Did They Really REMOVE Things From Photos?

This week on Let’s Talk Apple I got into a food fight with Gazmaz about Photos. He is REALLY disappointed in the product, and I get why he’s disappointed, and he has every RIGHT to be disappointed. The basis for my argument was how he was looking at the situation. He kept saying that Apple took OUT features from Photos, when my perspective is that they simply did not put them IN. I think he has it in his head that Photos is really version 10 of iPhoto and it simply is not that. It’s completely written from the ground up, so nothing was removed, but a lot hasn’t yet been put in.

Remember the process I followed was to study it first, figure out what it was missing and then make an informed decision on whether I could live without those things. Unfortunately he jumped into Photos not knowing that it was missing a few very key features for him, like geotagging after the fact. I urged him to just go back to iPhoto or get another program but evidently he feels that the time he’s spent with his photos already in the new Photos is too much to give up. I sympathize but I also think that Apple isn’t doing the wrong thing here.

I believe this is exactly like what they did with iMovie and Final Cut and with iWork. They took a beloved product and started over with a brand new code base. At the same time they did not delete the old software from your computer, did not force you to upgrade (even though Gaz says he FELT forced). He made a good point about this over in the Google Plus Community for Let’s Talk Apple where we’ve continued the food fight. He explained that for normal people they saw the invitation to go to Photos, and iPhoto disappeared from their dock and in its place (exactly in its place) was the icon for Photos. When I was arguing with Gaz, I was thinking about sophisticated users like him, but he does have a point that norms may not realize what’s happening. I think it’s also quite possible they won’t notice as many things missing as a sophisticated user so maybe it balances out.

It is important to note, and I did on Let’s Talk Apple, that you can continue to use the old product for the foreseeable future. Perhaps you won’t be able to use the old products after Yosemite but I believe there’s a reasonable chance you will. The old old iMovie still works. Final Cut 7 still works. I haven’t checked the old iWork but I believe it still works too, years after it’s supposed demise. I believe that Apple will improve and enhance Photos over time and surpass what iPhoto could ever do. I can’t say it will ever do all that Aperture could do, not even I’m that big of an optimist!