One good thing about X

[Matt Callac]

Are you telling me that you PAY apple for Support and Communication in the past and that have provided it? Because that’s not the apple support I know if. If apple had good software support for their ProApps the FCP Forum on the cow would not be as popular as it is. I once called apple when they released Qmaster as part of the Studio bundle. I needed support b/c it wasn’t working properly. They told me that product wasn’t covered under The Application support. So they sold me a product as part of a bundle but I don’t get support for that product?

If that’s what you’re complaining about losing…Fine. That has merit, I’ve never found it helpful at all.

Just because Support ends for a product doesn’t mean it’s unusable. Some people are still running FCP 4 and making money doing so.

Here’s an analogy. I bought a Pontiac G6 in 2006. In 2009 GM ends the pontiac line. Am I out $16,000 now? No. I still have a car that runs and does everything it did before. Do I lose the existing warranty that I was in. Maybe, But but really that only becomes an issue if something fails on the car. Now I might have to pay out of pocket if something fails in the last year of my 3 year warranty.

-mattyc

[Scott Sheriff]

[Matt Callac] “Here’s an analogy. I bought a Pontiac G6 in 2006. In 2009 GM ends the pontiac line.”

I’m glad you brought that up. Did you know that auto dealers are required to provide parts support for ten years? This is why 40 years after the fact there is so much NOS parts floating around. They have to make sure they make enough to satisfy that requirement.

As I have said a hundred times, support (updates) and communication is something that goes with a professional equipment. I don’t give a rats ass about how apple does it, because my point is they advertised and sold this as a professional solution. Quit making excuses for apple, and trying to put the blame on the users. I bought a professional editing, mixing, conform, and motion graphics package. I don’t think it is unreasonable to expect 5 years of life and support. I don’t think it is unreasonable to expect some notice of discontinuation. If you think that it is OK for apple to do this, just because it’s apple, well then you’re a blockhead. And I don’t really think you are, so why don’t you get on the side of the good guys and quit attacking those of us who have been left high and dry. It is never OK for a corporation to make false and inflated claims to sell something. And it does not make it OK because everyone should have known this how they do it.
So when those folks that took the FCS certification class in the last six months or less post with complaints, are you going to tell them they didn’t suffer any loss because that info is still in their head? Or that is just how apple is?

Scott Sheriff
Director
https://www.sstdigitalmedia.com

I have a system, it has stuff in it, and stuff hooked to it. I have a camera, it can record stuff. I read the manuals, and know how to use this stuff and lots of other stuff too.
You should be suitably impressed…

“If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur.” —Red Adair

[David Roth weiss]

[Scott Sheriff] ” I bought a professional editing, mixing, conform, and motion graphics package. I don’t think it is unreasonable to expect 5 years of life and support. I don’t think it is unreasonable to expect some notice of discontinuation. “

There’s no doubt about it, a company like Apple should, as a normal course of doing business and as a courtesy to its customers (especially its business customers), have a well-documented policy that fully explains it’s on-going commitment of support for it’s discontinued products for a period of years after the product end of life is announced.

According to published reports, Apple pulled Final Cut Studio 3 from the shelves a week in advance of the release of FCP X. The company then declared it officially a “dead product” on the same day as their release of the FCP X, with no warnings and with no official statements about any of it’s plans for on-going support. To date there is still no official word from Apple regarding the future availability of the files necessary to manage and maintain the 2-million FCS 3 installations the company claims it has sold worldwide.

No matter what your feelings might be about FCP X, it’s hard, if not impossible, to deny that Apple’s decisions and handling of the end of life of Final Cut Studio have tarnished it’s good reputation. It’s not too late to admit a mistake; if Apple would just say “oops,” it can still avoid a shameful stain on the company’s good name.

David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor/Colorist
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles
https://www.drwfilms.com

Don’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/1

POST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY ™

Creative COW contributing editor and a forum host of the Business & Marketing and Apple Final Cut Pro forums.