Moving On with Technology
Moving On with Technology
Moving On with Technology
7 Jun 2005 — 8 Comments
Happy Tuesday. The wired world is rife with confusion, speculation, excitement and turmoil today as Apple has announced the pending move to Intel processors. Maybe I've got so many other things going on right now that the news doesn't really shake me up that much. Maybe this is a much bigger deal than I realize. Mac game developers will lose their jobs in 18 months, Apple's hardware sales will slide for the next year until the new architecture hits, and we'll all wait with anticipation to see if this means we can run both Mac and Windows on the same machine natively.
But really, I don't care. In the end, I think it's probably a great move for Apple. But I'm not here to talk about Apple and their processors. I'm not here to talk about platform wars. I'm here to talk about change.
Do you hear that, Mr. Anderson?
I used to be a hard core Mac geek. At one stage in life, I owned 14 Macs. No joke. Gratefully, those times have passed. I've learned over the years that its not so much about the hardware and software, it's about getting the job done. For me, the Mac OS, Illustrator, Photoshop, and a handful of shareware apps get the job done. If Windows XP, Notepad, and a plethora of Corel apps get the job done for you, then I'm happy for you. Really, I don't care what OS or processor or nifty shareware app you use.
Well actually, I do care. Will it make your life easier? Your work more productive? I do care about that. I just don't care so much about what the label says.
Ten years ago Aldus Freehand, Aldus Pagemaker, Aldus Persuasion (hello?), and Photoshop 2.5 floated my boat. They got the work done. Then Aldus was acquired and broken up between Adobe and Macromedia. Freehand went one way, and Pagemaker and Persuasion joined Adobe's ranks.
Somewhere along the line, Persuasion was killed, Apple's Copland never happened, and OS 8 finally hit the door. By then I had to ditch Pagemaker for Quark, while Freehand and Photoshop stayed on board in my arsenal. I threw away my Palm. Now I use Post-It notes again.
Five years ago I started designing for the web. Bought Fireworks and Dreamweaver. Then I learned HTML. Ditched Fireworks and Dreamweaver. Then, after 12 years, I ditched Freehand for Illustrator. Never thought it would come to that, but it did. Freehand is no longer the best tool for my needs. Now, Adobe almost owns it all... and reality is that in five years, we'll be in a different boat again.
I probably use less commercial software now than I ever have in my life, yet I am probably more productive than I've ever been as well. While tools come, go, and change, I believe success on an individual level boils down to using whatever you need to use to get the job done. Doesn't matter if its made by Adobe, Apple, Microsoft, or some dude in Sweden working in his basement. The only thing that does matter is that you should be always be looking for a way to do things better, faster, and with greater ease.
If this means dropping software you've used for a decade, and switching to another platform, don't let product loyalty get in the way. As soon as you know that another path is better for yourself, make the jump, and don't look back. Apple probably should have bailed on IBM a year ago. I probably should have bailed on Freehand a year ago too.
It may mean a little extra work in the transition time, but in the long run you'll be a step ahead of everyone else who waited. Change is inevitable. You have to learn to roll with it. Or better yet, learn to change on your own accord, before the market forces you. Have you been waiting to give something new a try? There has never been a better time than now.
Chris K says
Great post, and I completely agree. The hardware/software industry has evoled so much over the last 10 years that there's very little difficulty in switching platforms. I'm personally a Mac person, but I've also worked on Windows predominantly for a large portion of my career, with very little problems (primarily font issues). I can also relate with your point on making a switch based on productivity. I find myself migrating more and more to InDesign from Quark every day. I think Quark will be in the same boat with designers that IBM now finds itself in with Apple.
Nathan says
I think that I myself have transitioned a couple of times. Currently I use a text editor that cost way too much, all the adobe programs (no quark here), and a shareware css editor called CSSEdit (go figure)...
i do find that i have taken all the programs that i did not use, and either deleted them, or neglected them...i found what worked, and didn't clutter it up...
i think this works for everything in life...
Keith says
Totally man, I hear you. One of my mantras is that "technology should work for me, not the other way around." I've also got a very short fuse when it comes to my technology and I'll ditch something that doesn't work right quick.
I want to be productive on my computer so I can spend more time off it. Whatever helps me do that is what I'll use.
If you're interested I've got a post going up later today on my productivity site (to-done.com) that's along the same lines as this...
Mike says
Dude, great article. I try my best not to use "specialized apps" and just use stuff to the full extent of their ability. I use Photoshop for all raster stuff, and if it needs to be vector, then I suck it up and use Illustrator. Of course I don't design icons or print stuff and whatnot, so that's all I basically need for web design.
And BBEdit's still my text editor of choice ;)
Rob Mientjes says
Very well-written. People disagree with the Intel move all around the place, but I think it can't go too wrong. Yes, Apple hardware sales will plummet, people will be hesitant to buy new Macs, but in the end there will come something good from it. Freehand was assimilated by Macromedia, but now Adobe has it, I think there will be some definite improvement on Illustrator. I mean, it's gotta be ;) But seriously, the process works to something good, then it breaks and it takes a while to get okay again. It's like that with anything, and it seems like progress requires breakdown.
joshwa says
I'm a big fan of CSSEdit as well. Its praises are sung far less than StyleMaster, but I think its a tighter app. Also use skEdit for HTML. I have BBEdit, but I still cannot get over BBEdit's UI. You'd think they could spare a buck or two to fix it. That said, I know its a powerful program -- skEdit just does the trick for me (at 25 percent of the cost).
Also, Keith's site is an excellent one if you haven't checked it out: To-Done.
Eric Irvine says
notepad, a c++/java compiler, firefox, open office, and the odd bit of photoshop. That's all I really need (but games are in there too).
Rob Hulson says
It's good to see how far we've come along over the years, isn't it, Josh? I remember the olden days when we'd talk smack about Apple all day long (or, more accurately, you would and I followed). I'm glad that we've matured a bit in that regard. At least I hope we have. :o)