Lets talk for a minute about Apple's iLife programs, and whiny babies. Up until last week's keynote, iTunes, iPhoto, and iMovie were free, and only iDVD required buying the iLife suite (unless it came with your computer, in which case they were all free). Now it appears that the only way to get new versions is to buy iLife, or buy a new Mac—although iTunes will, almost assuredly, remain free, since it creates revenue by pushing the iTunes music store.
That, if you have the emotional maturity of a 5-year-old, is terribly, terribly unfair, not to mention devious and underhanded. Of course, this being the internet, most of the vocal people do have the emotional maturity of small children. Some people are very up-front that they are simply spoiled brats who feel they have some right to free upgrades (and boldly proclaim that they will feel perfectly justified pirating the new iLife suite), but most try to dress it up in rational-esque arguments or comparisons. If you are one of those people, I offer you this simple guide to why you are wrong:
It's always been free before, so it should continue to be free.
You're an idiot (translation to your language: u R a 1d10t). Go home.
It's a bait-and-switch! It's just like what happened with the .Mac fiasco!
No, no it's not. First, and most importantly, you still have all the iApps, and they will all continue to work indefinitely. If you have trouble with that concept, try reading the sentence a few more times. They are not a service that will vanish, and you will not have to change your email address if you don't pay for the new version. You will continue to have good, free products; just not the absolute best.
Well, it's still devious, hooking people in like that.
Not really... it's not uncommon for people to give away beta software, then charge for it when the final version is ready. The only difference is that often the beta is set to expire, so you can't keep using it. So Apple is being much more generous than most software companies.
Oh yeah, what about backward compatibility?
Huh? Compatibility with what exactly? Future digital cameras that don't use jpeg? Not too likely. Future versions of Quicktime that don't play current mpeg files? Not a chance. New DVD players that can't read current DVDs? They would fail on the market if released in the foreseeable future.
Ok smarty-pants, but what about the next OS X release?
Well, first off, I think it's safe to say that 10.4 (or whatever) will run 10.3 applications. Second, it's not unlikely that it would come with the new iApps anyways. Third... you're willing to shell out $130 for an OS upgrade every year, but are too cheap to pay $50 for a really under-priced software suite?
I still think it's too much.
How nice for you. Use something else, and pipe down.
Shouldn't they sell iPhoto as a stand-alone?
Ok, yes, I think they should. I would imagine that there's a sizable market for iPhoto in the $15-20 range, of people who don't have any need for iMovie, iDVD, or Garage Band. Hopefully they'll agree, and sell it that way. Does that make iLife any less of an awesome deal? Nope.
Are you just an Apple apologist?
No. Among other things, I think that the .Mac switch was devious, underhanded, a bait-and-switch, and leaned way out over the border of false advertising. Whoever was responsible for that mess should be smacked with a ruler, repeatedly.
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