Poet Ponders the Digital

English: The logo for Apple Computer, now Apple Inc.. The design of the logo started in 1977 designed by Rob Janoff with the rainbow color theme used until 1999 when Apple stopped using the rainbow color theme and used a few different color themes for the same design. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Apple needs a revamp. It has turned into a big phone maker, with little side hobbies in computing, software, and television. Sure, by any metric, the computing and software side is huge, but these feel like afterthoughts at the current Apple Inc. Apple Computer is no more, I realize, and the computer world today is nothing like the 1980s or even 2000, when a desktop computer was necessary for basic work. But, someone has to code and create content. To create content requires a big, powerful, computer. I have some suggestions for Apple, which are unlikely to be read. Spin off the software so it becomes the primary focus of a stand-alone company or two companies. In fact, two is better...

Fourteen units into my MFA in Film and Digital Technology, I passed the Apple certification exam for Final Cut Pro X 10.2 (Post-Production). As a believer in digital composition and new media, having the skills to edit audio and video — and the ability to teach those skills — was important to me. But, as a colleague noted, credentialism is fading quickly in the technology industry. Finally, people have realized passing an exam is not indicative of having essential job skills.  When I was in college, Novell NetWare certification was the golden ticket to many jobs. Networking was a mix of hardware and software, with little standardization. Testing assured a minimal level of knowledge. Today we have the return of the Builder/Maker culture that started the PC revolution. People learn to build Raspberry Pi contraptions, with Arduino controllers and Java or C code. Networks are easy, relatively speaking, compared to building a home robot. The reason to take any exam today is to ...