Chris Jacek
Forum Replies Created
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Yes, it is definitely a good job to keep your bases covered. Of course, we all know this, but sometimes we get lazy. After CS3, I made of point of getting more familiar with Premiere, but even at that, my effort has only been about half-way.
It’s easy to get lazy in your comfort zone. I think it is similar to how some of us (myself definitely included) let some of our lighting and lens manipulation skills get rusty in the 2000s when the digital video cameras got so good at some of the automatic stuff. Now that DSLR production is viable, those light meters and Nagras don’t seem so antiquated any more (okay I’ve still forsaken my Nagra for an H4N, but you get my point).
Professor, Producer, Editor
and former Apple Employee -
[Tomislav Rupic] “As much as I was disappointed when I first opened FCPX, I believe in Apple and that they
will do their best to make this no1 pro editing software.”No offense, but I don’t believe this for a second. Everything they would need to do to make this a #1 PRO editing software would take a MINIMUM of 2 years, and a load of resources that Apple will not be willing to dedicate to competing with the likes of Avid and even Adobe.
Yes, FCPX is a new product, but that means it has the long road of maturity still ahead of it. The other 2 companies have a hefty head start. Apple made this choice to jump from #1 to #3 (or possibly lower) with FCPX.
COULD Apple do it if they wanted to? With that kind of money and resource, of course they could. They did it once already. But there are not likely to use that much resources on this product. Especially not to compete in the pro market. They can make much more money dedicating those resources elsewhere, or to further build FCP into the everyman video editing machine. We will almost certainly see an IOS version of it appear in the next year. This would make them gobs more money than trying to match the other “Big A’s.” There just isn’t enough up side.
As one of the major detractors of this move, I’m not saying Apple’s move is not a smart move. I’m not even saying that I blame them. But I honestly don’t see Apple ever developing FCPX into something that will be used to cut feature films on. Probably less than 1% of us actually do this, but it still seems to be the gold standard when it comes to classifying an editing system as a “pro” system.
Professor, Producer, Editor
and former Apple Employee -
[Paul Dickin] “I expect the launch, like Edsel or New Coke, will feature in the syllabus of most Business Schools marketing courses for the next half century or so.”
Yay! Somebody else making an Edsel reference. It makes me proud to be “Imported From Detroit.”
Professor, Producer, Editor
and former Apple Employee -
As a native Detroiter, I have to make a slight correction to your analogy. The reason that the Tucker failed had little to do with any flaws in the vehicle. It was political strong arming from the larger corporations that killed the Tucker.
A much more accurate analogy would be the Ford Edsel.
Professor, Producer, Editor
and former Apple Employee -
[David Roth Weiss] “Though the incident had dire consequences for many editors and many small businesses, it wasn’t even a blip on Autodesk’s radar.
“That is a good example. And when I think about my question, I also realize that Apple will certainly not feel dire circumstances overall. Much like Autodesk, I doubt that it will be a blip in Apple’s radar. I do, however, expect that it could significantly hurt Apple’s educational market.
I guess the real question is whether Apple cares.
Professor, Producer, Editor
and former Apple Employee -
It’s very frustrating to hear so many people say that “a few weeks is no big deal” or “the software is will evolve.” It’s not about the cockadoodie software!
This is about how Apple has willingly put educators into an uncertain situation. This is not a case of getting their sea legs with a new product. This is a case of a company that flippantly decided to instantly gut their existing licensing system with ZERO lead time, and offer NOTHING in the way of replacement, and NO INFORMATION regarding if and when they ever will. These is not the actions of a responsible company.
I challenge all the people who accuse us of “knee-jerk” reactions to provide one example of any other company that has done this. Or should I say, provide an example of another company that has done this without suffering dramatically.
You know what? If someone hits you on the knee with a hammer, jerking IS the most appropriate reaction.
Professor, Producer, Editor
and former Apple Employee -
[Chris Kenny] “And every school in the country will switch rather than just not doing anything this year, even the ones that had no particular plan to upgrade editing software any time soon?
I’m sorry, but people are blowing all of these sorts of issues entirely out of proportion. Will Apple lose some sales, as a consequence of the time it takes them to work through volume/education licensing issues? Yes. Will it be more than a drop in the bucket, in the long run? Almost certainly not.”
I don’t think you are understanding the situation well enough from an implementation standpoint. It’s not just a case of waiting. The existing licenses are being cancelled at their expiration date, with no option for renewal. That means that the tech support that goes with those licenses is also being cancelled, which is VERY important to many institutions. Do you really think “wait and see” is an option in that case? It seems like a pretty cavalier attitude if you ask me.
Apple is abandoning a promise that they made to continue offering an ongoing renewable license. And they did it without warning. I literally was sold this license and promise on a Monday, and it was discontinued on Tuesday, with no contingency plan. Reliability is a very important quality in a vendor, and Apple has lost a great deal of credibility in this area.
Aside from the pragmatic aspects that I mentioned, this sends a strong message about the changing corporate culture of Apple. Their are showing themselves to have weak ethics, if only in this very small segment of their operation. Word spreads quickly.
