Aperture and Apple article

[danvonberlin]

Not intending to start a Mac vs PC debate, I'd still like to point out that the 30% market share Michael appoints to the Mac in his "Aperture" article is quite far from my observations.

"And while the Mac has less than 5% of the worldwide personal computer market, it apparently owns about 30% of the marketplace among creative professionals in the video, graphic arts, animation, photographic and music segments of the marketplace."

Having worked in design & advertising in Los Angeles for the last 17 years, I can readily attest that the vast majority of "Creative Pros" are on the Mac.

-For design & advertising for print, 100% of the shops I've encountered are Macs-based.
-Of the half dozen film poster & movie trailer shops I know of, all are Mac-based though some are augmented with a few pcs for Avid editing.
-There are three cgi/intersticial/title companies I've worked with and they are all Mac based (though a few years back some were using SGI work-stations for certain 3D applications). Most use Avid, though many have started using Final Cut since it's ability to edit/export HD a few years back.
-Sound recording I would say from my limited observations is probably less. Yet, from reading the studio profiles in places like Mix Magazine, it appears that most (70%??) artists with project studios at home (Moby), are Mac based and most are using Pro Tools over Logic. Many "big" studios still use dedicated recording/mixing consoles.
-As for commercial photography? Well Michael, that's your cup o' tea. Of the product photographers I've used in the past, I'd say 70-80% are on a Mac. What have you seen?

Apple has been a great platform for me over the years, especially with its consistency in color between applications and output, not to mention the ease of use it has over all the pcs I've had to wrangle with. I just think it deserves the credit its due.

Comments?

[Quentin]

As a windows user, I have a preference for products that are cross-platform.  Aperture is Mac only.  I don't like to see a user's choice of operating system / hardware become a limiting factor in the choice of available software.

I simply don't see the need for aperture.  Photoshop has a plug-in architecture and cross platform compatability that I like and is an industry standard.  I use silkypix as a raw converter.  I don't need or want a new do-it-all-fairly-well piece of software, even if ported to Windows.  

So a thumbs down from me.  All style and no substance.

Quentin

[Hank]

You and I are flip sides of the same coin, Quentin.  As long time Mac users, we encounter lots of useful programs that are not Mac supported.  Some are so necessary to our business that we're probably going to install a PC for the sole purpose of running them.  It won't make us give up our Macs, rather simply accomodate the world as it is.

The larger question for us is whether or not Aperture offers features that are important for our needs.  Can't tell yet from the non-review or from Apple, but time will tell.

[BryanHansel]

I use silkypix as a raw converter. 
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Quentin,

Off Topic, and I probably missed discussion on this, but why do you use Silkypix?  I'm downloading a trail right now, but what do you like about it that sets it apart from other converters in your experience?

Thanks,
Bryan