Why no iMovie or Garage Band apps ?

[PITBULL831]

I understand why apple did an iWork app , but why could have apple done an iMovie and GarageBand app as well ? There could have been allot of big potential with those apps .

Garage band could have been used in the studios and out with friends , making home made songs or albums while on the road would have been great . DJs could have used this for mixing .

iMovie would have been used in the same way , producers to just home movies could have been edited on the spot . Take a video of your kids at the park and want to class it up a little before sending to a friend or posting it on youtube .

Come on apple lets make these apps .

 

[kornchild2002]

Well, for one, the iPad's hardware isn't powerful enough to complete video editing tasks or compose/arrange original music. Garage Band would have required that the iPad have an accessory that would take input from a sound board where all of the instruments are plugged in. Then, the iPad would need the necessary hardware to deal with each separate stream, compile them together, allow someone to arrange the content, and then output it to a digital file. All of this while working with audio streams that are encoded at 24-bit and 96KHz. The 1GHz Apple A4 chip in the iPad just isn't powerful enough to do that. We are talking about a processor (which looks like a re-branded Tegra 2 meaning it is an ARM processor) that was designed to run off of less than 5 watts. That isn't a performance workhorse at all. Additionally, the screen's resolution of 1024X768 would really hinder from displaying more than about 3 different instruments/inputs at once.

A basic video editing app might have worked but it would be really limited. The iPad's limited storage space (64GB really isn't all that much by the time videos are factored in) would really hamper this. Again, the processor wouldn't be all that powerful for video editing. We would be limited to 640X480 videos (if that even) with slow encoding.

There are products that can conduct these tasks and they are called notebooks. In order to really run any music program (such as Garage Band) or video editing application with more than the bare basics, a dual-core workhorse processor would be needed. Sure, some people might like having these apps on an iPad but they would be really limited. Why do something half-assed?

 

[wyneken]

Very good analysis. And this is probably one of the reasons why Apple does not seem unduly concerned about the iPad cannibalizing sales of its exiting computer line (which can handle these processing tasks) or its iPhone/iPod line (which is pocket-sized and handy to carry about). It's all about the in-betweenness. And we'll just have to wait and see if it can really create a niche for itself there.

 

[PITBULL831]

Well, for one, the iPad's hardware isn't powerful enough to complete video editing tasks or compose/arrange original music. Garage Band would have required that the iPad have an accessory that would take input from a sound board where all of the instruments are plugged in. Then, the iPad would need the necessary hardware to deal with each separate stream, compile them together, allow someone to arrange the content, and then output it to a digital file. All of this while working with audio streams that are encoded at 24-bit and 96KHz. The 1GHz Apple A4 chip in the iPad just isn't powerful enough to do that. We are talking about a processor (which looks like a re-branded Tegra 2 meaning it is an ARM processor) that was designed to run off of less than 5 watts. That isn't a performance workhorse at all. Additionally, the screen's resolution of 1024X768 would really hinder from displaying more than about 3 different instruments/inputs at once.

A basic video editing app might have worked but it would be really limited. The iPad's limited storage space (64GB really isn't all that much by the time videos are factored in) would really hamper this. Again, the processor wouldn't be all that powerful for video editing. We would be limited to 640X480 videos (if that even) with slow encoding.

There are products that can conduct these tasks and they are called notebooks. In order to really run any music program (such as Garage Band) or video editing application with more than the bare basics, a dual-core workhorse processor would be needed. Sure, some people might like having these apps on an iPad but they would be really limited. Why do something half-assed?

wait so your saying that APPLE couldn't build a product like iMovie or Garage Band on the iPad . LOL thats funny ..

GarageBand doesn't take that much processing power to take notes and build music . The iPad could do this with no problem .

Now for the Video i will agree there does have to be some more processing power with making a video and more storage space if your going to use you iPad for everything else , but if your going to use your iPad for video editing only then why couldn't 64GBs be anuff room . Yes would wont be able to get a 1080p video out of it , but 720P video editing could be done with basic editing . Stuff you could later put on your upload to youtube or myspace or some other site you might want to keep it .

