In praise of Garageband - Austin Kleon

Garageband turned 15 yesterday. It was introduced at Macworld by Steve Jobs in January 2004. It’s so accessible and ubiquitous now, it’s easy to take for granted just how amazing a piece of software it really is.

I recently read an article critiquing Apple’s current price. One of the central causes of frustration for the author was the presence of GarageBand for free. He claimed it was used as a justification for the price of Apple hardware and no one used it anyway. He used it once and the song he made sucked so it sucks.

I love the surprise that a writer could have to the fact that he tried something once and wasn’t good at it. You’d think a writer should know that any creative craft requires persistence.

Anyway, I actually find myself somewhere between Austin and the unnamed tech writers article. I’ve used GarageBand for many projects over time, podcasts mainly. I’ve also been frustrated at that great idea for a song taking me five hours to work on and still not being any good at the end. I’m grateful GarageBand is in the Mac and iOS and long may that continue.