“iPad 2 wasn’t Apple’s big March 2nd announcement,” Joe Wilcox writes for Betanews. “It was the software — FaceTime, GarageBand, iMovie and Photo Booth — and the colorful Smart Covers. I kid you not. There are good reasons why so much of yesterday’s launch event focused on software — hell, Apple even made a video about the new covers; now what does that you tell you?”
Here are “five reasons why the other stuff — new software features and applications and even the colorful cases — are more important,” Wilcox writes.
1. The platform is a continuum
2. Single-user experience generates more product sales
3. Color is a differentiator
4. Tomorrow’s market is today
5. Creativity knows no bounds
Wilcox writes, “Yesterday’s big announcement was less about iPad 2 and more what people can do with it or why they might buy it.”
Read more in the full article – recommended – here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “bob” for the heads up.]
Yep, it’s about what you can do with it that’s the secret..
I went from “that’s a cool upgrade, but I’m still happy with my existing iPad” to “if iPad 1 runs like a dog while using GarageBand I’m upgrading immediately” because decent mobile music creation hits my sweet spot.
You said it!
IS GarageBand even compatible with anything but the iPad 2? Hmm… Google search commencing….
Yes, works with both iPad 1 and 2
Those new covers are going to be this decade’s “white earbuds”.
Apple’s earbuds are horrible.
The basic ones are, but I like their in ear phones.
Agreed, the Apple in-ear buds are simply fantastic. I think some people are down on them because they aren’t bass heavy like other in-ear designs. Instead, I think they deliver very faithful sound reproduction with extremely low distortion. The level of detail is ear candy.
Love them. Very accurate soundstage. The bass is real sounding. Could be a dB or 2 higher in the mix. But, I can listen to them for hours with no fatigue.
Good, because I intend to buy them ; )
I bought a set 2 months ago and agree – as good or better than most other in ear phones, and very comfortable to wear. The mic and inline controller makes them a slam dunk for me.
Thanks for the opinion, steve516. To anyone else who bought them, how do they compare to headphones (over-the-ear) of the likes of the PortaPro? I have one and I’m going back to the In-ears because of their size, isolation, and because I felt the bass on the PortaPros was too loud.
True. As you know, the earbuds that come in the box with ANY new mobile device are horrible.
The consumer electronics industry simply doesn’t work that way. Why should Apple put $50+ headphones in the box when so many people are listening to pathetic 128kbps bitrate audio?
If audio quality matters to you, as it does for me, then go shpping for headphones made by audio experts. A truly great set of headphones is not a one-size-fits all proposition, so just accept the fact and move on.
In which case, the only answer for the truly fastidious would be in-ear phones custom-made to fit the user’s unique ear chambers (different from left to right btw) and with a equaliser set to match the acoustic response of each ear separately and with adjusted balance settings for that user’s hearing balance anomalies alone.
I reckon about $10,000 a set.
Such a deal!
I actually like Apples Earbuds. They just fit my ears better than their in-ear phones. I just can’t get the in-ear ones to stay in my ears. I’ve tried all the different sizes but they just won’t stay in. The plain ear buds stay in no matter what I’m doing like running.
All earbuds are horrible.
For those of us with dainty ears, white buds have always been slightly too big, and slowly but inexorably ease their way out, no matter how many times they’re pushed back in!
So it’s in-ear Sennheisers for this user.
The earbuds were free.
The covers are WAY overpriced covered cardboard and magnets.
Wait. You think Apple’s current included earphones are fine, and that the Smart Covers’ premium is insulting?
Bizarro-world is calling. They want you back.
free does not equal fine – he is suggesting that since they were free, let’s not complain about it…
Fine, fine, but I still think he is crazy for complaining about the Smart Covers. The original cover was WAY more overpriced, and so are most iCovers out there.
The little 8-track GarageBand app is really quite stunning. Every single wanna-be DJ, rapper, pop singer, producer, teen garage band is gonna buy an iPad to have that.
And pro music guys using Logic will buy an iPad to use on the go.
If they would only let GarageBand export Standard Midi Files a lot of other musicians would buy it too.
Actually, more like vice-versa.
There are millions of Pad users who don’t use Macs.
By bringing iWork and bits of iLife to the iPad, Apple increases the possibility that people will use the iPad software and then upgrade to Mac once they run out of steam.
Actually, with GarageBand on the iPad, what those pro guys are going to do is demand they bring Logic to the iPad, too. 😉
I’m a developer not a music guy, but garage band looks really cool.
I was kind of disappointed apple didn’t put xcode on there though (llvm and clang can’t be /that/ hard to port can it?) i’m hoping it’s just because there waiting for the reales of xcode4 so they can make the ui more consistent. (so maybe june then?)
until then most of what I do can’t be done on an ipad, I want one so badly, but couldn’t use for more then email, web, and games (and playing with garageband ;D)
What this really shows people is that virtually any software can be made to run well and be full-featured on the iPad. It really signals the beginning of the end for desktop systems.
