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Final Cut Pro X versus Premiere Pro CS6 by Oliver Peters
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The option of short turnaround updates wasn’t viable until the end of physical discs, the marketing and the mechanics around that.
Apple has been able to that with FCPX. Adobe may start to do that with CS and judging from what they’ve said, subscribers will get updates before purchasers.
Logic X has nothing to do with this. It’s probably undergoing a ground up rewrite. At this point I believe it’s the only app Apple purchased outside, remaining.
This is a discussion based on the frequency of updates. That’s the subject of this discussion. FCPX feature upgrades have been more frequent then when legacy was delivered by disc. It is more frequent than other NLEs which had been delivered by disc. Their model of delivery was”held back” because the business model is/was focused on a paid upgrade which included the option of a physical disc. I’ve seen no evidence otherwise.
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[Oliver Peters] “I don’t think there’s any difference in this versus how Adobe and Avid operate. It gets down to marketing. “
Marketing is a BIG difference. It is the business model. It’s not about can it or could it have been done. The fact is Apple IS doing it, providing new features within the current framework, faster than other NLEs. I suspect Adobe may change that but the FACT is Apple is doing it now and has been since the first feature upgrade for FCPX.
[Oliver Peters] “The key technical difference for Apple is their updates (with the newest OS versions) can be released as patches, because they have hooks into the OS that no one else does. “
And that counts. Although we’re talking about new features (at least within the “new paradigm) not simply fixes, just to be clear.
[Oliver Peters] “That’s pretty transparent with Premiere and in fact”
But feature additions have been around paid upgrades and distribution of disc even if that wasn’t the only means of distribution. It is/was the business model. A gathering of new features for paid upgrades. For Adobe, the big change is that the subscriber will not have to worry about paid upgrades, that they will get new features before the upfront purchasers (even though discs are about gone).
Apple has been rolling out new features since the first such they’ve done for FCPX.
Adobe seems to be moving to that model differentiating subscribers from purchasers.
Avid…. nothing. No announced or hinted change in their business model of feature delivery. -
[Craig Seeman] “Avid…. nothing. No announced or hinted change in their business model of feature delivery.”
Not completely correct. No more physical discs either. Update methods and schedules changed with 6.0.
– Oliver
Oliver Peters Post Production Services, LLC
Orlando, FL
http://www.oliverpeters.com -
[Craig Seeman] “The option of short turnaround updates wasn’t viable until the end of physical discs, the marketing and the mechanics around that.”
The end of physical discs does nothing to change marketing and accounting priorities.
[Craig Seeman] “The fact is Apple IS doing it, providing new features within the current framework, faster than other NLEs.”
All of those “new features” were likely in development from the very beginning and simply held back from release because they wen’t ready. For example, the multicam demo is the exact same Audi spot from the initial release before the multicam feature was introduced. Coincidence? I don’t think so.
Also, keep in mind that the app store doesn’t have a currently mechanism for charging for updates. Apple may need to hold back major updates beyond patches just to be able to get paid more than once.
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David Lawrence
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[Craig Seeman] ” FCPX feature upgrades have been more frequent then when legacy was delivered by disc.”
Craig,
I’m not sure that’s entirely true.
From April 2003 (FCP4) – April 2004 (FCP4.5) – May 2005 (FCP5) is 25 months, 3 major versions (and maybe 4 because wasn’t 4.1 the cocoa version? memory fails me) plus all the point upgrades. I can’t find a comprehensive history (and those here may have better memory than I) but it’s certainly comparable to the past 20 months of X.
Franz.
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[Oliver Peters] “Not completely correct. No more physical discs either. Update methods and schedules changed with 6.0.”
That is news. Thanks for noting that. It does mean Avid may well roll out features as they happen. It might actually more important to them given their financial situation. That may mean examining how they handle upgrades. It’ll be interesting to see if there’s any pattern change compared to previous release schedules.
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[David Lawrence] “The end of physical discs does nothing to change marketing and accounting priorities.”
It can impact marketing since one may not market around a single “big feature release.”
It can also impact how one handles paid upgrades.
In the past the marketing and upgrades also included physical discs even if they weren’t the only way to purchase.Whether practices actually change, we’ll know over time. So far Apple has released features more frequently than for legacy and without cost to the end user. Note… SO FAR. That has been the pattern.
[David Lawrence] “All of those “new features” were likely in development from the very beginning and simply held back from release because they wen’t ready. For example, the multicam demo is the exact same Audi spot from the initial release before the multicam feature was introduced. Coincidence? I don’t think so.”
Many programs are developed with parallel paths. 1.0 and 1.0.x at the same time (x being a new feature). That’s common. So Apple is doing nothing different in that department. You present it as if it’s a revelation. I believe Ubillos mentioned a 10 year plan. Who knows what’s being worked on already.
[David Lawrence] “Also, keep in mind that the app store doesn’t have a currently mechanism for charging for updates. Apple may need to hold back major updates beyond patches just to be able to get paid more than once.”
Or they may not. I wouldn’t speculate on that. There’s no previous history to base that speculation on. Since the beginning of iTunes apps, which predates the Mac App Store, there has been no mechanism for upgrades so there’s nothing to base a change on.
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[Franz Bieberkopf] “From April 2003 (FCP4) – April 2004 (FCP4.5) – May 2005 (FCP5) is 25 months, 3 major versions”
Granted that was a relatively short period not equaled since as FCP legacy progressed from 5 to 7.
For FCPX
10.0.0 June 2011
10.0.3 January 2012
10.0.6 October 2012
16 months
and some suspect the next update will also have a major feature addition given duration between bug fixes and feature addition.Speculative of course but
10.0.8 April 2013
would be 22 months for the fourth on the list for X.Of course one can argue that this period may end up being just as exceptional as 4 to 4.5, to 5.
We’ll have to see how the year progresses. -
[Craig Seeman] “That is news. “
In 2011 😉
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Avid ceased physical discs in 2011?
Mind you I’m not talking offering both, I’m talking about file based as an only option.
As long as there is a disc based option major feature released tend to be centered around that.If Avid has been file only since 2011 then they’ve really blown an opportunity IMHO.
Especially since Apple is doing frequent feature (catch up or not) upgrades and Adobe has already states that feature upgrades will be rolled out to subscribers that up front purchasers won’t get at those points.
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