I don't understand Apple's obsession with GarageBand

mrgstiffler

mrgstiffler

[H]F Junkie
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I'm just now getting to watch the keynote from the iPad event (Mass Effect 3 sucks ALL of your free time). It seems like there's something GarageBand related during every keynote. I don't understand this. The GarageBand market has to be tiny. There can't be that many people who want to play virtual instruments can there?
 
Apple wants people to use the iPad to create content, not just consume it. That's why there is the iLife suite and the iWork suite. Not hard to understand at all. They are the ones claiming we live in a post-PC world, so it only makes sense that they are supporting that idea by making it possible to create content on a tablet.
 
Take a quick trip around youtube. Garageband is pretty impressive, even if you're not a music writer, decent sounds can still come out of it.
There is an increasing movement of people using the iPad for audio production purposes. It's an audio analogue that is similar to iPhone photography. It's possible to do better with other stuff, but for the cost and convenience it's pretty hard to beat.
 
You'd be surprised at who uses their iPad to create music. The Gorillaz created The Fall entirely on the iPad while on their world tour and that was even before GarageBand was released.
 
GarageBand is amazing. I still get a huge kick out of just playing with the virtual instruments, but once you get a good microphone and a recording interface it goes from being a cool toy to a consumer-grade studio software package. The skills you learn in GarageBand also translate over to Logic when you're ready for a more professional toolkit.

Even with just a $50 MIDI keyboard, GarageBand is insanely awesome. It hasn't a single worthy competitor at its pricepoint, and the amount of samples and virtual instruments it includes rivals packages that cost 10x as much.
 
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