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2 Integration 3 Compatibility 4 History and availability 5 External links 6 References |
Components
iTunes 4
iTunes handles MP3 music files and supports other formats as well. iTunes 4 offers access to the new iTunes Music Store, which offers thousands of songs for download from hundreds of artists for 0.99 USD each.
iPhoto 2
iPhoto is a simple photo editor that lets users edit their digital photos. iPhoto allows for photo album creation to display pictures on the internet or on CD.
iMovie 3 and iDVD 3
iMovie is a video editor that you can use with digital video. The process of film capture by a digital camera in via Firewire is automated, with iMovie allowing you to chop up your video, add special effects, reorganize it and send it to iDVD for burning.
GarageBand
GarageBand is a program for creating music (Apple Computer, Inc., 2004).
Integration
These products are designed for intercompatibility. iTunes files can be added to iMovie's films, iPhoto can send images to iMovie, and iDVD can accept all this content and organize it and burn it out to DVD. Furthermore, GarageBand can be used to produce soundtracks for movies in iMovie (Apple Computer, Inc., 2004).
Compatibility
All of the applications run in Mac OS X. Early versions of iTunes run in the classic Mac OS. Only iTunes 4.1 and later runs in Microsoft Windows. (The purpose of Apple's decision to allow Windows users to use iTunes may have been to allow them to take advantage of Apple's iTunes Music Store.)
History and availability
iLife is the latest in a line of both hardware and software products which are part of a "digital lifestyle." After his re-arrival at Apple as CEO, Steve Jobs began speaking of a person's Macintosh being the center, or hub, of their digital lifestyle. The original iMac was the first step in developing this lifestyle. It put a new face on not only the Mac, but computing in general, as PC companies began to change their form factor designs as well.
The first version of the products were released in this order: iMovie, iTunes, iPhoto, iDVD, GarageBand.
Apple originally made iTunes, iPhoto, and iMovie available for free on the Internet and iDVD only with iLife and with computers that included SuperDrives. A while after the release of iDVD, Apple named the package iLife and offered it on CD charging $19.95, supposedly for shipping and handling, while continuing to offer all the software except for iDVD for free download. In January 2004, Apple released GarageBand, introduced new versions of iDVD, iPhoto, and iMovie, renamed the package iLife '04, and changed the availability. They raised the price to $49, no longer claiming that it solely paid for shipping and handling. iTunes is separately available for free download through Apple's web site. iDVD, iMovie, GarageBand, and iPhoto are only available through iLife, which they bundled with new computers.
External links
References