Elementary Music/Music Technology Blog

I just checked the Apple website and saw the iLife ‘09 as well as iWork ‘09, were just released. I have not yet made it to the Apple store to check it out, however, here is what I have read so far:

iLife ‘09: From what I have read, I am looking forward to seeing the new feature in GarageBand that lets you learn guitar and piano through interactive lessons. In addition, in a separate purchase, you can learn from  musicians who have made popular guitar riffs and songs famous through videos. My reaction to this is if you have a student who loves guitar hero and would like to learn how to actually play some of the songs, then he/she could go to GarageBand (with a separate purchase for the additional application) and learn the song from the actual musician. In iPhoto, I am looking forward to easily sharing my photos to my facebook page and organizing my pictures by faces and places, as well as events. In iWeb, I look forward to seeing some new widgets and a better drag and drop feature. And in iMovie, I am looking forward to fine-tuning my edits with the Precision Editor. In addition, it has the ability to stabilize your videos even if you recorded it with a shaky hand. Here are some links that will explain the newest features:

1. Apple Website
2. Apple Introduces iLife ‘09
3. GarageBand ‘09: What you need to know
4. iLife ‘09 addes features tweaks and fun

 iWork ‘09: I look forward to seeing Keynote’s integration with the iPod Touch or the iPhone. It will allow you to control your Keynote presentation with your iPod Touch or iPhone. It works through a 99 cent Keynote application. Plus, the iwork.com allows you to share your iWork ’09 documents, spreadsheets, and presentations, no matter if you are a PC or MAC user. Just click the iWork.com button in the toolbar, and your document, spreadsheet, or presentation is uploaded instantly. Mac OS X Mail sends each invited reviewer a unique URL (from apple.com). iWork.com is free for users to sign up and use while in beta, but it will eventually be a fee-based service once it goes 1.0, and looks like it requires a MobileMe (Mac) account. My reaction to this is I would like to see how it differs from Google docs, which has been around for awhile, eay to use, allows you and other users to edit the documents, anyone can use it, and is free. One article reads that you cannot edit docs in iWork.com, which means it cannot come close to Google docs, but I will have to look more closely at it.

1. Apple Website 
2. HandsOn: Apple iWork ‘09
3. Apple releases iWork ‘09
4. Is iWork ‘09 an Office Competitor?

If you have tried either of these products, I would love to hear from you and find out what you think of their new features.