Happens every few years.
- Apple releases a new version of something that is more than just an incremental upgrade. It’s more of a complete rewrite of the entire product. As such, it usually ends up missing some key features from the original.
- A very vocal group of people scream bloody murder for several months about it. Tech writers suggest that Apple has gone too far this time, that they may have finally made a fatal mistake.
- The following quarter, Apple reveals that more people than ever are using said product. The loud bashing dies down, and most of the biggest complainers eventually come around as Apple brings back some of the more glaring missing features from the new product. Some of the more obscure features never come back, but most people end up realizing they didn’t need those, anyway.
This is how Apple rolls, people. This is why OS X wasn’t Vista. It’s why the new Final Cut X is taking advantage of all the new features of Lion, while Photoshop won’t for another decade.
You want 64-bit? You want Grand Central Dispatch? You want an app that actually takes advantage of all those extra cores and all that RAM you’ve been sticking in your machine for years? Then you need an app that was rewritten from the ground up. And that means shelving some features permanently, and others temporarily, so that you can get it out the door and into people’s hands.
Apple is literally the only company innovating right now. Because they are the only company with the guts to do this. Everyone else is tacking on features to an already bloated set of products. You can’t have it both ways.
It always sucks when it’s one of those products you personally use that gets a reboot, but you have to suck it up and realize that you’ll be much better off in the long run. In the meantime, keep using the old version until the new one gets the features you need, if you must. Just be ready to move on eventually, or someone else will come along and replace you, too.
