“It is no secret that I wasn’t a fan of Aperture 1.0. From the outright broken things like 8-bit TIFF export and EXIF data stripping on output to the Zen take on a manual (there is no documentation”), everything about Aperture 1.0 pointed to an unrealistic deadline and a QA department with their monitors off. While the EXIF bug was fixed with the OS X 10.4.6 update, the problems I saw in Aperture 1.0 were sadly only the tip of the iceberg and eventually users’ different workflows exposed numerous additional flaws, some nastier than others. After inconsistent responses to some angry customers who wanted their money back, the whole thing got even uglier,” Dave Girard writes for Ars Technica. “By all accounts, the Aperture 1.0 launch was a big fart with Apple doing its best to light PR matches wherever it could.”
“It is very nice seeing Apple reduce the price from US$500 to US$300, but it’s even more encouraging that they have offered a US$200 ‘e-coupon’ to those who bought Aperture 1.0. Besides the obvious need to stick an ‘e-‘ in front of something concrete, Apple needed to send a message to their professional customers that said ‘this won’t happen again and yes, we were at fault.’ Giving people money back was the best way of sending exactly that message,” Girard writes.
“I have to admit, I was very skeptical that Apple could whip together professional-quality RAW conversion for numerous camera models in a few months. Their competitors have been honing their technology for years and reverse-engineering your way into the subtle differences in manufacturer’s RAW formats is not a matter of ticking the’unsuck’ radio button. Either they bought some existing technology we don’t know about or there are some seriously overworked software engineers getting some much-needed sleep right about now. But who cares? The plain fact is that Aperture 1.1’s high-quality RAW processing says ‘we can move quickly in areas where we’ve had little experience’ and the discount/refund says ‘users won’t be expected to beta test at their own expense again.’ Everybody is winning here, even those professionals who were frustrated for shelling out for the lackluster 1.0 version,” Girard writes. “As it stands, Aperture can now genuinely claim to be among the better RAW converters and when you combine that with the serious workflow benefits the program offers with its now-cheaper price tag, you have a serious professional photography companion as well as a tempting upgrade for iPhoto users. Apple’s managed to pull an about-face on many levels here and I’m happy they did—my flame-retardant suit was starting to give.”
The comprehensive review – a must-read for those considering purchasing Aperture – here.
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Related MacDailyNews articles:
Apple: Rumors of Aperture’s demise have been greatly exaggerated – May 05, 2006
Apple releases Aperture 1.1.1 Update – May 05, 2006
Rumor: Apple axes bulk of Aperture team, app’s future in doubt – April 27, 2006
Apple releases Aperture 1.1 for $299; free update for early adopters of Aperture plus $200 coupon – April 13, 2006
Apple calls on pro photogs to provide RAW photos for Aperture improvements testing – February 02, 2006
Ars Technica: Apple’s Aperture ‘a big, expensive misfire’ – December 05, 2005
Apple’s revolutionary Aperture: will all Mac applications work like this someday? – October 21, 2005
Apple’s Aperture more revolutionary than you might think – October 21, 2005
Apple’s new Aperture signals that Photoshop is no longer invulnerable – October 20, 2005
Pro photographers see Apple’s Aperture as complement to Adobe Photoshop – October 20, 2005
Does Apple’s Aperture threaten Adobe’s Photoshop? – October 20, 2005
Apple’s revolutionary new Aperture software a must have for every professional photographer – October 19, 2005
Apple introduces Aperture, first all-in-one post production tool for photographers – October 19, 2005
Yes … it’s true … Apple isn’t perfect and sometimes their stuff doesn’t Just Work – at least they recognized the fact, apologized, and fixed it.
“EXIFs? We ain’t got no EXIFs. We don’t need no EXIFs. I don’t have to show you any stinking EXIFs!”
– Gold Coder, The Treasure of Aperture Cupertino
Great to read Apple has done a fine job.
