what do we think?

[Michael Slowe]

Great history lesson, thanks! As one who joined with version 6 I have a great fondness for the brand and great respect for the tools, a fantastic editing system, geared for editing in the good old way as we did with film!

One thing the history does indicate is that fancy new names don’t mean a thing, it’s the product that counts. I really urge you NOT to be tempted (agreed Nike success is significant!) and to stick with Media 100 as a label. We are all (?) confident that Boris is now on the right track and are very relieved at that.

You will doubtless get many replies that differ but that’s the way of the world!

[John]

hey michael
i am going to update the blog in future as an on going concern, to fill it with more facts and with some extra elbow grease i am planning an electronic book. about 450 people have dropped by to read the proposition in the first few hours so i hope it gets people thinking
and even emailing media 100 🙂
john

http://www.velocite.net

[Andrew Mehta]

Hi, I liked the article, although there were some typos that skewed meaning in parts ( least, instead of most, etc ).

Generally, people don’t know what or who Media100 is. The sort of freelancers I work with, they’re 100% Final Cut Pro ( even thought I caught one using Boris filters in FCP ), and a few dable in Avid, when I mention Media100, they’re just like: Huh? What?

Appart from a select few – and in my experience, this has been merely two people – and those VERY FEW that do know it, still associate it with professionalism, which I like. ^_^.

But the biggest pain in the arse with Media100 as a name, is the problems it creates when searching the internet, whether it’s google or ebay, you’ve got to get past all the “100 blank Media discs” crap, and so forth. The biggest cheat of course is to search for Media100i and that numbers it down a bit, but “i” is a dead product. Oh, I find what I’m looking for in the end – systems and hardware for sale, but Media 100 is still an arse to search for online. Same with Boris Red….you get tonnes of russian stuff that just happens to be red, such as, I dunno, album covers, or russian boots, or vodka or goodness knows…you usually have to type Boris Red 3 or BorisFX before you actually get decent search results.

Overall, I think the brand should stay the same. The audience M100 wants to – neigh – needs to reach, doesn’t know what Media100 is, so there aren’t gonna be many negative connotations.

But those who do know, still seem to view it up there with Avid and FCP. All it needs to prove is that it hasn’t lost its way too much. And that’s why getting its act back together after near bankrupcy has been / is important.

Haha…unless you want it named Boris Editor…lol….Ding-dong, the witch is dead…

[Lukkee Chong]

Great history lesson, John. I believe that the name media100 should remain. It is also interesting to note that Boris Yaminski actually worked for Media 100 as you said in your article. I did get the version 1 diskette of Boris fx plug in for Media 100 when we got Media 100 version 1.2, the only plug in for Media 100!
Cheers,
lc

[John]

thanks for the support and feedback.
yes i know in the enthusiasm to get it done and up there are a few typos. and the interesting thing of course is that
the name media 100 came before google -so you cant blame for that problem

with some official support and interviews, i am going to flesh out the story
correct the inaccuracies and hopefully publish it online as an illustrated online book
so stay tuned
john

http://www.velocite.net

[Al J. marschke]

Did I miss something? Where did the name “Media 100” come from?
As a user since 2.x Whole / Suite Deal NuBus thing (also having bit on the 844 fruit) – for what it’s worth- I think changing the name would add more confusion to the explanation. If they’ve never heard of Media 100.. you can be sure that with a new name they will think yet another NLE is being added to an already over-crowed market. Now the explanation for Media 100 will be a little longer. “Blank-blank…you know the old Media 100” It will be like adding sunglasses to your new ebay screen name…. what are you running from?
Besides, changing a name costs money! Lots of money. I would vote for efforts to market better and improve the reputation. You need new creative marketing strategies not a new name. You can run but you can’t hide. Stand and fight.

Kirk out!

Al J. Marschke
BluMars Media
Pittsburgh, PA

[Norm Wright]

When i started using it the name was Grass Valley Video Desktop (or something like that)

[Jack Shepard]

Interesting article… thanks.

A name change isn’t a bad idea at all. As everyone on here who has stuck with Media 100 knows,
it is a great machine with the best interface out there. And it really is impressive to see the
new vitality that has been pumped back into the company by Boris. With that said, in my opinion
when you say you work on a Media 100 you get the blank stare like you are on crack. Why would you do that
when you can work on Avid or Final Cut? My answer is, that I like it better. But the company took a beating around
2000 and people started seeing it as a dinosaur.

Not sure if the time is right at the moment to change the name. It feels like Media 100 has caught up with the release of software
based systems. But if they did release a new unique feature that truly pushed them a bit ahead or gave them a new niche…
then to change the name wouldn’t be a bad idea in my book.

Just my two cents.

[John]

al and jack and Ajmetz and michael and Lukkee and co

this is good feedback for the gang at BorisFx. FWIW the poll on my blog is running 75% dont change and 10% change – rest unsure
and in researching the story i have found an amazing resilience in the brand and the mac development team that i may have taken for granted.

jack, i also get that blank and sometimes incredulous stare of “you cut on what?” when i say media 100 like i am still on vers 2.6 🙂 with a quadra

anyway the name change thing is expensive but to me there is one point here worth noting (but not pushing) –
it is probably easier to quantify the cost of a name change. you ring 4 companies and work out a ‘spend’ cost. then add up the cost of
a mailout to existing users and you’re most of the way there.

but how do you work out the cost of lost revenue from people who dont like avid, find fcp a long learning curve but feel m100 is tainted?

i guess the golden question is – which feature would warrant a name change?

i must say though when all is said and done, al’s post made me laugh and the response of 500 hits in 8 hours was pretty interesting too.

beam me up

http://www.velocite.net

[Christopher Kinsman]

I’ve been using M100 since 4.0 and think a name change would be a mistake. It’s like an airline company changing their name after a plane crashes. Well, M100 hasn’t had a crash – just a few “delays” on keeping up with the latest features. It also didn’t help that customer support was really expensive and difficult. When I started on M100, every Avid editor knew our product and that it cost 1/2 what their system did and our propietary boards had a better overall color/look to them. Then, FCP came along at a rediculously low price. Well, in the edit world – you get what you pay for. M100 shouldn’t turn their back on a rich history. The only people who don’t like our product – never will – whatever name you put on it. I can’t tell you how glad I am that Boris took over. Hey, I’m still going to have to buy a whole new system when I upgrade my macs – but now I know I’ll be able to utilize the same incredibly friendly user interface and that I’ll be able to drag the old projects along with me. With just a little more tweaking, M100 will rival the best that’s out there – at a cost competative price. All Boris has to do is decide how competative they want to be and in what marketplace, then donate some software or classes to a few production schools and wait for the new generation of M100 owners to grow. When my next large prod. gets the greenlight – I’ll be upgrading to the new M100 generation to take advantage of a great product. By the way, I work in an office with 2 fully blown FCP bays and every editor that comes to work eventually pokes his head in my 2 M100 bays. First they look confused – then they sit down and start tinkering – and they always end up with a “Wow – this is so easy to use!” I just smile and remember that 10 years ago – I made the right decision – M100. Kind Regards, Chris