Apple has bought Emagic

[shadowbox]

Wow. That is wild. I think there were rumors a couple of weeks ago that Apple would buy MOTU. I thought THAT sounded crazy. But buying a company that is German and makes windows software? There are going to be a lot of pissed off WIndows Logic users.

[PDupre]

Nope, I didn't read the release carefully. This move defies Logic (pun intended). How do you just cut 35% of your revenue? Does Apple really think that users are going to trash their PCs and run out and buy a MAC? The biggest beneficiary of this strategy will be Nuendo. I love MACs but Apple just keeps making the same mistakes over and over again.

[Dog BBQ]

will emagic continue to make Hardware?

[Alexycon]

Watch Microsoft buy Steinberg or MOTU. Bill's gonna follow suit and you know it!

[shadowbox]

I agree that the Logic platform will lose a lot of users. A few will switch over to Mac but not many. Most users have more software than just a DAW.

However, I'm not sure you can say this is a mistake for Apple. Apple now fully owns emagic. While eMagic couldn't afford to lose 35% of its revenue, Apple's accountants must have thought that gaining the 65% of eMagic's user base was worth it. AND I can almost guarantee that any new native DAW-Mac purchaser will choose Apple's Logic. If you are a Mac user why use anything else? And I bet they will get a lot of people to switch over from Cubase-Mac and Digital Performer. I currently use Digital Performer but have been thinking about switching over to Logic because of it's better TDM support. I am still going to wait for the fall out. But this only makes me want to switch to Logic more.

[KamaSutra77]

I wonder if this is why Digi is stalling OSX releases of its software?
Too bad Apple Bought Emagic, Digi would have been my first choice for an aquisition. A PT environment, closley integrated with OSX would be killer.- And they allready have a free product ready for rebranding. iPTFREE Anyone? OH well. Pipedream there.

Long and Short of it, looks like I'll end up using some form of Logic in the future LOL.

[shadowbox]

DogBBQ:

I guess what you mean is will Apple still make eMagic's hardware. Interesting question...my guess is that they wanted to buy Logic. But without Logic, eMagic was nothing so they had to buy the whole company. Maybe they will incorporate eMagic's hardware into new "Digital Hub" devices.

[Joris Vincken]

I currently use Digital Performer but have been thinking about switching over to Logic because of it's better TDM support. I am still going to wait for the fall out. But this only makes me want to switch to Logic more.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">You really expect Logic to continue to support TDM? If they drop 35% of their users, do you think they care about one of their biggest competitors users. I'm looking into DP3 right now.

But at least now I understand why Emagic's PT-HD support is so expensive.

[MattiMattMatt]

Emagic's PC base means nothing to Apple. It's nickle and dimes. The real payoff is turning Logic into the audio equivalent of final cut pro. Toss the 35% PC userbase, and increase Logic-on-the-Mac by 1000 %. It could mean the evolution of the native DAW into the same studio staple that FinalCut Pro has become in video. The effect on PT would echo final cut's effect on Avid.

The forest through the trees technology picture makes sense -- it takes an Apple to turn a native media application into something that can rival host-based, and make dramatic strides in bang-for-the-buck.

My guess is that the purchase is part of a strategy that includes careful thought on what will be possible with next-generation Macs (e.g. multi-core G5s). Given Apple's hardware strategy, I would imagine they would expect their new DAW to rival host-based in 1 to 2 years.

As someone considering a MOTU/Mac room, the "Logic" has now changed.

Not a good day for MOTU for sure.

As for hardware, what eMagic brings to the table is not all that interesting for Apple. My guess is Apple will encourage third-party support for control surfaces.

-M.M.M.

[shadowbox]

Joris-

Your point about Apple continuing Logic support for TDM is precisely what I meant about waiting for the fallout. Apple is cutting off 35% of Logic's users because they don't want to put R&D into writing Windows code. Not because WIndows is a competitor. Writing code to continue TDM support would require far fewer resources.

Overall, though I just see more of a future with Logic than with Digital Performer.

Final Cut Pro was released 3 years ago. It has slowly gained on AVID with every upgrade and basically put all other Video editing software out to pasture. If you edit video on a Mac, professionaly or semi-professionaly you use either FCP or AVID. I see a similar pattern happening with Logic and Digi. Logic will in the next year become the project studio Mac-DAW of choice. And over the next 3-4 years slowly gain on Digi's pro market. All they have to do is partner with Apogee to make the interfaces and they have it made.