And hey, WHAT IS WITH ALL THE ADS ON THIS SITE?
SERIOUSLY, the 400 banners are bad enough. Can you at least drop the ever annoying link advertisements.
That clown at Ars Technica rides again…
Aperture was a 1.0 program and it had flaws, like any 1.0 program.
The price reduction comes from competition (read Adobe’s Lightroom beta) not because Apple is apologizing for its 1.0 version…
As for its raw conversion quality, there is no Raw standard, every manufacturer produces its own conversion software for the cameras it sells.
Obviously, it is a big challenge to accommodate every single bloody camera out there in your program, but make no mistake, Aperture will mature into one really kick ass program.
This guy proves he’s a clown, when he can’t even find all the documentation that’s available for Aperture since version 1.0:
http://www.apple.com/support/aperture/
http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/Aperture_Installing_Your_Software.pdf
http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/Aperture_Getting_Started.pdf
http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/Aperture_User_Manual.pdf
http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/Aperture_Photography_Fundamentals.pdf
http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/Aperture_Quick_Reference.pdf
and a few others at that support site
Aperture is a workflow tool for photographers with a FEW retouching tools, so it can become both things in the future, a raw conversion-database-workflow app AND a retouching program like Photoshop.
Apple has done the right thing from the start: awesome UI, a workflow tool that suits photographers and the like needs and room to grow into a retouching program as well. Adobe and their crappy Carbon apps should be afraid…
That dude is a clown.
He reviews a product every .1 upgrade.
His original review was basically, “the renders are not perfect, thus ends the review.” It then took two more reviews to cover the entire rest of the progam, you know, like workflow, interface, ease of use…
What a doofus.
PPC said:
“The price reduction comes from competition (read Adobe’s Lightroom beta) not because Apple is apologizing for its 1.0 version…”
It wasn’t the price reduction that he was refering to as an apology. It was the $200 coupon to the previous 1.0 buyers that was the apology.
What an Arshole.
um… actually it was a very good article.
MDN’s take: “The comprehensive review – a must-read for those considering purchasing Aperture.”
Funny – I remember a distinctly more chilly ‘assessment’ by MDN, of this same guy’s original review that pointed out Aperture’s significant flaws, and high price point. Hypocrites.
And ppc and Mugwump seem to have faulty memories too. Not only was his original review as thorough as hell, but he also posted a follow-up in response to everyone without a lick of professional photography experience flaming him over it. He was just as comprehensive in that follow-up. And finally, EVERYTHING he said was wrong with Aperture was validated – not only by other reviewers, but now by Apple itself! Or has the fact that this new version addresses practically all of those criticisms not being noticed here? Or the major price drop in the face of a cheaper and better performing alternative from Adobe? Or even the major shake-up of Apple’s Aperture team?
C’mon guys. Get a grip.
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MDN magic word: “personal” – As in, “Some people posting here take anything relating to Apple so personally, they don’t know where their head and Steve Jobs’ ass begin and end.”
Well said Odyssey.
ARS Technica’s original Aperture 1.0 review was excellent.
This follow-up seems fair, and it may make me reconsider Aperture (once off-line archiving is supported).
Speaking of ARS Technica — I’m curious why MDN STILL hasn’t acknowledged their luke warm review of the overpriced iPod HiFi.
Is MDN’s worldview threatened by the truth?
http://arstechnica.com/reviews/hardware/ipod-speakers.ars
I loved Aperture 1.0, but Apple did deserve criticism. They also deserve praise for 1.1.1.
I skimmed the review and looked at the RAW import results for 1.0 and 1.1, and man did 1.0 suck butt at importing RAW. Look for yourself:
http://arstechnica.com/reviews/apps/aperture-1.1.ars/6
Check out the way aperture 1.0 rendered the pylons in the photo at the bottom of the page – it actually made me laugh.
