and my sons Steven, Robert & Scott,
whose unwavering belief in my abilities
made me believe in them myself,
to Tom Burke, the truest of friends,
whose honest opinions have saved me
from my own folly more than once,
and to Freddie Geier, Stefan Bauer-Schwan
& Thomas Herpich, my esteemed
colleagues and friends, whose great work
changed the world of DVD authoring,
and my life with it.
imho writing a well pointed dedication is among the hardest parts of writing. dont think so? imagine you just forgot that one person…
I must say that my life too was changed by those who brought Apple’s contribution to DVD authoring. I have been using DVD Studio Pro since 1.0, and boy has that product seen a lot of evolution in only a few years. My first DVD contained two titles complete with scene selection menus and surround sound, and took only one night to make. Playing it back in a set-top DVD player was an amazingly satisfying “Hello, world!” experience.
Now, I’m onto DVDSP 4, and have created DVDs for documentaries, corporate presentations, weddings, demo reels, art installations, concerts, and events with family and friends. And I’m still a student. That’s how accessible Apple makes even the most complex technology.
Of course iDVD makes things even easier. For a couple of summers, I taught it to kids aged 9-14. And by “taught it,” I mean “showed them where iDVD was in the Dock.” After that, they needed no further instruction and were creating professional quality DVDs of their iMovie projects. It was amazing.
So, thank you Mike and your team, and thank you Apple.
P.S. – I’m also interested in both marketing and presentations… so following this project is triple the fun for me.
Hi Mike,
I feel really honored being part of “The Dedication”
. I just can not wait holding your book in my hands! Your writing style is so entertaining and I can only agree with your impressions of Steve and the time at Apple. I enjoyed every minute at Apple… OK, not *every* minute but most of them 
. Apple really changed my life in a positive way.
Keep on writing!
Stefan
Great to have you here Stefan.
Here is one thing I have to say:
I have never found a better description of Steve and the life at Apple than your blook. I had the chance to be part of Apple for about one year and I have to agree 100%!
Stefan