Never been more disappointed

Richard Roberts2 wrote:
Consumers should be able to rely on the brand, the promotional materials, as well as the custom and practice in the industry, and should not be forced to resort to search Apple's support bulletin boards to learn that key features of an existing product have been removed in the newest release.

Well actually, I'm new to Mac's, I say new I've had my 17" C2D for nearly a year or there abouts, but if there's one thing I've come to learn from Apple it's to ALWAYS check these boards before upgrading to anything; whether it be an incremental update via Software Update or paying for a product upgrade.

I also closely monitor the MacFixIt.com website and boards which show an alarming regularity of major bugs from Apple software releases; for a company whose slogan is "It Just Works" it often surprises me how often it doesn't "just work" at all 🙂

I fully intend to monitor these boards after Leopard's release as, if history is anything to go on, there will be a number of sticky problems with it and wait to maybe 10.5.2 or .3 or more before upgrading to Leopard, let other people deal with the initial user testing for Apple and the frustration that goes with it. I want to play with my photo's, music and home movies as well as some simple other stuff, not spend half my life trying to find workarounds for issues that never existed before Apple decided to invent them.

At the moment I have a mac system that works quite well (after being stung with the wireless connectivity problems that plagued 10.4.8) so I'm loathed to automatically trust anything from Apple.

I sure am glad that I monitored these boards in the first few days of iLife08, otherwise I might have wasted 55 of my English pounds on a product that would have disappointed me; I still might upgrade but at that point I'd be fully prepared for what was coming my way.

So although you're absolutely right (that consumer's should be able to trust Apple) I would always argue against that, and offer the contrary opinion that any user should always check these boards before jumping in head first.

Just a personal opinion

Luke

Message was edited by: lukethegooner

I Too am Disappointed!
What a mess they have made out of iMovie. The power of iMovie has always been it's simplicity! It is such as easy program to use my kids could do it. Now they made it into a mess, I don''t have time to learn a new program and I will be going back to the old version with no interest in learn this "new" version. Apple don't screw around with perfection in the future

Stephanie, I work with preservice teachers and they love learning iMovie -- the lesson on digital video was often the favorite. They could use the application to create digital storytelling projects where they had multiple tracks of audio added to various video clips and photographs. they could record stuff and use the timeline for accuracy. Those features are gone in '08. In fact, Apple is still promoting the work done by exemplary teachers and students using the old iMovie HD -- many samples can no longer be created in iMovie '08. e.g., http://edcommunity.apple.com/ali/search.php?tool=iMovie%20HD

I am disappointed. Sure, I can have my university install an extra iMovie ('06) on the Mac lab computer's disk image after the semester is over, but I think it's going to be easier to drop the iMovie activity completely and switch to teaching them about United Streaming for video in the classroom instead ( http://www.unitedstreaming.com/index.cfm ). Doh.

RE: "So although you're absolutely right (that consumer's should be able to trust Apple) I would always argue against that, and offer the contrary opinion that any user should always check these boards before jumping in head first"




-Well, we weren't really given a whole lot of information on the new iLife if you ask me, the first time I ever saw a useable demo for it was in the Apple store on the day it came out. This pushes me even more to start to think that I have been a victim of "bait and switch".

Generally, people, myself included, have trusted Apple over the years. I totally agree with you on this one. We really didn't expect them to pull something like this, and I think that's what got us. Nobody figured "well, I better look into this before I buy it...", people figured "Hey, it's Apple. iMovie '06 was unbelievable, so '08 will be even better!" Knowing how they've done things with prior applications, people presumed they'd take the old one and upgrade it and add new features, while still keeping the interface and core of the program the same. I'll admit that this might technically be the consumer's fault, but I also think that there is a system of morals and regulations that buisinesses should abide too, especially a business that has been so keen on customer appreciation in the past.

A business should not build up the trust of it's customer population and then take advantage of that trust by releasing a sub-par product. I'm not saying this is necessarily what Apple did, but it is still possible. I'd like to think that they didn't, but I really don't know, and that's one of the things that really bothers me about this.

