I’ve been reading so many disparaging remarks lately about photographers being disappointed in not seeing a major update to Apple’s Aperture software. Admittedly, I’ve been hoping to see the next version myself but I’ve also tempered my disappointment with the understanding that I would much rather wait and see Apple really get it right than to release it too early.
I’m confident Apple’s Aperture will be a huge step forward. Be patient – we want them to get it right. Photo courtesy of Apple, Inc.
A little history is in order for perspective. First of all, none of us should forget that it was Apple who FORCED Adobe to bring out Lightroom. Before Apple’s Aperture was released we were all virtually mandated to spend a ridiculous amount of money on Photoshop – a program that has more appeal to designers than actual photographers, built from the ground up to facilitate creating images as opposed to capturing images. It’s a terrific tool for the commercial world but for general photography and journalism it’s complete overkill.
Aperture on the other hand was the first truly professional program that gave the photographer the tools to TWEAK an image, not completely change it. It gave us powerful database features, integrated beautifully with virtually all of the other Apple programs and eventually became a steal at only $79.00 for such tremendously powerful software. I actually switched from MS-Windows machines to Apple specifically due to Aperture and I’ve become a tremendous fan of all that Apple has done for the creative world and computing.
That said, when Aperture was first released it wasn’t ready for prime time and it took only a few weeks for me to move over to Lightroom. That was nearly ten years ago. Two years ago I switched back over to a superbly updated Aperture and though I miss a few features in Lightroom, I’m very pleased with Aperture’s tremendous power and ease of use.
So even though I’m excited to see what’s coming to Aperture next, I want even more to know that it’s completely ready for the real world. I’m confident Apple is taking their time to make certain it’s as good as it should be. I’m also guessing it will have some major changes, possibly as radical as Apple’s recently updated Final Cut Pro X video editing software. I know many cinematographers who gave up on FCP and switched to Adobe Premier when Apple updated FCPX. However, I know an equal number of folks who stayed with FCPX and are now raving about the benefits of Apple’s forward thinking.
That’s Apple’s genius. They think out of the box which pushes new ideas out into the world. Their ideas are not always immediate block busters but look how long it took for them to even become a major player in the computer world. They think differently than most and not everybody is excited about new and different ideas. Almost nobody likes change, but sometimes it’s the best thing you can do. I’m confident the updated Aperture 4, Aperture X or whatever they choose to call it will be worth the wait.