Obviously, the initial review was of an overpriced and broken product. This follow-up review is of a fixed and reasonably priced product – it’s very cool that arstechnica did the review on the 1.1 update, since Apple needs all the good press they can get for Aperture.
…so maybe check out the article before flinging poop.
re ppc: “Apple has done the right thing from the start: awesome UI, a workflow tool that suits photographers and the like needs and room to grow into a retouching program as well.”
Bullseye!
Show of hands for those jonesing for this particular mythical creature…
Photons for Life,
Try FireFox and Adblock, the annoying crap will go away (at least the annoying ads).
Cheers.
We’ll see who will be laughing when the next version comes out.
What a bunch of whiners, people that don’t use the program talking about version 1.0 just to bash Apple. Grow up arsetech fans…
ppc:
Are you saying that it is perfectly fine for any 1.0 product to be broken?
Is it “whining” to point out that a $500 product is broken?
If you RTFA, you’ll see that this review is pretty much just praise for Aperture 1.1.
My Aperture 1.0 box came with a manual inside; whatever else one can say about 1.0’s faults, it is not true that there is no documentation.
Gotta love the Ars drones that come in here to bash all critical remarks as “apple apologists”.
Funny how Odyssey67 calls the first, second, third, and fourth reviews of Aperture version 1 as “thorough as hell” — articles so flawed it takes numerous attempts to get them resembling something closer to journalism.
The first review didn’t even begin — RAW conversion is flawed so that ends this review. It took another attempt to cover the other 95% of the application — you know, how it works, it’s strengths and weaknesses. This latest 1.1.1 “review” is simply another RAW conversion update, which somehow bumps up the entire application from a rating 4 to a rating 8.
Their ombudsman John Siracusa agreed as much in his own stab at this topic, with his expert overview of the importance of Aperture.
Wake me up when the Ars review 1.1.2 is out.
Umm.. why are you guys yelling?
This is.. praise.. for.. Aperture..
An Apple product..
This guy releases a review that is basically all hails and praises for Aperture, and you are so bitter about the fact that he wrote badly about Aperture in its 1.0 phase that you just completely ignore this article and immediately yell “LOL THIS GUY IS AN ARSEHOLE”
I thought you wanted praise for Apple.
If you do, then appreciate it when you get it. Sheesh. Common sense here, people.
@Odyssey67: I agree with you, but, “Or the major price drop in the face of a cheaper and better performing alternative from Adobe? Or even the major shake-up of Apple’s Aperture team?”
1) LightRoom is “cheaper”? Have they announced what the price will be when it’s an actual, for-sale product? (Maybe they have said, I haven’t heard). Beta doesn’t really count, since it will expire. I mean, sure it’s cheaper for now, but…
2) The shake-up that Apple denies?
Anyway, good post though, not criticizing.
ppc:
Are you saying that it is perfectly fine for any 1.0 product to be broken?
Nick and arsetech fans,
Of course not, but it is a fact of life that every 1.0 version will have flaws. There is simply no way of that not happening. Get over it. Much more interesting would be to discuss Daring Fireball’s account that the project management was a mess and that, probably, AppleInsider’s source was the only person of the entire Aperture dev team that was actually fired…
So Apple made a very old mistake and repeated the Mythical Man-Monkey error (growing from a 20 dev piece to a 150 one to rush development was definitely a mistake)
But the fact remains that Aperture has a lot, I mean a LOT of room to grow and make no mistake it will turn out to digital photography what Final Cut is for video.
Is it “whining” to point out that a $500 product is broken?
If you find it expensive and not useful for your needs, don’t buy it!
No one is asking you to expend your hard earned cash in a useless piece of software if that’s what you and the arse fans think it is. But for professional photographers 500 bucks is not expensive.
My hypothesis for the price drop is:
1. Apple knows it has to fix flaws in the app so it is giving a discount on that.
2. Aperture has generated so much heated discussion and has gone beyond the pro photography niche, lots of Mac users want to use it as a iPhoto on steroids, but the price tag was keeping them from finally buying it.
