[allblue]

What capability is missing from the Apple software portfolio? What app bundled with Windows do switchers pine for? What area of the market could do with some healthy competition? Apple is a strong contender in movie making with Final Cut Pro, in music with Logic and now photography with Aperture. The various consumer variations of those make the iLife suite a wonderful toolbox for home creativity, but in one key area they lack a presence. If you haven't guessed by now I'm talking about a Photoshop killer.
Admittedly the Adobe flagship is a wonderful piece of software in terms of what it can do, but it is such a bloated monopolistic behemoth, code laid upon code laid upon code over the years, and selling at a price point that makes it far more expensive than low end computers. Apple has always had a strong hardware presence in the graphics industry, does it not make sense for them to take advantage of that and grab a piece of the graphics software pie for themselves?
Just imagine such an app built from the ground up, designed to take maximum advantage of Core Graphics technology, and all done with their trademark class, style and quality. Perhaps something very original, something that combines Photoshop and Illustrator functions (I know one is bitmap and the other vector, perhaps someone could chip in with some technical know-how here). Pitch it at the right price, under $500 say, so it becomes viable for the prosumer market as well as the high-end graphics houses, and I reckon they would be on to a winner. Build in plug-in architecture and get all those creative Mac developers writing new and groovy plug-ins for us all to play with!
The low end version would fill in that glaring gap in iLife, and appease the switchers who miss MS Paint. What a catalyst for creativity across the range!
I understand that Apple don't want to piss off Adobe, but the latter weren't exactly slow to start work on Lightroom the moment Aperture came out were they? Besides, how many times have you read in various Mac forums 'I'll be buying my new Mac when CS3 comes out'? The fact is, Adobe's sluggish (to the point of indifference) response to the Intel switch has definitely cost Apple hardware sales, if they had had such a piece of their own in-house software available the boot would have been on the other foot, and CS3 would probably be here already!
Apple is on such a big upswing now, full of cash, full of great designers and engineers, surely it is time for them to correct this long-standing anomaly in their software portfolio. So how about it Steve, how about 'just one more thing'?

[Macola]

Would be great if they did, but probably won't happen. (Then again, I said the same thing about an Intel chip in the Mac.)

[Big Mac]

Apple should produce a professional counterpart to iWeb, IMO.

[red rocket]

Originally Posted by allblue

The low end version would fill in that glaring gap in iLife, and appease the switchers who miss MS Paint.

MS Paint??? You want a Photoshop killer to appease Paint users?

Talk about overkill. GraphicConverter does a zillion times more than MS Paint. Practically every Mac user has it, seeing as Apple bundle it with new Macs. You can also use Preview for cropping, etc., Ink for doodling, never mind the dozens of freeware and shareware apps that make M$ Paint look like a child's toy from 1985. Let's face it, if you want a retro paint application, just run Deluxe Paint IV in an Amiga emulator. Still better than MS Paint.

I suppose Apple could buy the rights to TIFFany3. Bundle it for free, problem solved. If there was a problem, in the first place. I don't think so.

[mac128k-1984]

I don't think its going to happen and to be honest, I wonder how many photopshop users even photoshop elements would jump ship and use this product.

If you look at what apple has been producing in software, and for the most part they've been creating applications for niches where a need exists. Take Aperture, there was a dearth of products that provided true DAM and workflow. iMovie, iDVD, iPhoto all of the same. Going head to head with adobe is not the answer - at least in this case.

[bloodline]

Originally Posted by red rocket 

MS Paint??? You want a Photoshop killer to appease Paint users?

Let's face it, if you want a retro paint application, just run Deluxe Paint IV in an Amiga emulator. Still better than MS Paint.

That's what I use if I need to do any pixel graphics work!

[allblue]

red rocket I know it was a long post but you did seem to rather miss my point. Just to clarify a couple of things:
Personally I've never seen MSPaint let alone use it, but I have read several posts in Mac forums from switchers bemoaning the lack of a such an app on their new Macs. iLife is such a key part of Apple's consumer strategy (look at the ads), so the lack of such an app is a gap they would do well to fill IMO. The idea is that Joe Schmo gets home with his shiny new machine, and out of the box can start creating right away without having to get involved in going to get 3rd party anything (and FYI Graphic Converter does not come with all Macs, I think it's just the pro machines, it certainly hasn't been on either of the iMacs I've bought). He can adjust his photos, put them in a slideshow, add a backing track, stick it on his webpage and burn it to a DVD seamlessly across the iLife suite. What he cannot do is draw/paint anything on it as well, and to me that just looks such a natural part of that whole home creativity package. iLife has expanded over the years with Garageband and iWeb, I just hope that '07 has some kind of paint thing to complete the set. I must admit I had not heard of Tiffany3, but I searched it and yes, perhaps they could buy the technology (CaffeineSoft appear to have been bust since '03) and Applify it to save themselves some of the heavy lifting.
I take your point, mac128k-1984, the term "Photoshop killer" I used was a bit misleading. PS is so entrenched, such a dominant figure in the market it would be a nightmare to take them on at their own game (as MS are finding out with Zune!) They would have to come in from a slightly oblique angle, perhaps an app that somehow could do the work of both PS and AI for example, perhaps utilising Core Animation say! It just seems to me that as so much graphics work is done on Mac hardware no-one is better positioned to enter that market than Apple. A bit of competition would be good for everyone surely!
Anyway, it's just a bit of idle musing chaps!

[warfarer]

I would personally rather see them take Gimpshop and modify it to run native instead of in X11 and that would be a hell of a push for Apple. Not sure what the legal would be on taking Gimp and modifying it to sell as a cheap alternative to Photoshop. If you haven't downloaded the new Gimpshop, google it and get it. It is a very good product, and I hate the regular Gimp. It is simply Gimp with a few added plug-ins and a much updated interface similar to Photoshop.

[LukeSkope]

I definitely see your point, a simple paint app would be great for people that need a simple paint app out of the box. It's easy to forget that not everyone goes searching for 3rd party software, if they don't have it out the box then they live wothout it. This probably happens more now that everyday Joe is switching from Windows, where the Internet, WMP, Paint, a word processor and Solitaire were the extent of their daily (computing) activities.

But the products are out there (one of which the poster above me mentioned). I don't really see serious PS and AI users like myself, that have invested years into these programs switching (as well as companies that employ these people), and I don't see Apple providing a compelling reason to switch, unless they seriously undercut Adobe in a price war of sorts.

I guess some sort of meld of PS and AI could be useful, there are definitely instances when I wish some features of AI were in PS or vice versa (actually, often it is the fact that different teams code the different software, so while I can do something in AI, it is done differently than I woud do it in PS and I get frusterated and/or confused). Both apps handle bitmaps and vectors, it's just easier to manipulate vectors in AI, bitmaps in PS. And honestly, these programs are packed with so much functionality, it would be a bit much to try to fit it all into one app.

Actually, I really hope Apple puts a lot of work into the new Shake, whatever it may be called, because an Adobe workflow of AI/PS/AE combined with an Apple workflow of FCP/Shake/DVDSP rocks, and if they fully integrate Shake with FCP, watch out (I know, I left out Motion, I don't use it, don't really need it).

Luke