> It is always with dismay that I read the list when Apple comes out with something new. Trashing Apple has become a cottage industry among the cognoscenti.

 

I do agree the emotional reactions to products is out of place. The counter point is I always find with dismay that people attach emotional feelings, good or bad towards any large corporation at all. In the age of technology, such feelings are deeply, profoundly misplaced. Corporations, regardless of their stated intentions or more importantly, their marketing campaigns designed to get us to attach feelings towards them – exist solely to create profit.

 

If you want to make good decisions about technology (before returning to filmmaking in 1999, I had a highly successful career as an IT infrastructure guy), you have to pay no attention to all the “I prefer xxxx, I hate xxxx, I use to love xxxx”.

The only important company is yourself, not even the company you work for - who has no loyalty to you either and will cut you off as soon as the money runs out. This is not cynicism, it’s reality. Corporations, large or small, despite what the Supreme Court said, are not people. People are real and matter, companies, not.

The new Mac Pro is simply a tool and both it and the company making it deserve critical analyses. For everyone on this list, the technology infrastructure platform – hardware and software, is the largest expense and a strong determining factor on daily productivity. How well it works, how well we can use it, how reliable it is over time.

 

I value critical discussion of software and hardware without “brand loyalty” or any other misplaced emotions as I feel it helps me and others make good long term decisions.

 

stephen van vuuren

336.202.4777

 

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A film is – or should be – more like music than like fiction. It should be a progression of moods and feelings. The theme, what’s behind the emotion, the meaning, all that comes later.

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From: After Effects Mail List [mailto:AE-List@media-motion.tv] On Behalf Of Jonathan
Sent: Wednesday, June 12, 2013 12:09 AM

To: After Effects Mail List

Subject: Re: [AE] New MacPro

 

It is always with dismay that I read the list when Apple comes out with something new. Trashing Apple has become a cottage industry among the cognoscenti. I understand the impulse. I have the same reaction to Microsoft which is – usually – to think the worst. Sometimes it's justified (see the new XBox announcement for a classic "I'm now going to to shoot myself in the foot" teaching moment) and sometimes it's not. Same goes for Apple. On the list, however, the most acute rancor seems to be reserved for Apple. Adobe is, perhaps, a very distant second. And while I occasionally enjoy indulging in schadenfreude, I know it's not my best moment.

 

The chatter doesn't help me make an informed decision. I also find it disrespectful toward the people on the list who tend to favor Apple, warts and all (and there are plenty these days). I think it shuts people down, which I believe is contrary to the idea of the list. The list is primarily about exchanging knowledge and information, of course, but it also gives us the opportunity and space to voice our opinions and ideas. And our ignorance. It's always good to be corrected when one is ill-informed. The question is how it's done.

 

As to speculation about the price of the machine, I suspect that for me it will cost around $5,000 – about the price I've paid for all my desktop computers, going back to the 286 IBM PC that I had outfitted with a 10 MB hard drive and a 1.2 MB floppy. When I buy the new MacPro, it may not be the fastest or most tricked out machine on the block, but it will be adequate for my purposes as we head, like it or not, into a 4k world.

 

Jonathan

 

 

 

JONATHAN PENZNER

VIDEO EDITING • MOTION GRAPHICS • DESIGN

 

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