-
Should FCPX be at IBC and NAB
Good opinion piece by Peter Wiggins
Seems like he’s acknowledging what many know, but what is usually disregarded here.
Oliver
Oliver Peters – oliverpeters.com
-
61 Replies
-
Yes. Apple pro apps and hardware should attend NAB.
For Adobe and Premiere, pro apps ARE their business.
For Apple, the pro market is now a rounding error. Consequently, for pros who use their hardware and software, there is always, always the nagging doubt that they will just exit the market. Especially because their pro apps are often seen as lagging the industry and missing key features–I’m talking about you, FCPX and Motion. (And I’ve been using them since 2000).
Attendance at the biggest industry shows would reassure users (and prospective users) that they, well, care about the pro market and have no intention to leave. That alone is why they should attend.
If you have an iPhone or iPad, you can walk into your nearby Apple store, touch the product, talk with Apple employees.
Pro app users are left to commune in solitary (if terrific) online forums. Attending NAB would show that Apple really, really likes us, dammit!
-
Adobe’s core business is applications for creative professionals…and thus appears at creative professional conferences.
Avid’s core business is applications for creative professionals…and thus appears at creative professional conferences.
Microsoft’s core business is…hmm, not pro apps, but an OS and business software…yet, there it is, at NAB and IBC, because it DOES have a division that has a big foothold in these markets…Silverlight.
AMAZON…it’s core business is selling you stuff…but now also has a pretty big entertainment wing, so it’s at IBC and NAB.
Apple…it’s core business is making iComputers, and iPhones, and iPads. But as we all know it also makes professional video and photo applications. But why doesn’t it appear at trade shows…other than in a hotel room with a handful of attendees, after getting out some small announcement that few people get? I mean, Apple has the single largest user base of any NLE… So, maybe that’s why they don’t. They go, “why bother, we have our core users and we don’t need to spend $10M on a trade show appearance.” Odd, since $10M is like, what falls out of their pocket when they pull out their phone…so much nothing. NAB and IBC isn’t only for broadcast professionals…it’s for ALL video production, from web to wedding to corporate to realty to church and so much more.
It perplexed me when they stopped showing up. I heard that the reason was “we have our core, they will always support us, why waste the money?” Well, as stated above, I would think so that other people who are skeptics or who might simply not know the power of the app. So they can see it first hand, shown to them by a professional who knows the app and can answer questions. Geniuses at the Apple store know more about the iDevices and very little about everything else. They only even showed up to a USER GROUP meeting to announce FCX. They didn’t do it on the floor to EVERYONE…they only did it for their current FCP Legacy user base.
To me it just shows that they don’t care. They already have their huge user base without it, so why needlessly spend money. If people WANT to know more, they can try to find that small hotel room that the usual suspects all hang out in every year.
So, IMHO, they don’t care to waste the time and money. They already have their users, they have their evangelicals who are reaching out (And I was one of them at one point…doing a LOT of work to convince Hollywood that FCP Legacy was amazing)…so why bother?
Shane
Little Frog Post
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
I don’t think FCP would have the following it does or Apple have the fanbase it enjoys if it hadn’t been for their participation and massive booth at NAB for many years. My first NAB was in ’99 when FCP 1 was launched and I was instantly a fan. At the time NLE’s were still hardware dependent and cost tens of thousands of $$$ but FCP came along at $999 I think and blew everyone away. Once the South Hall was completed Apple was the star of NAB with the biggest prime spot including massive theater and a training area where you could learn the entire pro suite for free. It was sad the first year Apple didn’t show and broke the heart of a lot of users and NAB goers. But they made a decision to bail on ALL trade shows – even Macworld and it hasn’t hurt their bottom line.
It was at a Vegas premiere that I resolved to become an avid FCPX user.
Lance Bachelder
Writer, Editor, Director
Downtown Long Beach, California
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1680680/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1 -
Does NAB/IBC help Avid?
Scott Witthaus
Senior Editor/Visual Storyteller
https://vimeo.com/channels/1322525
Managing Partner, Low Country Creative LLC
Professor, VCU Brandcenter -
[Scott Witthaus] “Does NAB/IBC help Avid?”
Absolutely. For many people in post, this is the one chance they get to meet the Avid management and people behind the scenes…express their needs and see first hand how Avid solves those needs. Instead of a sales rep coming to you, you go to them. And you can also provide feedback, that Avid is FINALLY listening too (Avid Customer Advisory meetings held at NAB). When you are looking to set up a post house, or update your TV station or whatever…going to these trade shows to see everything first hand is huge.
I find NAB great, as I meet the product developers and the heads of companies for the products I use. And now I have their email and can contact direct. And yes, I can go to NAB, as an editor, and look at demos of Avid, Adobe, Smoke, all sorts of things so I can get a better idea of what hardware/software offers the best solution to my shooting and post needs, what workflow is best. And speaking to the product managers directly really helps that. And they listening to my needs means they make stuff I need. Matrox was a big example of that. The Matrox MXO2 was designed based on my and many others needs…our direct feedback.
I’m not sure Apple EVER listened to any feedback from people at trade shows. I highly doubt they did. Avid didn’t for a while either, because they were overconfident due to dominating the market. Then FCP came along…and they started listening. But only after a few years.
Ask ANY presenter at NAB if they think it’s worth it. WHy would they shell out hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars to have floor space if it didn’t help?
Shane
Little Frog Post
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def -
Heres my take.
Who will apple HIRE going forward?
More engineers? Or a larger sales team?
Personally, I don’t want the engineers spending 50% of their year prepping for trade shows. They need to keep their focus on the product development side – NOT the sales side.
