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Seth Weintraub

Apple versus Google

Rumor: Apple's iMovie to receive significant (Cloud) update at Macworld

25 comments

TAGS:Apple, Cloud, iMovie, Web Application
IT TOPICS:Macintosh & Apple, Mobile & Wireless, Personal Technology, Windows & Microsoft

I've heard from reliable sources that Apple will offer a significant update to iMovie at next week's Macworld. It will largely focus on Internet video in the Cloud for the YouTube generation.

I've heard that iMovie will largely (if not entirely) be a Web Application and Apple would offer its users the ability to "upload your movies to us and edit them there."

There are currently a few online applications that let you do video editing, and Google's Youtube is also adding rudimentary editing features.

I am not certain if this means that iMovie is now entirely a Web Application or if Apple is offering a "Cloud" component to its iMovie application.

iMovie in the Cloud would also offer users the ability to easily view their movies on iPod Touches or iPhones. If the application is entirely Web based, it means that potential customers include the "other 90%" of users who use Windows.

Apple received a lot of negative reviews of its last update to iMovie; many people thought it was a step backward. As part of the installation process, Apple even kept the old version of iMovie as a transition mechanism. I can't think of another time when Apple did this for an application.

Apple is largely believed (by me at least) to be moving its iWork applications to the Cloud as well. This would tie in nicely with the new iMovie's Web Applications. Imagine editing a movie in iMovie online then importing it into a Keynote presentation online. This would be a great feature.

While the YouTube generation has largely embraced Web apps, more "seasoned" users have largely been critical of the format, decrying the inability to use them while in a plane, or anywhere else that there is not Internet. Apple's MobileMe rollout (blackout?) fiasco has also caused some jitters in the Apple community to the Cloud platform.

Steve Jobs issued a company-wide email after the failed release in which he said:

The MobileMe launch clearly demonstrates that we have more to learn about Internet services. And learn we will. The vision of MobileMe is both exciting and ambitious, and we will press on to make it a service we are all proud of by the end of this year.

Thankfully a lot of new technologies have sprouted up that will facilitate offline access as well. Apple's Sproutcore is in its infancy but seems to indicate that it will allow to move its core applications into the Cloud.

Also, Safari 4 will allow you to save web pages as applications (like the iPhone platform does now). This might also help the transition from traditional apps to Web Applications - at least in the minds of traditional users.

I, for one, use Google Gears religiously to keep my Google Docs for offline editing. I believe this is the future and apparently, so does Apple.

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iMovie on the web might work

Submitted by Hugh Massengill on January 3, 2009 - 8:18 A.M.

I blasted iMovie '08 when if first came out. Having made several videos, edited on iMovie '06, that later were shown on community cable tv, I was confused how '08 was an improvement.
Then I needed to edit an hour and a half collections of speeches and then put them on both YouTube and my mobileme Gallery (www.humanrightscity.com). I found iMovie '08 perfect, with its non-destructive editing.
My point is that the web is a different kind of environment. It offers a lot, and while we always are going to want a desktop editing program for the longer more complicated stuff, having a web-based iMovie option may help a lot of beginners get a lot of joy out of their video equipment and software. There is a ton of "expert" stuff on YouTube, in that it is clever and informative.
Not everyone is a video expert, and certainly not everyone wants to learn Final Cut Express. Video is being delivered via the web more than in theaters or on TV. This is just bowing to that change. Make iMovie available both on the desktop and on the web and make it tightly integrated with other Apple applications, and it will be an addition to our lives. I think. Hugh

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I hate articles based on rumors

Submitted by Anon E Mous on January 2, 2009 - 2:42 P.M.

I can't do my job based on rumors. Why should we allow "journalists" to get paid based on reporting rumors?

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Thank you for taking the

Submitted by Seth Weintraub on January 2, 2009 - 9:52 P.M.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and comment on it.

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Lets hope that this is one rumor that will not come true!

Submitted by Greg on January 2, 2009 - 2:38 P.M.

What a awful rumor indeed! If any of you have had the misfortune to use .Mac and later MobileMe then you know it's not ready for home use let alone Business use. Yes, I love those phone calls from the VP of the company asking why they can't get email or their contracts have disappeared. Don't get me wrong MobileMe looks pretty but is lacking in features and suffers from frequent unannounced downtimes.

Safari is a nice we browser but I would not want to do any type of image editing in it as Im sure it would blow out. The current iMovie is sad when you compare it to feature rich iMovie HD. Really I use both and it take me much longer to do things in the current iMovie and it's not because I don't understand how to use both programs. Really Im not a fan of the cloud or using programs there...

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It could work

Submitted by Mike Manzano on January 2, 2009 - 11:20 A.M.

People, there's absolutely no reason an app in the cloud can't process your gigabytes of HD data locally. Nothing about a cloud app requires you to upload your raw footage. All it means is that you won't have to install iMovie from a DVD; instead you would point your browser at iMovie.com (or something similar) and use it as you normally would as if it were a desktop app. The only real difference is that all updates to the software will be seamless and automatic, and perhaps the ability for Apple to charge for the software on a subscription basis.

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Just write 'online' whenever you want to write 'cloud'

Submitted by Anonymous on January 2, 2009 - 2:15 A.M.

Could you please tell me what meaning it adds to use the fad buzzword "cloud" instead of writing "online" as everybody has been doing for the last 15 years? Please try to stop following the other fashion lemmings in using a word that has no new meaning but which you feel you have to use because all the other buzzword fashion lemmings use it.

Moving "into the cloud" = Moving online

It's not that difficult really..

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Also...

Submitted by MIke Manzano on January 2, 2009 - 12:39 P.M.

A web application that can run regardless of being connected (a la Google Gears) blurs the line between online and offline. One aspect of "cloud" computing is that you don't know on what real resources your application (or its components) resides and runs; i.e., the use of computing resources (a server, your desktop computer, etc.) to run the application is orthogonal to where the application is actually accessed. Moving "into the cloud" is most definitely != moving online, although moving online definitely plays a part in that it lets you take advantage of cloud resources.

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Cloud = lie

Submitted by Anonymous on January 2, 2009 - 11:40 A.M.

"Cloud" sounds much more touchy feely. It helps Apple and Google mislead folks into thinking that ownership is "changing." In reality, they are just trying to centralize ownership. Not only will they completely own what tools you use, but they will have complete control over your data. It is not going to be in "the cloud." It is going to be on Apple's, or Google's or Facebook's servers. With this great "new pay to play model."

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