Frombloggerstoeveryday exploiter , almost everybody seems to have reacted to the loss of the latest edition of iWork with overwhelming electronegativity , and a general feeling that Apple is “ dumbing down ” its apps to appeal to a broader interview .
estimate from the amount of feedback that the raw apps have received , the alteration seem to affect just about everybody in some way ; it ’s belike fair to say , however , that index user will suffer the most from the disappearance of many of iWork ’s more forward-looking features — a position that , of later , seems to repeat itselfevery fourth dimension Apple comes out with a significant update to one of its apps .
Strange days
Most analysts seem to assign the changes that have happen iWork to Apple need to bring feature parity to the various version of its function suite . Because the suite has same capabilities across OS X , iOS , and the Web , users of Pages , Numbers , and Keynote can now divvy up their files and collaborate in real fourth dimension without fear that changes made on one machine will be discarded on another due to a software mutual exclusiveness .
doubtlessly , there is some truth to this , but I do n’t call up that it tells the whole tarradiddle . Just about any piece of music of computer software Cupertino has released in the last few years , from operating systems to prosumer apps , has been repel by a deep - seated desire to simplify the path we do things . role suites like Microsoft Office and ( in a lesser elbow room ) iWork have always struck me as rum firearm of engineering : overly complicated if all you require to do is compose a letter , and woefully inadequate if you need to do very complicated tasks . This work them perfect targets for Apple engineer and room decorator looking to throw off things up .
Then there ’s the company ’s current obsessional focal point on unify engineering and blueprint resource across all its holding — something that Tim Cookkeeps cue us ofat every opportunity , and something that I reckon is more crucial to Apple ’s management than most analysts seem to believe . For all their limitation , the novel variant of iWork face like they were built by the same caller for the first fourth dimension since … well , since there have been multiple edition of iWork .
I say this not necessarily to vindicate what Apple has done , but rather to reckon out why . When you take away all the articulatio genus - jerk anger , much of the negative reaction to the release of iWork has been propel by feature that have proceed missing and functionality that has been give seemingly only so that less - sophisticated user would be able-bodied to apply the office suite . It ’s almost as if Apple had gone off the deep end and decided to torpedo its own substance abuser - base .
It is possible , of course , that the world ’s most worthful company is now consort by a maniac , but I have a arduous time picturing Cook as an vicious Saturnia pavonia who capriciously channelise his management to make random change while he cackles maniacally from atop a throne made of human skulls . A more naturalistic explanation for Apple ’s actions is that it has identify a long - condition finish and is , to borrow a best-loved Jobsian grammatical construction , skating to where the hockey puck will be .
In part , this goal is quite obvious : A set of childlike ( and free ) spot apps that anybody can use to cut and share papers across multiple devices and platforms plays well with Apple ’s time value proposition of sell top - nick ironware at a premium with the hope that tacky and plentiful software will follow . As a bonus , it strikes at the gist of Microsoft ’s software - centrical strategy , highlighting in sharp contrast the difference between the two company ’ respective ecosystems .
Ch-ch-changes
Along these demarcation , it ’s also possible that Apple is “ dumbing down ” its apps because the company believe that the kind of comprehensive software to which we have become customary will no longer belong to in the personal computing landscape of the future .
A traditional office retinue like Microsoft Office made signified when it could be used in lieu of specialized software that would have been prohibitively expensive for individual exploiter or small business enterprise , such as professional typesetting apps or enterprise accounting packages .
In more cosmopolitan term , the downward pressure on package prices is making complex apps that provide to mogul substance abuser less appealing both to developer , who have a hard time justifying charging premium prices to fulfil the needs of a comparatively belittled subset of their customer groundwork , and to consumers , who prefer apps that are more specialised , easy to use , and less expensive .
Looking down a very steep road
This is not , in itself , a bad thing . In the foresightful ladder , we may well end up with apps that can centre in bang-up depth on the specific functionality that matters to a highly targeted drug user section . Personally , I much prefer to use a really good word processor instead of a catchall app that also tries to be a typesetting pecker , a post merge app , a report generator , and who get laid what else — particularly if I can purchase , for a relatively little fee , whichever of those apps I need .
Of course , if you ’ve spent the last several yearssetting up complex workflow that bank on features that have disappeared from iWork , no amount of analysis and speculation is going to palliate the thwarting of seeing your productivity being summarily tossed out the window in the name of advance . This , however , is a lesson that Apple learned the difficult way with the release of Final Cut Pro X and theensuing backlash , and it ’s probably the grounds why installing the new iWork suite does n’t automatically take away any old edition of its apps .
Ultimately , it seems to me that Apple ’s goal is to makeeveryonemore productive with better putz that rely less on improvize hacks and more on professionally develop software . Hopefully , this will eventually pan out , despite the companionship ’s slightly gammon - fisted approach to innovation that has been alienate so many of its live power users .
Update : Apple announced on Wednesday thatit would be returning some missing feature to iWork ’ 13 within six calendar month .
