On Premiere and Mac support
So Adobe announced today a new version of Premiere Pro, its video editing solution, along with the oblique notice that it was for Windows XP only. So, the company is finally done with Mac support for that product. And frankly, I couldn't care less.
Fact is, ever since Final Cut Pro and iMovie came out (and more recently, and really more to the point, Final Cut Express), Premiere has been persona non grata on the Mac platform. There's really been no need for it, integration with other Adobe products notwithstanding.
My first experience editing video on the Macintosh wasn't with Premiere -- it was with Avid products. I worked in a graphic design firm where we had an Avid system set up on a Quadra 950. When I started taking courses in school later, I came across Premiere for the first time, and acquired a cheap copy at academic pricing. I was underwhelmed. I didn't care much for the interface, I didn't like the way it worked or the speed at which it worked (admittedly, I was relegated to working on a Power Mac 7200/90 at the time), and I could never get used to it.
Having said that, I'm aware that there are a lot of people that either have a sentimental or legitimate professional (or hobbyist's) interest in using Premiere. Fine, buy a PC if it's that important, but it's one of those cases where Apple has supplanted a better first-party alternative than what third-parties are capable of offering.
Now, Apple isn't always this successful.
I have, for months, struggled to depend on Address Book, iCal, and iChat, for example, as well as Mail.app, and I am continually disappointed by their features, by their lack of integration and cohesion, and by their lack of stability. Then there's AppleWorks 6.2.x. Apple's done a piss-poor job of providing Mac users with effective productivity software, probably because their concerned about chasing Microsoft Office off the platform. I guess I can kind of understand that. However, I don't find depending on Entourage as a PIM to be any less loathsome than Apple's alternatives.
I am desperately impressed with Apple's "iApps," however. iPhoto is a dream to use, simple to import, arrange and export digital photos to whatever format I want, and great when it comes time to use them with other iApplications. iMovie and iDVD are likewise superlative for the novice or hobbyist digital video buff like myself, and iTunes is adequate, and steadily improving.
Obviously, there are some problems with a company like Apple developing its own solutions where previously third-parties fit the bill: Apple can chase a juggernaut like Adobe out of the marketplace, and it can veritably crush smaller companies if it needs to. That might ultimately lead Mac users down a path of homogenity and mediocrity in product that could be that which killed the proverbial golden egg-laying goose. But I suspect Apple will continue to innovate and provide useful and user-friendly technology that's feature-rich, enough so to sustain itself and be healthy.
At least I hope so. Because the alternative is, for a Mac guy like me, too horrifying to even consider.