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Change, it’s what’s for dinner
I saw this cartoon the other day and it made me chuckle.
I like that instead of the typical ‘stupid user’ punch line it’s actually a very creative user that turned a shortcoming of the program into a benefit. I think it’s also a humorous example of how a kludgy workaround can morph into standard operating procedure.
On a somewhat related note I also found this article on Slate.com called “The Danger of Good Enough“. The name kinda says it all. If things are ‘good enough’ then it’s harder to launch something better as users are typically fine when things are good as opposed to when things suck and users are ripe to accept something better if it comes along. You also get a brief look at the history of the Internet pop-up ad.
And that got me thinking about the book “The Innovator’s Dilemma” which talks about why established companies can sometimes be unseated by newer, smaller companies. The book raises a lot of good points but I feel like it basically boils down to this, the less you have to lose the easier it is to swing for the fences. Because the focus of the book primarily on established players falling to up-and-comers it does give you the feeling upstarts never falter even though, like most endeavors, there are many more failures than successes.
What does this have to do with NLEs? Maybe a little. Maybe a lot. Maybe too much by way of excessive extrapolation. Certainly more than one way to skin a cat and between the three A’s, Lightworks and Blackmagic there is a lot of representation about how to go about things (both from a business standpoint and an end product standpoint).
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7 Replies
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Thanks for sharing that cartoon. Technology really is great. Hoping there is no need to hold down the space bar to keep my iPad from getting too hot. 😉
I guess the Avid “good enough” approach is apparent from the interface and ways of working remain almost the same. On the other hand, earlier versions of FCP were the opposite, which is why FCP X came into existence. Sure, this has not changed an Earth shaking change in the market place but the innovation it has brought is worth noting.
Could keeping course because a select few resisting change hurt business? Possibly, but sometimes we have to take risks to keep the boat from sinking. Adobe took a risk going subscription only, time will tell how things play out. Apple did it with FCP X, was not pretty at first but the innovation it brought was worth it. Sometimes the everchanging dynamic changes, whether is economics, demographics or the mindset of people that makes risk taking a challenge, sometimes working out, other times, backfires. Now back to other important things.
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[David Mathis] “I guess the Avid “good enough” approach is apparent from the interface and ways of working remain almost the same. “
But that’s only looking at it skin deep. Over the last 5 years or so Avid has added options (options being the key word) that have allowed users to fundamentally change the way they use Avid MC if they so choose. The SmartTool introduced an un-Avid way of performing edits and navigating around the timeline. AMA (and native support of non-Avid codecs like ProRes and XDCAM) introduced an un-Avid way of importing and accessing media, and one of the biggest un-Avid things Avid did was allow MC to work with 3rd party I/O hardware. And this is only hitting the big things.
While the look of the interface hasn’t changed very much, the freedom given to users about how to use the program certainly has changed a lot.
When X first dropped I knew that it would add back features that weren’t there on launch day but I also knew that Adobe’s and Avid’s products were going to keep adding features too. The question I had then (and it’s still up in the air now) was, “If X adds back in Avid/PPro/FCP 7 features I need/want at about the same pace that Avid, PPro, etc., add in new/X-like features I need/want will I ever get to a point to where I feel the need to learn X?”
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[Andrew Kimery] ” “If X adds back in Avid/PPro/FCP 7 features I need/want at about the same pace that Avid, PPro, etc., add in new/X-like features I need/want will I ever get to a point to where I feel the need to learn X?”
“
That seems to be assuming FCPX is behind in every feature. On the other hand there are things in FCPX that the others are behind in and/or may have decided not to approach at all.
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[Craig Seeman] “That seems to be assuming FCPX is behind in every feature. On the other hand there are things in FCPX that the others are behind in and/or may have decided not to approach at all.”
It’s not assuming X is behind in every feature, just features that I (in this case) typically use, and there are certainly things that X does that other NLEs probably won’t ever do and vice versa.
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[David Mathis] “I guess the Avid “good enough” approach is apparent from the interface and ways of working remain almost the same. On the other hand, earlier versions of FCP were the opposite, which is why FCP X came into existence.”
I would take exception to the notion that earlier versions of FCP before FCPX weren’t “good enough”. Probably, so would the documentary makers who continue to use it. And the editors who’ve won Oscars with it. 😉
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David Lawrence
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Hey Andrew,
Beware of posting cartoons that might be construed as poking fun at Bill Davis, you saw what happened to those doing the same to Mohamed didn’t you?
David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss ProductionsDavid is a Creative COW contributing editor and a forum host of the Apple Final Cut Pro forum.
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[David Roth Weiss] ”
Beware of posting cartoons that might be construed as poking fun at Bill Davis, you saw what happened to those doing the same to Mohamed didn’t you?”zing!
The cartoon actually reminded me of some guys I used to cut with that still did multicam by stacking cameras angles on tracks even after FCP Legend added a multicam feature.
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