Adobe to Acquire Macromedia By Stephen Schleicher Yesterday, Adobe announced that it would acquire Macromedia in a stock option trade valued at around $3.4 billion. This subtle announcement may come as a shock to many users of the Macromedia products, and it will have a huge impact in the web development and content creation worlds. ...Read More »

Beginners Guide to NAB By Ko Maruyama If you're planning to attend the National Association of Broadcasters Convention in a couple of weeks, you've probably already signed up and are beginning to receive emails and notices daily. The emails probably have all kinds of information regarding the various conferences that will be held, some on satellite technology, others on HD delivery specifications. But you probably haven't received any notices from NAB to wear comfortable shoes. ...Read More »

Anark Studio 3.0 By Ko Maruyama In what can only be described as a Mac author's recurring nightmare, Anark has announced that their Anark Studio product will only be available for Mac when "conditions are right." The chicken/egg conundrum that has made software solutions for content authoring on a Mac slim, continues. Anark finally delivers a mature application that looks great, but for its PC users only. ...Read More »

Motion And the Big Picture By Kevin Schmitt Like many of you, I spent the better part of this last week constantly refreshing my various browser window in the hopes of catching the absolute latest news coming out of Vegas, where NAB just closed up shop until this time next year. Of course, I don't have to remind anyone who was grabbing the (very) early headlines; Apple was quite busy providing whiz-bang fireworks on what is usually a traditional day of rest. ...Read More »

Flash Is Back By Dave Nagel Not too long ago, I went on a bit of a tirade against Microsoft for failing to deliver the Flash plugin with the basic installation of Internet Explorer for Windows. After all, if it could happen on the Windows platform, the same fate couldn't be far off for the Mac platform either. But now (as of last week) Microsoft and Macromedia say Flash Player 5 will be distributed with the Microsoft Windows XP operating system, which is scheduled for worldwide availability Oct. 25. ...Read More »

Mac OS X, Windows XP: Editing Utopia? By Charlie White Something wonderful is happening in the world of computer operating systems -- something that will change digital video editing at its core. Im talking about the debut of Mac OS X 10.1 and Windows XP, two operating systems that will dramatically improve the way we do things by finally laying a solid foundation for increasingly sophisticated video editing and compositing on both Macs and PCs. ...Read More »

State of the Art: OS X for Designers By Dave Nagel If you're anything like me, you were out early Saturday morning?despite the throbbing pain in your head and the cottony taste in your mouth?rushing to the nearest computer retailer to pick up the latest release of Mac OS X, version 10.1. I know that not all of you are Mac psychofanatics and that a pretty decent-sized chunk of you don't even use a Mac at all. Nevertheless, Mac users do make up significantly more than half of the the total users in this particular creative space, so the question of switching is a relevant one. ...Read More »

State of the Art: Flash Is Back By Dave Nagel Not too long ago, I went on a bit of a tirade against Microsoft for failing to deliver the Flash plugin with the basic installation of Internet Explorer for Windows. After all, if it could happen on the Windows platform, the same fate couldn't be far off for the Mac platform either. But now (as of last week) Microsoft and Macromedia say Flash Player 5 will be distributed with the Microsoft Windows XP operating system, which is scheduled for worldwide availability Oct. 25. ...Read More »

Guest Opinion : The SGI We Really Need By Paulo de Andrade SGI is one of my favorite companies. Their computers have fueled the entertainment industry for years, and they have played a major role in the development of the computer graphics industry that we have today. Unfortunately, SGI's presence at Siggraph 2001 was, to put it mildly, "interesting." They were showing their brand new O2+ workstation, a powerhouse that would have made a lot of people drool a decade ago. At the time, this 350 MHz RM7000ATM processor-based workstation with 256 MB SDRAM, great graphics and a starting price of "only" $7,495 would have prompted people to sell their cars, mortgage their homes and even divorce their spouses just to get one. ...Read More »

Back in Black By Dave Nagel Less than a year ago, Corel Corp. seemed on the verge of ruin. Its profits were non-existent; it had just splurged on the acquisition of a number of creative products from the company formerly known as Metacreations; and its directors had released a statement saying that the company would be out of money unless it could merge with Inprise/Borland, another software company. The merger never happened. ...Read More »