Maybe someday. But for now, 8 tracks is nowhere near enough for me, and I’m just a hobbyist musician. Was working on a song the other day that had about 70 tracks in GarageBand.
Desktops still have their place.
I would more agree with your stance if you were mentioning laptops (to some degree)… Desktops systems, with their large screen real estate, aren’t going away (at least not in my house.)
Steve’s scenario of Trucks (desktops) and Cars still gives merit to desktop class systems and I agree with such a scenario. The “cars” in this case will be iPads, iPod touch, iPhone & other future portable systems (to reiterate Steve’s original thoughts.)
I see laptops/notebooks as the “cars”. The iPad is the *sports car* – small, nimble and fast. Me, I’ve got my “truck” – a 2008 iMac, as well as a 2nd gen iPod touch (motorcycle?), as well as my “classic” – a Powerbook “Pismo”.
8 tracks is plenty for the IPad2 and any good musician.
1. Drums
2. Voice
3. Bass
4. Guitar
5. Piano
6. Synthesizer
7. Effects
8. Voice 2
Yeah, good luck making anything with 1 track per instrument that gets more than 1 listen. And that’s just to make you feel good.
Try again.
This is a non-issue.
The files can be moved back and fourth between Mac and iPad. Also, the portability of the iPad makes it an revolutionary mobile recording unit, making it a great add-on for the traditional stuck-in-one-place recording studio.
You’re going to see wide adoption by musicians and engineers of the iPad for recording and performance.
I hope they provide the ability to load AAC files as backing tracks. It would be really cool to lay down a full 8 track instrumental, mix it down to stereo, then bring it back in on two audio tracks – leaving 6 tracks available for vocals and leads! Sergeant Pepper’s here we come!
8 tracks is enough for some things but not enough for other things – especially if you compose orchestral music like me.
Drums can easily take 8 to 16 tracks on their own. Guitar? Let’s put a good 3 or 4 mic’s on that cabinet. Piano – Stereo pair over the top, one low, one mid, one high. Ambient room mic’s. Come on, for a pro sound, you need to start with 48 tracks, and that is limiting. On the flip side, I remember longing for 4 tracks while I was bouncing single tracks and a mixer. Now that I’ve found new interests, I wish I had GarageBand 12 years ago when I thought I could make albums.
For a pro sound you only need 2 tracks at best, the 2 that people are going to listen to. Bullshit to 48 tracks, it’s the song and nothing but the song. If you think you need 48 tracks just to start and 8-16 tracks just for drums, well, talk to George Martin or get a new career.
Gorillaz disagrees with you.
iPad wannabes sells specs. Apple sells usability right out of the box.
FFS the big announcement was Steve on stage. Nothing else than a well and healthy Steve matters. It was just so amazing to see him walk on stage. Fookin’ amazing.
Let people know he still is involved …. Yea, Steve still runs the company and I watched every minute of the KeyNote …..
Love watching a “Master” at work and Steve is a “Master’s Master” – One of the very best …..
Yes, my heart felt warm watching Steve …..
Can you even imagine what iPad 3 will have?
Love the GarageBand APP …. Blew me away!
“Can you even imagine what iPad 3 will have?”
My guess: Optional holographic 3D screens, larger Hard Drives.. and then honestly I’m currently lost on that subject.
One thing that WON’T be on it is fricken USB! (Stupid damned fantardroids!)
That and wireless sync, wireless power and the rest if iLife, a slot for downloading and playing DVDs, CDs, and blu-ray, and wireless headphones.
Macman.. I agree with everything you are mentioning except for the DVD/CD/Blu-ray slot.. who knows though they might make a Blu-ray player that wirelessly streams to the iPad from your home theater. Maybe it is a 3rd party manufacturer’s opportunity here.
“Can you imagine what iPad 3 will have?”
No. But I bet S. Jobs can.
Oh yeah! Amazing indeed.
God bless and protects Steve Jobs.
@DrDudeTx
I guess all the music that was created using less than 8 tracks in the past is just noise. It ain’t the number of tracks that matters, it’s the quality of the artist that will decide whether it’s a hit or just some more multi-track noise.
Are you serious? Sure the Beatles recorded on 4 tracks, some amazing stuff. But last I checked, GarageBand is meant for non-professionals. Good luck to little Billy sitting in his bedroom trying to put together something that sounds a bit more interesting than a Mr Wizzard!