I have already spoken to colleagues at several institutions, and their feelings are the same. One even got a reply to their angry email to Steve Jobs, which basically said, give it a chance, and just keep using it. That’s a fine approach IF you have not corporately forced it to be the only option. By killing the proven application, and its associated support, Apple is forcing the choice.
Professor, Producer, Editor
and former Apple Employee -
[Chris Kenny] “Really? If it takes Apple a few weeks to work out education pricing, “most” will have already gone elsewhere?”
YES!
We are in the middle of budgeting season for schools. Any NORMAL software title provides unbroken support of their renewable licenses.
Think about it this way. Every year, the school gets a bill for its ongoing software license. It becomes part of their budgeting process. They set that money aside, knowing that they will always be current on the software. So what happens to the school who’s cycle ended in late June of this year? Instead of getting their annual renewal bill, they get an email telling them that their licensed software has been discontinued (I have one of these emails, and would be happy to post it here if anyone is interested). They are also told that the new version of their software, which their license had guaranteed they’d be able to get for free, will now cost them FULL RETAIL PRICE! Even at FCP’s new lower price point, that same school will be paying $400 from this year’s budget, for something that would have cost them less than $100 two weeks ago.
Furthermore, there is no mechanism in place for them start a new license, so they might have to pay full retail price again when the next version is released. So you say this is probably temporary, and Apple will get it straightened out. Maybe it will get fixed in 2 weeks or two months, but that school decision-maker has to make a decisions about the budget NOW. And Apple is saying NOTHING about their plans, so we don’t even know if there is anything worth waiting for. What do you think that decision-maker is going to do? IF if they could increase their budget at this late state, will they Shell out 4 times their budgeted cost, with no guarantee that it won’t happen again next year?
They might look at Adobe. They might even already have the Production Premium license, as many do who use After Effects. Adobe is well known for their aggressive institutional pricing for education. Or they look at Avid. For the same $299 they would spend on FCPX, they can get a $2500 software editing package that they KNOW is a professional product. They also know that they get free updates for 4 YEARS, and that they can run the software on Mac or PC (both are included in the box, and you can switch your platform at no additional cost) in case they want to change platforms in the future.
Think about the situation in terms of lost opportunity time. Let’s say Apple DOES fix everything with their licensing, and reinstitute a similar mechanism in fairly short order, like 3 weeks from now. That means there is a 5 week period, or 10% of a calendar year, that every single renewable license is not being renewed, and decision makers are facing the dilemma stated above. That’s a really fast way to lose 10% of your market (probably more, since academic licenses are far more likely to expire at this time of year than any other). And this doesn’t even account for the word of mouth that travels rapidly in the world of academics. And what happens if they take 3 months? Six months? A year? Is that unrealistic? Who bleepin’ knows? Because Apple is mum on the topic. This shows poor planning, and whether intentional or it, it proves negligence at best, and blatant disregard at worst.
The first rule of a new product implementation should be the same as choosing a VP running mate in an election…DO NO HARM! Apple just picked Joe Liebermann and Sarah Palin.
Professor, Producer, Editor
and former Apple Employee -
UPDATE: After having to escalate my case up the chain (the person who finally settled my case had one of those first-name-only apple email addresses), the finally agreed to fill my original order of 30 ELP licenses of FCS 3, with this caveat. My license will expire in one year, and WILL NOT be able to be renewed, like every other ELP license has been able to.
For me and my school, I guess this is a “happy” ending. Basically for about $90 a seat I was still able to get FCS3, and I will be getting the free upgrades to FCPX, Motion, and Compressor for my one year. Now, I’ll be able to teach FCPX to the beginners in my intro class, and then “upgrade” them to FCP7 in the advanced class, so they can actually be employable in the next year or two. OF course, I will also be teaching them more more Premiere than in the past, and maybe even Avid if I can swing it.
At the end of the day, it is QUITE clear that Apple wants to kill FCP 7, and burn the body. What is NOT clear is if there will ever be the kind of licensing that educational institutions depend upon. If not, they will definitely lose the market. They will probably lose the market anyway just from the damage done in the past 10 days.
Professor, Producer, Editor
and former Apple Employee -
[Chris Kenny] “[Steven Gonzales] “FCP has definitely lost the higher education market to Avid if feature film editing and post production are the curriculum.”
I feel like a broken record here, but this is basically an insane thing to say a little over a week after FCP X’s release.
“This is NOT insane at all. Please take a moment to step back and look at what Apple has done from a licensing standpoint. They have STOPPED offering an educational discount for Final Cut Pro. You do not need to wait for a dot-release to get the message. The fact that Apple did not already have educational pricing in place ON ITS RELEASE is proof to me that they are not committed to the educational market. They fired this shot on DAY ONE. Even if they offer volume and educational pricing in the future, it will be too late for most. Decisions are being made on a daily basis.
I have much more to say on this, but have already elaborated on a separate topic in this forum (which incidentally is the first Google result when you enter “FCPX educational pricing”).
https://forums.creativecow.net/thread/335/6661
Professor, Producer, Editor
and former Apple Employee