I’m leaving Tubes later this year and looking for the next great gig. I’m doing some consulting work in the meantime and taking a long hard look at holes in the market. I’m very keen on your thoughts as to what types of solutions are missing or lagging in the Mac market.
For instance, my wife signed me up to DJ an event (for free, ugh!) and so I’ve been trying to learn the world of DJ software on the Mac (I never did this before and love to learn new things.) And I’ve found, much to my dismay, that even though the Mac is the leading platform for media creation, I can’t seem to find really good DJ software on the Mac that’s on par with Windows. Am I not looking in the right places? I found VirtualDJ but the Mac version is still in beta and Traxtor doesn’t seem as powerful. Any others that I’m missing?
Also, some small startups I’m looking at have lagged their Mac offerings behind Windows, making it hard to excite the early adopters (mainly Mac users) required to ignite early word of mouth crucial for these small companies to break out. This is the same issue we had at Tubes which is still lacking a Mac version (one of my reasons for leaving, BTW.)
And with all my free time I figured I’d play a game or two. I used to love the flight simulators on the Mac (anyone remember Hellcats over the Pacific or A10 Attack? – I still have them for Mac OS 8!) but I can’t seem to find a decent one any longer on Mac (other than X-Plane but that doesn’t feel like a game) And I can’t bring myself to use Microsoft Flight Simulator (it pre-dates the Mac!) on a Windows PC.
I’d love to hear from the readers of this blog: what areas does the Mac lag behind or is non-existent? I’m thinking your answers may just help me decide where to focus my search for my next job. And speaking of job, feel free to contact me if you need a Viral Marketing, Web 2.0, or Social Web consultant to help you out with your marketing. I’m available for rent at steve@MarketingApple.com or my iPhone at 603.930.2490
You mentioned the gaming market and I think it is fair to say that OS X has lagged there. If you would like, I can plug you into a number of folks at companies like Aspyr and such.
However, a market near and dear to my heart is scientific applications for OS X. Apple at one time made huge inroads to the bioscience community and OS X has helped significantly in the recovery, but we are still missing many tools or have to deal with a number of companies providing tools that only ship with Windows specific solutions. Imagine dropping $1Million dollars on a microscope and then having the company tell you not to plug the Windows system that drives it into the Internet… This sort of thing happens all over the imaging market with microscopes and other image capture devices in a many multi-million/billion dollar market.
Steve:
Best of luck in whichever direction the wind takes you. I’m sure you’ll do great.
Best always,
– Peter
Real Estate software.
All the packages access the same databases, so why are there no Mac versions?
“Real Estate software.”
After having had to suffer using Windows to revise a real estate page for a client I whole heartedly agree. You can’t get into those horrid ASP real estate sites to do maintenance unless you use Windows. Even then you have use their even more horrid page templates.
Stev-
Good luck. As a Realtor, I will also say that most of the companies who sel software for contact management, marketing as well as many of the MLS systems are Windows only or IE specific. In fact, the only reason I have XP on my Mac is to access my MLS. That said, I have always felt that FileMaker was a missed opportunity on the Mac.
I used to do a lot of development back in the vers 3/4 days. I remember when FM/Apple were going to release all of the se great templates so that the consumer acutally could use FMP. Unfortunately, I don’t think this ever happened. I see they just release a new product but it is 10.5 compat only so I’ll have to wait until I upgrade.
You are right about the old days for Mac games. Flight simulators, sprorts games, etc are nn-existant on the Mac. I have more games for my Mac Plus (on disk) than I do for my iMac. It’s funny that 20 years ago I had the time to play a 50 hour game but there weren’t any (anyone remember Wizardry) and now these are the only games out there and I don;’t have the time!!
Perhaps a place to look is FrontRow. I wish there was a UI like that for the Finder. Imagine replacing Movis, Songs, TV shows with Spreadsheets, Documents, Emails, etc in a way that made finding them easy and uncluttered.
As much as I love OS X, managing folders, windows and searches is still too cluttered and confusing. Email me if you want to develop an idea along these lines!!!
Best of luck.
Barry
For your djay gig: try djay http://www.algoriddim.net/ Free I think.
I went with Windows earlier this year b/c of two main reasons.
1. I like to have all of my windows maximized. Mac makes me do this manually. At least give me the option to have it done automatically across the board.
2. Many sites and free software doesn’t work or work as well on a Mac.
Here’s something I wanted the other day.
I saw a commercial for the Juke, which I think is at Verizon. It’s mp3 player + cell phone.
Currently, Mac only has iPods and iPhone – but nothing in between. If there was a phone that had an iPod, but didn’t require the $60-100 monthly fees at ATT – that would be fabulous.
I’ve also been impressed with Dell’s conversation and social media efforts. Whenver I wrote a post (good or bad) about the Inspiron purchasing process – a Dell rep commented or contacted me.
I haven’t used it but Native Instruments Traktor seems to be a very good DJ tool.
http://www.native-instruments.com/index.php?id=traktor3&L=0
Davidnkeng: The iPhone does not require a subscription if you hack it. You could also wait for a couple of years, when the iPhone is set free.
Hey Steve
what about running Virtual DJ in Mac Parallels? I used a lot of those progs and Virtual DJ is the best by miles.
Lastly, wish you the best for your future plans, why not take a trip to Cape Town (South Africa) and come visit us here at Yeigo – maybe we can peak your interest? If nothing else its the most beautiful summer down here right now 🙂
Steve-
One prgram used for Dj’ing on the Mac and PC is called Serato (http://www.serato.com/). It seems to be the standard out there for Dj’s. Of course Dj’s prefer it on the mac since there is little to bog down the system on a mac versus a PC.
As for a flight simulator. There is a pretty cool one built into Google Earth believe it or not. I ran into it and it seems fun, but I don’t play games, so I am most likely the wrong person to get an opinion about it. When you download Google Earth, there is a Flight simulator you can access from the toolbar menu. Check it out.
As for real estate, I know a lot of servers run the MLS property search database. Well, that became compatible within the last six months to Opera web browser. Unfortunately, I live in Bakersfield Ca. and the servers that host Bakersfield realtors are of course lagging behind the rest of the USA. But for those realtors who need access through there mac, just use Opera
Steve, if you are looking for another adventure, most business apps are really lacking in any kind of marketing or development expert advice. Loan officers who work with realtors are even worse off than the realtors themselves. The business world we live in, everything is always put to the “bottom line” (A term I wish would just die!!!) or is always just “good enough”. If any of these companies that provide service to many businesses wake up and see their customers are willing to pay more for less hassle, then they might realize that they want their software on a mac. I would suggest a POS system but Xsliva Lightspeed is the best I have ever seen so too late. Medical systems for mac like medical office stuff , billing, accounting and so on is in need of some serious help. If you look in those areas I am sure you will find more of a challenge as to what you are looking for. Those people in those areas are still thinking that Windows machines are actually “perfect for the job at hand” (a sentiment I find absurd and laughable)