Dude….why the hate? …..Pros will use pro gear no matter what. 8 tracks is enough for most amateur hacks, or for the quick laying down of some tracks which could probably be transferred to a more substantial software or system later on. Stop trying to impress us with your “I KNOW WHAT THE FSCK I”M TALKING ABOUT” attitude….. it’s all good……
iphoneenvy, first of all, you made my point. Good music will not emanate from GB, Logic definitely. If you looked at my first comment you will see that I was only responding to someone claiming that 8 tracks is enough to make good music. It simply isn’t. Perhaps as an idea pad, yeah.
I realize that anything that’s perceived to be anti-Apple on this site is dismissed by the blind followers as trolling. Fine, go burry your head, but don’t tell me what kind of attitude I have or what kind to have. Claiming GB for iPad is anything but a fun toy is ludicrous (which was my first point which you seem to corroborate).
It’s late but I’ll chip in. Claiming that the GB for iPad is insufficient for anything but entertainment shows lack of creativity.
There are very many types of professional musical projects for which iPad GB, with all of its 8 track limitations, will do just fine. Not to mention that I have no doubt that very soon, some gifted artist will write, record and produce a hit album on it. If you are a good musician, you will know how to work around the limitations of an 8-track studio. It is quite easy to fill 96 tracks with audio. However, you really don’t always need 17 microphones on the drums, if a perfectly good sounding virtual instrument exists that will work for your musical style. Not ALL contemporary music is recorded with microphones on acoustic instruments.
I agree.
This is like the cry of feeble wannabe pro photographers who whine that they can’t take great pics because their cameras/equipment isn’t good enough. Humbug!
Ansel Adams created a classic iage set using a home made pinhole camera.
Many poor street musicians create great music with whatever is to hand, whatever they can find.
Ideas and talent rule – not kit.
Gotta disagree with you DrDude. Good music can just be a guitar and a voice or a piano all by itself. The number of tracks do not determine how good a recording is… the quality of the tracks are what really matter.
Going back to what I said in the very first comment, GB on the iPad is about mobile music creation for me. If I’ve got some ideas and some spare time it will be great to be able to lay down the outlines until I can get back home to flesh it out in Logic.
I’m fairly sure I’ve missed out on at least a dozen top 10 hits and a couple of movie scores that have left my head by the time I got home LOL
It’s not a matter of creativity as it is professional expectations and training and what people are used to. Sure, a creative genius can take a four track recorder and make some masterful piece of art with it, but today’s professionals are expected to work with large numbers of tracks, and so they expect to have tools that enable them to do that. If you hand them a tool that only has 8 tracks, I could see them saying, “I don’t know what I can do with this” just because that’s what their experience and training tells them. That may make them lazy or uncreative or unimaginative, but it could certainly happen.
Something i wanted to know, the iMovie app for the iPad they announced.
Did I hear him right? It will be available on both iPad and iPhone…
So will it be a universal app, or two separate apps?
Im going to go watch the keynote again. I almost picked up iMovie for my iPhone a few weeks back, so I may just wait till after the 11th and see if I get both.
if you bought the iMovie app for the phone, you’ll get a free upgrade on the 11th
That is Apple’s secret: that you can actually DO STUFF with their stuff.
Anyone notice how all the fake iphone/ipad ads feature lightning bolts and robots and absurd special effects but never show a device actually DOING something? Apple’s ads actually show apps being used.
For me, other than Steve’s appearance, the best part was the recognition shown for all us pro and amateur musicians. Looking forward to further developments in Garageband and the entire Logic Pro Suite.
And, of course, if you have the education market you have the future.
Wow, certainly is a lot of Pomposity droning on at the MDN Lounge tonight.
25+ years ago, the same lot of you all would be clashing at which sounds better, the analog record or the new Compact Disc… how the analog faithfully reproduces a sound, uninterupted. Oh and lets not forget those who, for purely mathematical reasons would not classify music produced by a CD as real sound because there were “spaces” between the music that the human ear could not recognize. So for today, the war of the Audiophiles continues.
No, we wouldn’t be arguing about LPs vs CDs. Fairly sure we’d all agree that the dynamic range of an LP played on a good system outclasses a CD. Still does.
You are incorrect. I am an expert on the issue.
Snigger – I had a good laugh at that – or am I wrong and you don’t really understand what dynamic range is? Am I an expert? Well maybe – that’s not for me to judge.
Like I said THE FIRST TIME…I am an EXPERT. I am not a dilettante (audiophile), I am a PROFESSIONAL. I could give an impromptu lecture on dynamic range as well as the entire issue. You’re position is a long-ago disproven MYTH.
You’re WRONG! Accept it and get over it already.
8-track cassettes, baby! I’m still waiting for them to make a comeback.
They are working on Holodeck controls for iPad3. Make your own reality. No earbuds necessary. (see Wikipedia Holodeck)