

iWork 13 - A Huge Regression - srhngpr
http://www.libertypages.com/clarktech/?p=6597

======
srhngpr
Looks like the site is getting hammered right now. Here is the text in the
meantime:

 _So after waiting all day all the iWork Mavericks updates showed up in the
MAS. With great trepidation I waited for them to download. Would all the
problems users had been sending to Apple the past 4 years finally be fixed?
The announcement today of a total rewrite might mean that Numbers finally had
some speed and could take at least some of the workload we’d had to use Excel
for. For many people being able to get rid of Excel would be welcome. Yet a
rewrite might also mean a few fixes more oriented towards the iOS versions
rather than how many pros and small businesses use iWork. I know I have a huge
number of scripts — often with complicated hacks to get around the limits in
Pages and Number’s incomplete Applescript Dictionaries.

Here’s the bad news. They won’t work now. Effectively Applescript support is
gone. Numbers doesn’t even have a dictionary. And Pages has had nearly
everything removed.

I could go on about how almost none of the problems I’ve been griping about
for four years in Numbers have been fixed. But what’s the point. Apple has
spoken. It wants the OSX iWork to basically be the same as the iOS version and
designed purely for casual use. By making it free they kill the market for any
competitors other than Office. So if you run a small office, even if you hate
MS-Office, there’s really no alternative anymore.

The bigger question is what this means about Applescript. But I think that’s
clear. Despite a session at WWDC which raised my hopes, clearly Apple’s
completely abandoned it. There’s no scripting for so many of their apps and so
little evangelism that it’s hardly surprising so few 3rd party apps now
support it.

What I suspect Apple doesn’t realize is how much small business and small
shops workflow depends upon Applescript. Casual use is fine. But a lot of
people do more. It wouldn’t be so bad were there an alternative. This isn’t
just like Apple not upgrading the MacPro. This is like Apple not upgrading the
MacPro for four years, then announcing that the MacMini is the new MacPro. And
discontinuing FCPX, Aperture, and it’s other pro apps and telling you to use
iPhoto and iMovie.

Can you tell I’m depressed?_

------
maibaum
Imagine the outrage that would ensue if Microsoft pulled a similar move with
Excel and VB