The people mounting and staffing NAB and IBC via the Faster Together initiatives are the people who are making money selling the solutions Apple enables – and therefore their trade shop presence is pure sales marketing for them.
So when you say you want Apple to do more tradeshows – what you’re saying is you want Apple to dial up it’s identity as a SALES enterprise.
It just seems to me Apple has kinda done REALLY well in that area – without doing much of ANY of the traditional sales dancing that most companies do. They traditionally have reserved those dollars for engineering and R&D – and it appears to have systematically worked to their advantage.
Don’t get me wrong, I’d LOVE it if Apple increased the velocity and presence of ProApps marketing. But I think it’s going to be a slow, constant roll. Not a big splash like we saw from Adobe back during the year after the X entry – when they wrapped NAB with banners smelling NLE blood – and perhaps feeling they could kill the upstart and move millions into rentals.
Sure, they did well in converting one narrow class of editor to that idea – and good for them – but they kinda didn’t really kill anything – and here we are today with a VERY healthy FCP X ecosystem around the world.
If I was in marketing there – would I spend more money on ProApps marketing – or spend that money on hardware development (oh, and CONTENT) as the trades seems to be implying?
If you were Mr. Cook – where would YOU see the greatest potential for a robust return?
All that said, I’m interested to watch the new marketing campaign for Apples Filmmaker Pro – a play maybe for a more robust place in data driven Apps creation. THAT seems to be getting some new marketing money. And I wonder what that says about how Apple is budgeting nowadays?
Maybe FCP X will get it’s turn before it’s as old as FMPro!
Creator of XinTwo – https://www.xintwo.com
The shortest path to FCP X mastery. -
[Shane Ross] “I’m not sure Apple EVER listened to any feedback from people at trade shows. I highly doubt they did. Avid didn’t for a while either, because they were overconfident due to dominating the market. “
Apple WAS at NAB listening. Before FCP X was launched. They had a quiet video setup outside the Supermeet and were soliciting ideas and comments on the software.
What they did was focus on THEIR users – those who showed an interest in the Apple ecosystem. What they did NOT do was specifically target a single class of “professional editors” for that feedback. Something that the “NAB Pro” was likely put off by. Oh well.
They just didn’t want to waste their time dealing with people who ran out into the public inter webs with their hair on fire screaming about how APPLE had ruined editing.
Which was a pretty mammoth class during those days.
If you want to be LISTENED to – perhaps arriving at the party literally shouting about how ugly the house is and how stupid the hosts are – is NOT the best strategy if you want to have your opinions taken seriously?
Just sayin’
Creator of XinTwo – https://www.xintwo.com
The shortest path to FCP X mastery.Some contents or functionalities here are not available due to your cookie preferences!This happens because the functionality/content marked as “Google Youtube” uses cookies that you choosed to keep disabled. In order to view this content or use this functionality, please enable cookies: click here to open your cookie preferences.
-
[Bill Davis] “More engineers? Or a larger sales team?”
Apple isn’t some desperate little company that couldn’t do both. Remember they HAD a professional sales team and killed it off. They have a ton of offshore dollars being brought home. I suspect they could easily do it, IF they wanted to.
– Oliver
Oliver Peters – oliverpeters.com
-
[Bill Davis] “If you want to be LISTENED to – perhaps arriving at the party literally shouting about how ugly the house is and how stupid the hosts are – is NOT the best strategy if you want to have your opinions taken seriously?”
So you mean Apple folks just had to run to their “safe space”? Puleeezee. ☺
– Oliver
Oliver Peters – oliverpeters.com
-
[Bill Davis] “Apple WAS at NAB listening. Before FCP X was launched. They had a quiet video setup outside the Supermeet and were soliciting ideas and comments on the software.”
Yeah, I know. I was there. Again…small booth, away from the main event…where only people who currently used it’s products could give them feedback. No demo…no experts showing off the software and benefits. Just a booth, where they recorded people’s feedback. Yes, they were listening, which is why FCX is what is it now…it is catering to the vast needs of most of the people who edit video. WE GET IT.
[Bill Davis] “What they did was focus on THEIR users – those who showed an interest in the Apple ecosystem. What they did NOT do was specifically target a single class of “professional editors” for that feedback. Something that the “NAB Pro” was likely put off by. Oh well. “
NAB isn’t only visited by broadcasters…I did say this. I have worked for several companies over 5 years, I know that there are people who work weddings, corporate, realty, church (HUGE amount of church productions), sports…and a lot of web. You know, there are more video professionals NOT in broadcasting…I think you have told us this quite often. ANd NAB serves more than broadcast TV…by far. Yeah, it’s National Association of BROADCASTERS, but it serves a lot more video professionals that that. And Apple decided not to have a booth there any more. To only focus on existing users…go to events away from the main floor…have a small hotel room to show off things to a handful of influencers and other fans.
[Bill Davis] “They just didn’t want to waste their time dealing with people who ran out into the public inter webs with their hair on fire screaming about how APPLE had ruined editing.”
Nope…they wanted to hang with their cult following….the YES men/women.
[Bill Davis] “If you want to be LISTENED to – perhaps arriving at the party literally shouting about how ugly the house is and how stupid the hosts are – is NOT the best strategy if you want to have your opinions taken seriously?”
Interesting…seems to have worked on Avid. The huge and long standing OUTCRY from it’s user base finally got Avid to listen. That and the huge loss of users to FCX and Adobe…that got their attention. So now they listen. So it works.
Just sayin’.
Shane
Little Frog Post
Read my blog, Little Frog in High Def
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up