I always was annoyed with in iDVD was editing existing audio tracks/music I have... to play in my iDVD themes - now I can use Garage Band to make those all on my own - loops and/or record my own stuff! I actually have Soundtrack from FCP 4, but I think it will be interesting to have both - what can I say, I LOVE ANY AND ALL NEW SOFTWARE!


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## chevy (Jan 25, 2004)

I ordered today a 160 GB external Firewire HD to free some room on my iMac for iLife. I'll order iLife just after that.


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## uoba (Jan 25, 2004)

I'm going out tomorrow to get a life... sorry iLife.


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## gribuz (Jan 27, 2004)

heh i actually considered buying a new guitar just because of iLife 

i used to play in highschool and havent played for years, think Garageband looked really nice.

$49 is a bargin if u ask me  ::ha::


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## Studio Zero (Jan 27, 2004)

kanecorp said:
			
		

> If you gotta have it, download it, worth about 5 bucks.
> I'm so pissed i drove all the way out to the apple store this for this s**t.
> like, 7 new DVD themes, so minor updates to itunes and iphoto, garageband is a joke...
> I'm very mad right now.



Whine-oceros.


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## gribuz (Jan 28, 2004)

I think it would be better for apple just to release garageband with the jampack as a standalone product and offer the rest as a free download included iDVD

just a thought


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## Arden (Jan 28, 2004)

Want to know why they don't do this?  Because, in total, iLife takes up about 4 gigabytes of space.  Even with compression, that's still something like 3 GB to download for all of iLife.  Nobody but those with the fastest university or business pipelines would take the time to download all of that.


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## Randman (Jan 28, 2004)

GB is the big file. The others are manageable and available on CD. I'm just wondering when JamPack 2 will come out.


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## gribuz (Jan 28, 2004)

Well they could just start to include iLife with 10.4, then there will be no big download, only updates


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## Arden (Jan 28, 2004)

iDVD is pretty big, too, though.  Those themes (and whatever else) take up quite a bit of space.  It's those two, basically.  I guess Apple figured that with 2 non-downloadable apps in iLife instead of just 1, they may as well make iPhoto & iMovie non-downloadable as well.


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## karavite (Jan 28, 2004)

You know, in this instant gratification based world of ours, isn't it nice to wait a few days for something in the mail these days!


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## hulkaros (Jan 29, 2004)

iLife '04 deserves every single dollar or euro or whatever!  

2 hours of video with iDVD? Make music THAT easy with GarageBand? Manage thousands of photos without breaking a sweat? DV edit like a Pro without his/her Pro troubles?

Come on! iLife '04 is like Office but for the rest of our life BUT... Minus the stupidity of Office and not to mention it's costs!


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## karavite (Jan 30, 2004)

hulkaros said:
			
		

> Come on! iLife '04 is like Office but for the rest of our life BUT... Minus the stupidity of Office and not to mention it's costs!



That's a really neat way of thinking about it. iLife apps are much much more "seamlessly integrated" than Office apps. A movie is a movie, a picture is a picture, a song is a song... and they all get passed around between the apps like a dream. In comparison we have a Word table then a Excel sheet - not quite the same thing, but close enough yet with completely different rules and controls. I could go on, but I wont. The term "seamless integration" is perhaps the biggest BS line in all of IT, no thanks to Microsoft. Still, imagine if Office apps worked together like iApps? Imagining it is as close as it will get - I mean they have had almost ten years to get it right.


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