I ran across a quaint little collection of quizzes on the net the other day.  One of which is linked above, “Are you a Mac Fan( boy || girl )?” Don’t get me wrong, I love my iMac.  I really do.  By far it is the most functional computer I have ever owned and/or operated.  The interoperability of hardware and software is far superior to anything around.  It makes getting things done so simple, so easy -- whether it is creating a BLOG entry or capturing video footage, editing it, and turning it into a polished, professional looking DVD for friends; it’s as easy as 1-2-3, apple pie, or at least it was.

Yes, you read that right.  It was that easy. Was being the operative word. Like the hypodermic needle above shows you, I’m not an Apple addict. I’m not a mindless apple drone.  I got this machine to get things done and although it was flawless and perfect to begin with, one upgrade later I’m blogging and questioning the wisdom of Apple.

I recently upgraded to a new HDD camcorder. I have been using the camcorder a lot.  I really like it.  JVC did a fantastic job.  It’s small, powerful, awesome picture, no tapes, super optics, great resolution, tons of record time, superb all around. I can’t say enough great things about it. And with all things new, I had to upgrade to iMovie 8.0 to support the new technology.  Sure, fine, that’s expected.  What I didn’t expect is the crippling differences between iMovie HD and iMovie 8.0.

iMovie 8.0 boasts some major improvements over iMovie HD in the way you edit.  It’s intuitive, next generation, easy, fast, clean, fun, etc.  As I used it to edit out the not so perfect video work I did, I really fell in love with it.  The two together -- JVC HDD camcorder and iMovie 8.0 -- created a HUGE TIME SAVINGS.  Importing the footage was faster than real time.  Editing the footage was streamlined and lightning fast.  I was in heaven at first.  This was going to mean I could produce polished videos faster than ever before.  I’d have more time to maybe produce more videos, cure cancer, work on world peace, end poverty, or stop global warming.

Do you grok how great that was?  Again, was being the operative word in that last sentence. 

I had captured and edited three separate projects in record time. I was now ready to burn some DVDs. So, in iMovie 8.0 I chose the menu option Share and ... what? Where was iDVD?

I expected the iTunes and .Mac share options. O.K. and I’ll admit “You Tube” was a nice addition; but, not at the expense of iDVD!  Wilco Tango Foxtrot Batman? What moronic intern at Apple made that decision? Can you say, Bone-Head?

So, I had the Microsoft-ish task of figuring out how to fit a square peg in a round hole.  Annoying. 

Google is your friend.  Search the net.  I’m not the only one to have this problem am I?  Nope, lots of people have complained and posted about it.  Good.  Only, there are no good solutions.  Damn it.

I’m beginning to think that Apple has been infiltrated by Microsoft engineers in an effort to make Apple suck more like the Seattle based computer-suck-megacorp. But that belongs on a conspiracy theory website.  I have no proof.

So, in iMovie HD, when I had edited a project and was ready to do the next logical thing (output to DVD), I only had to choose the iDVD option and presto-change-o!  I was cooking with gas.

Now I had to export my iMovie 8.0 project with the “Export using Quicktime...” share option, save the movie to DV stream, import the DV movie into iMovie HD, add chapters (another bone-headed-omission in iMovie 8.0), share with iDVD, choose a theme, tidy up my menus, burn to disk image, load the image in Toast, and burn to DVD.  This is just like the crap I had to go through with my old XP setup. I bought the Mac to get away from stupid crap like this.

Why the omission?  What was Apple thinking?  And more importantly, when is Apple going to fix it?  I want a patch.  Now!