3. Adobe’s Lightroom in the rear mirror.
That’s why, I believe, they dropped the price, SO THAT MORE PEOPLE WILL GET INTERESTED IN USING IT. Thus, the rumors of the app being abandoned are ridiculous as well as attaching yourself to a 1.0 review like it was the end all of it. Gosh, Final Cut sucked back in the 1.0 days, and look at it now.
If you RTFA, you’ll see that this review is pretty much just praise for Aperture 1.1.
I read the 1.0 version review as well as the forum discussions that followed. This guy is so biased and has become famous for his first bashing reaction that he will never be able to have a neutral point of view on that matter again, so, afaic, he’s dead. I will definitely not look in his direction for Aperture reviews, there’s plenty of other sites for this, no need for arsetech any more.
I thought you wanted praise for Apple.
I for sure don’t want that.
All I want is that someone writing a review be honest and not a prick who trolls for hits and can’t write a well thought out piece.
The guy is an arse indeed.
Enough of that.
I normally don’t post, but … all this talk about some kind’ve ‘special excemption’ for Aperture back when it was 1.0 … that’s just HOGWASH. This was no beta you fools – it was $500 freakin dollars!!! For that kind’ve money your damn right the bugs oughta be ironed out! That’s Microcraps methods and if I wanted that I’d still be with them.
Finally, what a load of BS this ‘it was only RAW that was the problem’ stuff is. The exact quote was “This latest 1.1.1 “review” is simply another RAW conversion update, which somehow bumps up the entire application from a rating 4 to a rating 8.” Newsflash you bumkin: If RAW conversion is f**ked in any image editing tool intended for professionals, then the entire tool itself is f**ked – END OF ARGUMENT. If RAW is later improved, the whole tool is also. The ignorance of this simple fact of business for any professional photographer is astounding. Talk about closing your eyes to the obvious.
Frankly, I never read ArsTechnica before. But after having seen some of the brain dead criticism of them here, I decided to check ’em out. I went over all the reviews this guy did on Aperture, as well as some other interesting stuff I found on the site – stories on DRM, CPU tech, politics and law in the technology field, etc … All & all, saying I’m impressed is like an understatement. I’ve found a new daily site to visit. These guys know the details and explain it all well. Plus they cover Apple-related stuff just as much as PeeCee stuff – maybe even more! What’s not to like???
I’m no genius, but IMO anyone who has a problem with that kind of effort at excellence is as dumb as a rock right from the jump.
mugwump and ppc – that means both of YOU! Do the rest of the world a favor; go the hell home, make yourselves more koolaid, snuggle up in front of your overpriced iPod boomboxes (or Aperture 1.0 since you love it so much) and drink what’s left of your brains into oblivion.
Over and out.
ps – my MDN magic word is “against”.
what a coincidence! I’m against ignorance – even if it comes from someone typin on an Apple computer.
snuggle up in front of your overpriced iPod boomboxes
I don’t even have an iPod…
My problem is not with criticizing Aperture (it does has flaws, Apple reduced its price, etc) but to get things in a more balanced manner.
Some of the Aperture flaws are related to its dependency on the OS imaging subsystem, thus whenever Apple updates the OS, Aperture gets better.
Now, repeat after me, THERE IS NO RAW STANDARD, THUS ARS REVIEW WAS WRONG FROM THE START.
Add to that the disgusting TONE of his article, and what’s worse, from 1.0 to 1.1.1 he changes his mind completely, talk about a clueless moron!
Apple always marketed Aperture for PRO photographers, for that niche 500 freaking hundred dollars is a very low sum. I cannot spend money like that either but to project our shortage for software spending to the rest of the world is just silly.
If you find Arse Technica a cool site, no problem with that, there’s plenty of stuff to read overthere and some of the Siracusa’s pieces are quite fun (mostly for its historical remembrances, not its technical merits, though…)