State of the Art: Is Streaming Dead? By Dave Nagel I lie to you not. I went out to the Streaming Media West convention in Long Beach last week (against my better judgement, but I'll get to that in a moment). This is one of those shows where practically the only companies in attendance are there to beg for venture capital. You know the kind. (I went on at length about this around last Internet World. Streaming Media West is the same thing.) So, anyway, after I get done at this show, what do you suppose I find on my windshield when I reach the parking lot? ...Read More »

Talkin' Smack: Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me? By Dave Nagel Most of you know me as a good man. Some of you might even refer to me as a holy man. Perhaps you're right. However, recent evidence would tend to indicate that I may have fallen out of favor momentarily, a direct result of comments made in last week's column. Here's what happened. ...Read More »

Talkin' Smack: The God OS By Dave Nagel Is there a God? It's a question that might seem a bit out of place in this oft-jovial, sometimes sardonic editorial page, and I'm certainly not intending this to be in any way blasphemous by asking it here. After all, I'm as opposed to drowning in a lake of fire forever as the next guy. Nevertheless, the question is a relevant one for these pages, and, at the risk of exposing my own hubris, I intend to explain this relevance and answer the question in 1,500 words or fewer. ...Read More »

Prodigal Mac: Stranger in a Strange Land By Kevin Schmitt Since there are only a smattering of Apple-branded stores strewn across this great land of ours, I imagine that a good many of you out there have not had the opportunity to actually set foot inside of one. Oh, I'm sure you've seen pictures or heard stories, some of which have grown to mythic proportions. "Steve Jobs personally mans the cash register at every store!" "They have 400,000 software titles just for the Mac there!" "I heard that the employees can smell the rank stench of Windows on you, so be careful!" "My God, it's full of stars!" ...Read More »

Prodigal Mac: Excuse Me While I Pull My Hair out By Kevin Schmitt For those Prodigal Mac readers that go WAAAYY back with me to the column's humble beginnings, which was all of about four weeks ago, you've probably noticed my fondness for analogy. I wouldn't dare disappoint both of you by skimping on this installment, so let me take you back to an experience you've probably had (or may currently be having) in some form or another. ...Read More »

Talkin' Smack: Flash Is Back By Dave Nagel Not too long ago, I went on a bit of a tirade against Microsoft for failing to deliver the Flash plugin with the basic installation of Internet Explorer for Windows. After all, if it could happen on the Windows platform, the same fate couldn't be far off for the Mac platform either. But now (as of last week) Microsoft and Macromedia say Flash Player 5 will be distributed with the Microsoft Windows XP operating system, which is scheduled for worldwide availability Oct. 25. ...Read More »

Talkin' Smack: Who Educates the Educators? By Dave Nagel There are few things that affect your life as powerfully as your first child heading off to her first day of kindergarten. It's a time for reflecting upon one's own mortality, of envisioning one's child for the first time as a self-sufficient entity and of pondering the future in a completely new light. In short, it's a life-changing event. ...Read More »

Prodigal Mac: Find Balance, Grasshopper By Kevin Schmitt When I was little (and, admittedly, even today), I always looked forward to New Shoe Day!, a day so great, it must be capitalized and end with an exclamation point, even in the middle of a sentence. Picking out just the right shoe; the feel of the Brannock device against your sock-clad foot (yes, that metal thing they use to measure your shoe size does have a name); the agony of those rare times when they didn't have the right size; the ecstasy as you wore your spankin' new shoes out of the store, old ones already forgotten in the box under your mom's arm. There was nothing in the world like New Shoe Day! ...Read More »

Prodigal Mac: The One Where He Admits His Mac Envy By Kevin Schmitt One night recently, as I sat motionless and glassy-eyed on my couch, I came across one of the older episodes of Friends. It was the one where Ross was trying to decide which girl would be better suited for him: his current girlfriend, Julie, or his dream woman, Rachel. So he made a list of what was wrong with each woman in an effort to help him choose. Long story short, he picked Rachel, she found the list, read it, got mad at what he thought was wrong with her, hijinks ensued, roll credits. As I watched this episode for what seemed like the ten gazillionth time, it dawned on me that I, too, was approaching a crisis not unlike that of my television friend Ross. ...Read More »

Talkin' Smack: At It Again By Dave Nagel In some ways, it's reassuring to know that some things don't change. Even if it's a lame thing. Take Microsoft, for example. ...Read More »