-
The Macintosh – Is it a Time Bomb for the Hard User?
-
[Jeremy Garchow] “I don’t know if you’ve been part of the discussions on having editing in the cloud, or FCPX on an iPad, but when those discussions come up, Apple gets lambasted. When Adobe announces it, it’s all of a sudden logical.”
Although both Adobe and Apple have cloud/tablet/mobile strategies, they may not be the same.
Adobe seems to be using roughly the same approach that Autodesk is: mobile apps, built for mobility, that can collaborate with or support (but not necessarily replace) the big desktop apps.
Apple’s strategy sometimes feels like they expect mobility to completely replace the traditional desktop.
[Jeremy Garchow] “Apple have really done themselves a PR disservice. No matter what happens, they will be vilified. It was theirs to lose, I guess.”
Dramatic releases are two-edged swords. If Apple announced their roadmap, we’d know what to expect, but they’d lose their wow factor.
Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events -
Jeremy, if you had followed our discussion here regarding Mobile Me
and what apple did with it, then you could’ve seen what I mean.They will disrupt features used by creatives that now (as you posted)
are going to be offered by Adobe – plus other features that
Apple apparently refused to implement themselves in the first place.I think this is relevant in the context of Final Cut Studio’s end,
along with what it’s been worked out by Adobe for the future.This is NOT about bashing Apple – it is about discerning what’s to come.
Cheers,
-
[Walter Soyka] “Adobe seems to be using roughly the same approach that Autodesk is: mobile apps, built for mobility, that can collaborate with or support (but not necessarily replace) the big desktop apps.
Apple’s strategy sometimes feels like they expect mobility to completely replace the traditional desktop.”
Sure. It’s also the difference in designing and selling hardware vs software only development to work on a variety of platforms.
Apple tools their machine around hardware. Adobe tools around supporting as many platforms that make sense to develop.
They both want to take your money.
Apple has never released a road map, although partnering with intel who does release a road map has given us a bit of a peek behind the curtain.
Has Adobe release a CS roadmap?
I know Avid informally did, but roadmaps change with software development.
Look at Red. They were furiously gung ho about being open about their development. Now, they only talk when something’s ready. It is an excellent case study for why some companies don’t talk till the product is ready.
-
You’re right, Walter. And there’s a big difference in how Apple and Adobe work with their users. Apple keeps all their cards close to their vest, and apparently doesn’t listen much to their user base.
Adobe puts it all out there for people to see (check out Labs.Adobe.com and you’ll see what I’m talking about) with their Labs website. If you’re looking for the roadmap, Adobe lets you look over their shoulder. If you want an Apple roadmap, you have to have the keys to the corner office.
I’d much rather have a good idea of where the technology behind my livelihood is, than to have to play twenty questions, and never get an answer.
Joe Bourke
Owner/Creative Director
Bourke Media
http://www.bourkemedia.com -
[Christian Schumacher] This is NOT about bashing Apple – it is about discerning what’s to come.
But, Christian, you don’t understand. You are either for Apple or against it. And if you don’t stay true with a 100% Apple software+hardware workflow, then you will be out of a job soon.
-
[Christian Schumacher] “This is NOT about bashing Apple – it is about discerning what’s to come.”
Got ya. I guess the subject line that has “time bomb” in it seemed like sort of a bash, but perhaps it’s not.
Bashing is cool by me, and it is sometimes deserved, I just like to keep things in perspective.
MobileMe was never MobileMe Pro. People used it as it was there, and it didn’t work very well. There are much better/cheaper/faster solutions than MobileMe.
Jeremy
-
[Jeremy Garchow] “Sure. It’s also the difference in designing and selling hardware vs software only development to work on a variety of platforms. Apple tools their machine around hardware. Adobe tools around supporting as many platforms that make sense to develop. They both want to take your money.”
Totally true, but I’d ask what they want to take my money for. Adobe seems to be pushing into more professional-oriented solutions, broadly supporting different workflows and taking user feedback to improve the products. Apple seems to be pushing into more consumer-oriented solutions, leaving questions about their interest in professional- and enterprise-level solutions.
I can’t get a solid read on Apple. On the whole, I’d argue they’re trending consumer. FCPX has some decidedly non-consumer architecture elements and features, but that’s counterbalanced by apparent low prioritization of the requirements to support complex workflows.
[Jeremy Garchow] “Has Adobe release a CS roadmap?”
Not a roadmap, per se, but Jim Guerard (VP and GM of Professional Video) has shared Adobe’s vision for professional video [link]. In it, he first discusses some industry trends and recent Adobe release history, then he runs through Adobe’s so-called pillars of focus:
- Making Premiere Pro the industry workhorse
- Focus on professional markets
- Integration and extensibility
- Metadata and multiscreen
- Collaboration and the cloud
More specifically, Adobe runs Adobe Labs [link], which gives users preview access to new Adobe products. They also showcase some of their cutting-edge research at the Advanced Technology Labs [link].
Adobe employees are active participants on their own Adobe-branded forums as well as external sites such as this one. High-visibility employees blog. Product teams tweet. Adobe values communication, and they are highly involved with their user base.
I totally understand why developers don’t want to release strict roadmaps, but Apple just blew up a decade-old platform that an entire industry had come to rely on — out of the blue. I suspect that they will be held to a higher standard while they rebuild the trust they burned.
I think the FAQ and the 2012 feature list are evidence that Apple has understood that their total secrecy policy has hurt them with the FCPX release, and that their users require more than the slick “one more thing” finished product reveal. I hope that continue along this trend.
Walter Soyka
Principal & Designer at Keen Live
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
RenderBreak Blog – What I’m thinking when my workstation’s thinking
Creative Cow Forum Host: Live & Stage Events -
From my point of view, there’s no meaning regarding “pro” anymore…
Heck, what is all of the people doing at their computers (but working?)Everyone, from a student to his teacher, from a vlooger to an academy director,
from an event cameraman to a panavison photographer,
from a webseries dialogue writer to a an oscar nominee script writer, and so on……all of them have to learn and to practice what they have learned eventually.
That knowledge has got to somewhere – or anywhere – including Apple.Cheers,
-
All great points, Walter. We will see if that strategy works for them during the long haul. I hope it does, they have done a great job of marketing, and being in a communications business I can certainly appreciate clear communication.
The strategy didn’t for Red, although, you can participate in discussions with their top management and staff through their forums as well.
This has never been possible with Apple.
I honestly don’t know which one works better. People seemed to be OK with it before Apple screwed up the FCPX launch.
Jeremy
-
“People seemed to be OK with it before Apple screwed up the FCPX launch”
With Apple you can only rely on their acts – or perhaps rumors about them.
Regarding FCP(and Studio) what were them? A consistent improvement overtime.
Why wouldn’t they be OK with that? And why wouldn’t they be pissed at them for this X?
Surely cutting them out translates as “screwing up” in my book.You see, it isn’t only editors that are worried about Apple’s business commitment.
The drifting to the “iThing ecosystem” orientation is noted by others as well.Check this recent article on “7 Ways Apple Can Serve Small Business Better”
It addresses an urge for “refocus” of the gadget maker’s new CEO.If it is wishful thinking or not, only their future acts will tell.
Cheers,
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up