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Avid laying off 120 people
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53 Replies
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This really should be in the Business Forum.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author.
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gee, maybe they should have lowered their prices A LONG TIME AGO.
gee, maybe they should be nicer to their customers, like answering questions without a $4000 support contract per system (kind of like EVERYONE ELSE in our industry).
Bob Zelin
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Bob,
Good points. I’d add that maybe they should have also been involved in sites like the COW rather than trying to drive all the interest in anything to do with them, back into Avid.com. Yes, that way they control their user base but by doing what they have done, they have also made sure that anyone considering their options will find everyone else but Avid. At least in the vast majority of cases.
I remember when they hired the customer advocate from Media 100 to build interaction with their community and the first thing that she and her team did was to work to drive the traffic from sites like the COW over to Avid.com. I remember telling some of the COW’s leaders back then that this was a strategy that would backfire, as it was akin to founding a religion based on celibacy as one of its tenets of faith. If there are few new converts to the thing, it has to die out over time.
Avid is a strong company but I suspect that their place in the food chain is going to weaken and erode in the days ahead. They will survive, and will likely enjoy a decreasingly small but strong niche that serves a specific buyer well. But growth? That is not going to happen for Avid. To quote my friend Tim Wilson: that ship has sailed.
Ron Lindeboom
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There have been few experiences more joyful, fulfilling, and financially rewarding than when we switched from PC/Avid to FCP 4 years ago. The real shame was I learned on Avid – they had me – but they didn’t see the dark horse of FCP coming for them until it was too late. Who was really going to drop 50k just to get SDI in/outs? Come on, man….
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They are good now. They are listening NOW and making great leaps and bounds NOW. But one problem is that they were so difficult to deal with and ignored their customers for years, and that is tough for many people to get over. I know many people who will never go back. Because the platform they switched to FROM Avid now works fine for them.
This is a shame. I really like the software, and it is a LOT better. And I like the fact they are listening to us, and that they made the software cheaper so that it wasn’t only affordable by the BIG places. But the problem is that, well, they still are too expensive…the HARDWARE is. The software is VERY feature rich and is leaps and bounds above the competition in many areas. But the hardware is still VERY expensive, and isn’t nearly as feature rich as stuff 1/10th the cost.
I like the software, and I like the new company, so I hope they they recover. They are still the best solution for many many workflows. But their old ways are tough for people to shake, and the hardware is still too expensive. That is one thing that is holding me back from switching back entirely.
Shane
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[Shane Ross] “But their old ways are tough for people to shake,”
That’s the reason why I will never go back to Avid unless I absolutely, positively MUST go back to them.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author.
HD Post and Production
Biscardi Creative Media“Foul Water, Fiery Serpent” now in Post.
Creative Cow Forum Host:
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I think that in the past the market was drove by big companies (TV stations, media networks,..) making big purchases. Multimillions dollars contracts signed by executives that just happens to work for such kind of companies. Distributors could live for ever with just few contract a year (maintenance, training,..).
In the early 90’s in my country the distributors of the big companies (SONY, ABEKAS, AVID,..) became RICH (some of the purchasing executives too).Today the driving force of this market have moved. Small companies and free-lance moves more than the big companies, and in general the guy who buy is the guy that use the equipment.
There are also small companies offering products that competes in quality and price with the bigs.
The technology is not anymore in the hands of two. Today an small teams are able to develop thing like the RED or the NANO.
Lets add to this the reluctance to the big companies due to the historical miss treatment to the “no much rich” customers.
I’m just sad for these 120 persons that will loose their job.
Cheers,
Rafael -
It has been 4 years since we moved away from AVID, last month was time for an upgrade and of course it was FCP all across the board again. 4 Edit stations with a total of 28 MAC’s.
I cant imagine how much it would have cost if we tried to it with AVID.I feel for the 120 people as well but I think in a 5-6 years AVID will become a storage solution only. Who knows?
Emre Tufekci
http://www.productionpit.com -
[Emre Tufekci S.O.A.] “but I think in a 5-6 years AVID will become a storage solution only. Who knows?”
Well they already took and then killed my favorite storage company, Medéa. Even called me personally to assure me that the brand and products would still be around for purchase. After that call is when I started looking for other solutions.
Walter Biscardi, Jr.
Editor, Colorist, Director, Writer, Consultant, Author.
HD Post and Production
Biscardi Creative Media“Foul Water, Fiery Serpent” now in Post.
Creative Cow Forum Host:
Apple Final Cut Pro, Apple Motion, Apple Color, AJA Kona, Business & Marketing, Maxx Digital. -
[walter biscardi] “Even called me personally to assure me that the brand and products would still be around for purchase.”
That was THREE teams back, Walter. ;o)
They likely meant every word they were saying but when whole teams change out as radically as they have at Avid, things change with them.
Ron Lindeboom
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