It's like buying a Porsche only to find that there's an inline 3 cylinder engine under the hood after you get it. Yeah, you can still use your other car, but that doesn't solve the fact that you dropped a lot of money on that Porsche.

Seems to me like iLife was hidden for the most part until it actually came out. And it scares me to know that Apple would do something like this. A company you've trusted all your life pulls something like this, it's pretty intense. You really begin to wonder how much you can still trust them.

And on a side note...

I think some action needs to be taken by Apple, even to know that they acknowledge the disappointment of a vast portion of iLife '08 customers would be a little bit satisfying. It'd be nice to know if they actually cared about customer feedback, it'd be nice to know that they're listening, and are going to do something about it.

I'm sure it has it's faults and needs some editing features adding in, but overall I think it's a great improvement, I want tot do things with video fast at home and not spend hours on it.

I agree, the new IMovie is a mess. At least it will force me to step up to FinalCut Express (maybe that is part of the plan). I've never been more disappointed either. If they would have added the ability to upload from HD6 to .Mac I'd shut up and just let everyone else figure out this new IMovie. So, I'll edit in HD6 and import into the new IMovie then uploard to .Mac. Wow, that was a real time saver. If this was a new Windows operating system I'd understand, but, this is an APPLE product!

Richard,

It was a long post, and I read every word and could not agree more. I am not of the ilk that see conspiracy theories regarding forced upgrades to Final Cut. Rather, I just see a bad decision in going to a new paradigm interface that matches A) iPhoto events, and B)Leopard live folders. Unfortunately, rather than making this a tab where you can try, love or leave (like clip view), the iMovie team sought a ground-up approach with the presupposition, "They will learn to love it."

Your dismay with Apple making an upgrade an actual downgrade via loss of control is valid. However, I must add that it goes deeper than that. Though everyone on the iMovie 08 bandwagon tells us that iMovie 06 is still available, I always have to remind them that it is still iMovie 06! That is, no improvement or bug fixes in 2 years. Oh sure, we still have it, and it is still old. And what makes us, the user, feel like we will ever see another upgrade to iMovie 06? Is it dead? Will they come out with a mid-level standalone version?

What also makes me shudder is what if they apply this same thinking elsewhere? What is to stop them from dumbing down the OS to satisfy the youTubers at the expense of the advanced user? Our best action point is to politely inform Apple or our discontent with this move. This will then become Apple's "New Coke" buzz word in the Development meetings. "We don't want another iMovie 08, do we?" Believe me, they consider public reaction seriously.

Write iMovie Feedback
Let the iMovie teams hear what you have to say about iMovie 08.

I agree that it is pretty disappointing that video effects were removed from this version of iMovie. I really hope Apple adds it back in. It's a pretty basic feature of video editing packages. I will use imovie06 for now and hope that doesn't get discontinued.

I am also extremely annoyed. I came onto the website planning to email apple about my pissedness and I found that I was not alone.

Message was edited by: lepraconman

As was mentioned above, if you want to tell "Apple" how you feel, you need to do it here: http://www.apple.com/feedback/imovie.html

Everyone else reading this is a user like you and has no influence on what Apple does.

I agree, I can't believe I actually wasted money buy imovie 08. It's terrible. I really enjoy putting slow motions and special effects in my imovies and now I can no longer do that. I think it is terrible. i think I will go to a mid-level pc program.

Have fun with your pc...there are no known issues on that platform;-)

/Mikael

There a few things that iMovie 06 will not do that I felt I wanted so a few months ago I bit the bullet and purchased FC Express. I realized that it was a whole new deal to learn and that I was not going to put myself through that so live with the couple of short comings of 06 which I find it so easy to use (after fighting with PC video editing in the past). FC maybe cool but cost a lot and is sort of tough to learn. I would say not for the average home user that wants to cut some junk out and add a few chapter marks and music to his home video.

Agree! Hope Apple can fix the problem ASAP!
Combined iMove 06 & 08
Then it would be great! It will be one big help for me to tell my friends to get a Mac.

iMovie 6 did not take "hours". You could make it as simple as you want. To say that iMovie 7 is better because you can make a move faster in not a correct statement.