It's worth stating that Jobs introduced GarageBand by quoting a
poll that stated that 40% of households have two or more
people in them that play a musical instrument. Not sure what the
poll is: it may have been this Gallup
poll. At least that one confirms that statistic with similar
figures.
According to it, Mike may be excluding the 42% of people (real and
unreal, 35-50) who regularly play a musical instrument. Sure all
that noodling may be what Mike sees as "consuming" tunes other
people have devised, but that doesn't mean that you don't want to
record and remix your noodling.
Actually, the more I think about it, the more I'm completely
confused by Mike's differentiation between "organising and using"
and "creating". My Dad just sent me a CD of photos he took.
According to Mike, that's "organising and using". If he stuck one
of the nice templates that kind Mr Jobs gives you to master a DVD
of said albums with a menu, and burnt that, why is he suddenly
"creating"?
A sizeable chunk of my friends at school (not me, I'm tone deaf)
were in bands. When they record themselves on tape, presumably
that's "using". When they mix themselves, that's "creating"?
I think it's one of those "technology is stuff that wasn't around
when you were born" divisions. "Recording/photographing/CD burning
is passive, easy stuff. Multitrack/video/DVD mastering: that takes
professional skillz."
This division isn't about creativity: it's whether cut-down
versions for amateurs have created a new undermarket mirroring the
professionals. The passive skills Mike describes are just passive
because the tools we use have passed into common usage, usually in
a cheap, easy-to-use form.
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