I own a Mac Pro, and my brother has been considering getting one for HD video editing of amateur/no-budget movies. The market for the Mac Pro has been shrinking for a while with many people that would have previously chosen a Mac Pro, choosing an iMac or MacBook Pro. The recent rumours of Apple considering ending the product line has given me pause to consider what the future might be for computer users with high needs.
I’ve written a series of articles exploring the future of the Mac Pro. I’ve split it to consider the wider context separately from Apple and the Mac Pro itself.
Future of computing in general
Computers have always been increasing in power and affordability. Over the last few decades, this has manifested as computers becoming more available and giving us new abilities to do and create. At Backyard Productions, the impact has been clear in the movies we’ve made since 1994.
Computers continue to get more powerful and affordable, but we are in a transition of how that trend manifests. We’re seeing them explode in a market for consuming media. In the next few decades we’ll see computers shrink and embed themselves ubiquitously in our lives, with appliances becoming more computer-like and computers becoming more appliance-like.
Computers will continue to grow as a tool for creating, and the increased accessibility that comes with computers becoming more appliance-like will translate into more people using computers to create.
The next article explores Apple’s position and direction.