To say that Apple could multi tasking with the iPhone and iPod as well as with the iPad , then why couldn't it do simple video editing and Garageband mixes . ??

 

[wyneken]

wait so your saying that APPLE couldn't build a product like iMovie or Garage Band on the iPad . LOL thats funny ..

If it's doable, then no doubt some enterprising app developer will do it. But I for one an reluctant to accept on credit tech wisdom from somebody who is still capable of typing the string "LOL." And "your" for "you're" is the last refuge of the high-school illiterati.

 

[jwc110869]

Getting content onto the iPad would most likely be the reason these kind of apps won't happen. Recorded music, or videos would have to go to a computer, which would have to be a Mac. Because, the software mentioned is Mac only. Then it would get moved to the iPad, via the dock connection.

The most I would want to see on this device, is it being used as a portable Preview machine. But that too would require a questionable transfer of data.

 

[kornchild2002]

wait so your saying that APPLE couldn't build a product like iMovie or Garage Band on the iPad . LOL thats funny ..

Well, they could do it but the features would be half-assed.

GarageBand doesn't take that much processing power to take notes and build music . The iPad could do this with no problem .

So you think the 1GHz processor in the iPad (which is a Tegra 2 designed around decoding media) is powerful enough to run an application that requires a dual-core processor? LOL thats funny ..

To say that Apple could multi tasking with the iPhone and iPod as well as with the iPad , then why couldn't it do simple video editing and Garageband mixes . ??

Wait, you think the iPad has mult-tasking capabilities? LOL thats funny ..

 

[PITBULL831]

Well, they could do it but the features would be half-assed.

So your going to say that iWorks was halfassed as well ?

So you think the 1GHz processor in the iPad (which is a Tegra 2 designed around decoding media) is powerful enough to run an application that requires a dual-core processor? LOL thats funny ..

I feel that if your able to run 720P video , unreal engine 3 and other games then you could make garageband work just fine .

Wait, you think the iPad has mult-tasking capabilities? LOL thats funny ..

I for one have never said that it could do mult-taking capabilities , I would say that everyone else believes it could . Witch it if the Palm Pre could do it why not Apples iPhone , iPod and iPad ?

 

[kornchild2002]

So your going to say that iWorks was halfassed as well ?

No. Office productivity applications take much less power to run than advanced audio editing and basic/advanced video editing programs.

I feel that if your able to run 720P video , unreal engine 3 and other games then you could make garageband work just fine .

You don't understand the hardware in the iPad. The Apple A4 chip supports hardware accelerated video decoding. Broadcom makes chips that do this that run off barely any power and can easily fit inside of cellphones. The Tegra 2 platform is very similar. Hardware accelerated video decoding takes little to no power so long as the chip is properly designed and the software can use it. Being able to play 720p video does not indicate that the iPad is powerful.

I for one have never said that it could do mult-taking capabilities , I would say that everyone else believes it could . Witch it if the Palm Pre could do it why not Apples iPhone , iPod and iPad ?

That is not what you originally said at all. Additionally, the above statement you made makes to sense whatsoever. Are you calling the Palm Pre a witch or are you saying that the people inquisitive enough to research an iPad wouldn't know the technical merits behind the hardware and software? I agree if the later is the case as you are clearly exemplifying that.

 

[wyneken]

Additionally, the above statement you made makes to sense whatsoever. Are you calling the Palm Pre a witch or are you saying that the people inquisitive enough to research an iPad wouldn't know the technical merits behind the hardware and software? I agree if the later is the case as you are clearly exemplifying that.

It is such a pleasure to watch a master verbal swordsman at work. The Toreador song from Bizet's Carmen is now stuck in my mind.

There's an interesting article about the iPad multitasking ability in Apple Insider -- quite informative for non-techie types like me.

 

[WhereEaglesDare]

I imagine the music apps for the ipad will be incredible. I wouldn't be surprised if there are 3rd party apps that are similar to garage band. just think of all the amazing music apps for the iPod touch and iPhone. There are some amazing synth and drum apps with great sound. just imagine the bigger screen.