Along with the mini iPod the other big announcement at Macworld SF was the new set of iLife Applications - iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD and most importantly the new GarageBand. Departing from the iApp naming convention, Apple has released which is, no doubt, an incredibly promising and exciting app. The ability to use software instruments, loops and live recording all in one cheap, easy, consumer-level music recording program is amazing! I have been looking at music applications for a while. I looked at various pro products like Cubase and Logic, but clearly they are out of my range and are far too expensive. There are likely other low-level solutions, but GarageBand seems to bring everything together so simply as is expected of well-crafted Apple software. GarageBand is definitely the most exciting Apple announcement from the expo for me and is worth the small amount of money for iLife on it's own. iPhoto 4 also makes me drool for that suite.
With this release, it is beginning to become clear that this kind of thing represents exactly what Apple is all about. As John Gruber writes on Daring Fireball, Macs are for "people who want to use their computers to make cool things" and "people who want to be producers, not just consumers". Apple is going after the creativity in regular people. By making a music application that anybody can use and a lot of people can afford, they have opened up whole new opportunities for many people. It was clear that when Steve Jobs was sampling loops while John Mayer jammed on the keyboard and guitar during the introduction demo of GarageBand, that the company really knows what is cool and how to do something right. They do make some mistakes, but overall the quality of software like GarageBand and much of their hardware is way above that of other companies. It's all about the details and new innovative ideas for Apple, and that's how they keep themselves going.
From what I have seen in the screenshots and the expo demo, the interface of GarageBand is what makes it great. Instead of having a complicated system like many pro audio apps, they seem to have put it forward in a simple manner that is conductive to creativity through ease of use. Just as iMovie makes personal movie-making a breeze and an enjoyment rather than a skill and chore, GarageBand brings music-making to the public. The one complaint I have of the interface prior to even using it is it's total non-standard look. Instead of using Aqua or even the diverging brushed metal look of the other iLife apps, they have chosen a dark background with strange wood-grain sides. I suppose this is suppose to induce some nostalgic production board memories from days of yore, but to me, it is not necessary and only detracts from the sheer coolness of the application.
Regardless, I can't wait to get my hands on GarageBand and start making music. Yet, there is one small problem. It requires a 600mhz G3 as a minimum and a G4 or G5 for software instruments which are very important. My iBook is only a 500mhz G3. Thus, I will unfortunately have to wait until I can manage to obtain a new Mac. Despite this, it feels great that Apple is creating such awesome products for ordinary people to use. If Apple keeps bringing out cool products like this, they are bound to get even more attention, and praise.