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Damage Control – 3 reasonable solutions for Apple
I think Apple could do some damage control by taking a few simple steps.
1. Update FCS to allow multiple seats using the same serial on the same LAN. That eliminates the ‘we can’t expand’ argument for existing users – and lets you continue to work using the features you need. The point of Final Cut is to sell more macs – since they’re not selling the old studio anymore, it’s not like multiple copies will hurt their bottom line in the least. I think this is the most important request, FYI. We held off on buying a second seat because of FCPX. That’s not good.
2. Give a timeline for the next update. Doesn’t have to be exact, but an indication on when to expect fixes and improvements would at least take out the anxiety of whether these updates are coming at all. This gives users a better idea of whether they should move on or not. If the feature you truly need won’t be supported (like XML), you’ll be able to switch with confidence – and perhaps restore your shaken faith in Apple’s commitment to top of the line users.
3. Confirm that support for FCS will continue through Lion. Not compatibility – but support. Updates, bug fixes, etc.
I think these are very logical and realistic requests. Obviously Apple’s got to have some time to figure this out, discuss software solutions, etc. I’m putting this out there in the off chance someone at Apple with decision making power reads it.
John Davidson | President / Creative Director | Magic Feather Inc.
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8 Replies
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All very good ideas. If the folks at Apple simply realize that the majority of their bad karma was created by their handling of FCS, not FCP X, they could indeed salvage much of the good will they built in this community over ten years and then destroyed in just the last few days.
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles
https://www.drwfilms.comDon’t miss my new tutorial: Prepare for a seamless transition to FCP X and OS X Lion
https://library.creativecow.net/weiss_roth_david/FCP-10-MAC-Lion/1POST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
Creative COW contributing editor and a forum host of the Business & Marketing and Apple Final Cut Pro forums.
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David
That is a very insightful statement. Very true.
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Thanks David! Just goes to show, even a broken clock is right twice a day. 🙂
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles
https://www.drwfilms.comDon’t miss my new tutorial: Prepare for a seamless transition to FCP X and OS X Lion
https://library.creativecow.net/weiss_roth_david/FCP-10-MAC-Lion/1POST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
Creative COW contributing editor and a forum host of the Business & Marketing and Apple Final Cut Pro forums.
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I think Apple needs to go considerably further.
Problem Apple is facing is loss of trust. They’ve ticked off my clients who have spent thousands on MacPros. Those clients just crossed “FCP upgrades” from their budgets. They’ve ticked off a lot of editors for misleading us as to the capabilities of FCP X. I feel like I’ve been Faux Newsed.
Marketing will tell you, it is much easier to get a new customer than it is to regain an unhappy one. Right now I am an unhappy one.
so….
Abject apology from Steve Jobs himself for the misleading marketing campaign and what I consider lies buy omission during their presentations previous to the release of FCP X. Acknowledge the fact that essentially FCP X is NOT facility ready. Single users are probably okay to some extent as long as they don’t mind popping 10 layers on their timeline to do an old fashioned NLE multi-cam edit.
Take SS3 of of EOL, sell it again, support it fully, even if it means adding a few more capabilities in a 7.5 version. For free.
Fire anyone who thought that leaving out multi cam for the initial release was a good idea and that EDL’s were too old fashioned.
Better yet, get them a Windows ME computer and force them to use it for the next 2 years. Okay the last sentence tongue in cheek but Apple will have to quickly bend over backwards to regain some of the lost trust. I know some people complain about Avid but if you look back at the past 10 years, most films and episodic TV shows are still cut in Avid. On the other side, Adobe CS 5.5 has a great price point because you can put it on a much cheaper high performance PC. Plus it is starting to get beautifully integrated between Premiere and AE and Photoshop , etc. -
For the record.
I really value your presence here. I am apreciating it along with all of the passionate debate flying around these days.
David
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Believe me. Everything is a lie. -
You’ve made my day David.
Thanks, I needed that.
David
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles
https://www.drwfilms.comDon’t miss my new tutorial: Prepare for a seamless transition to FCP X and OS X Lion
https://library.creativecow.net/weiss_roth_david/FCP-10-MAC-Lion/1POST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™
Creative COW contributing editor and a forum host of the Business & Marketing and Apple Final Cut Pro forums.
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[David Battistella] “I really value your presence here. I am apreciating it along with all of the passionate debate flying around these days. “
Agree. David and John, amongst others, have been voices of reason in a sea of hysteria.
David is right. The problem is not necessarily the product (undercooked as it may be), but rather the way in which it was released. Apple really should have just held out until XML and OMF were included and external monitoring was supported. I think we would have been more willing to overlook the other shortfalls and give them time to implement them. Releasing it without those features was only ever going freak the “pros” out and incite the “Apple’s abandoning pro’s” and “it’s iMovie plus” type responses that we’ve seen. It’s unfortunate, because FCP X really DOES have some truly professional underpinnings, even if they’re not quite visible at first glance (or indeed, fully incorporated yet) – I would be a shame if the program died on the vine due to a botched release strategy.
Like John said (if anyone from Apple is reading this), all you really need to do is:
– Convert all FCP7 licences to volume licences
– Support FCP7 for at least 6 months or until FCPX reaches reasonable feature parity
– Issue a short OFFICIAL statement stating that you intend to restore vital pro features in a timely manner
– Apologise for creating all this unnecessary confusion and consternation (showing a little humility wouldn’t hurt your brand right now – maintaining silence will just reek of arrogance and further turn people away).
– Perhaps issue some free training material to help people make the migration across to the new workflow. -
[Marcus Pun] “Problem Apple is facing is loss of trust.”
Yep. They’ve gone and applied their consumer product release strategy to a professional product and it just doesn’t fly.
In this arena you can’t talk yourself up and not deliver – your marketing and PR is only as good as the product you release. And this product – whilst a good base to build upon – is NOT what they promised.
I WANT to see Apple and FCP X succeed, but I fear their arrogance and pig headedness may lead to their downfall.
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