Chris Jacek
Forum Replies Created
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[Chris Kenny] “Not only is FCP X brand new, but the Mac App Store is pretty new as well, and FCP X is the most expensive Apple app sold exclusively though it to date, and probably the first app where Apple is seeing really significant interest from business and education customers. It’s frankly not all that surprising that things are a little screwy, and I wouldn’t read too much into it.”
That’s what my hope is. But obviously somebody gave the word to some of the educational support staff to “Just Say No,” and hope that nobody would pursue it further. I guess what’s more concerning is that there wasn’t an educational strategy for this release, or they never communicated it to the people who needed to know. I know it’s summer, but that’s still a serious bonehead move (of lack of movement).
Professor, Producer, Editor
and former Apple Employee -
Thanks for the tips. I will definitely follow up with those ideas, especially if I don’t get my way with Apple. But I think I’ll give them tomorrow to fix this, just in case there actually IS an educational strategy, and really just lousy communication with their reps. But if it is true that there is NO educational pricing, and NO ELP licensing, I will definitely report my findings to everyone who will listen.
Professor, Producer, Editor
and former Apple Employee -
I thought you post would be an appropriate time to draw the correlation between FCPX and the Edsel. Big hype, innovative design, revolutionary new technologies, and a complete failure.
Here’s just a snip from the Wikipedia page. I think FCPX is far more similar to the Edsel, than New Coke:
The Edsel offered several innovative features, among which were its “rolling dome” speedometer and its Push-button Teletouch transmission shifting system in the center of the steering wheel. The Teletouch pushbutton automatic transmission selector proved problematic, in part because the steering wheel hub, where the pushbuttons were located, was the traditional location of the horn button. Drivers often ended up shifting gears instead of sounding the horn. While the Edsel was fast, the location of the transmission pushbuttons was not conducive to street racing. There were also jokes among stoplight drag racers about the buttons: D for Drag, L for Leap, and R for Race (instead of Drive, Low and Reverse).
Professor, Producer, Editor
and former Apple Employee -
They don’t seem to have “Production Premium”
Professor, Producer, Editor
and former Apple Employee -
I teach editing, so I’ll give you the same advice I give them: Always learn the shortcuts. Avoid color-coded keyboards when possible.
Like you said, it is like a language. If you want to move top Costa Rica, you’ll always be better served to learn Spanish than to travel with an interpreter. By the same token, if you ever anticipate working on someone else’s machine, you’re better served to know the shortcut than to carry around your prefs file.
Professor, Producer, Editor
and former Apple Employee -
Well, at least I know one amateur who won’t be taking any of our jobs. Hey Slick, you know what’s even more important to a potential client than creativity? Not being a jerk. I tell me students one important fact about finding work. People hire people they like. An above average mench will get hired over a brilliant schmuck every time.
Professor, Producer, Editor
and former Apple Employee -
But in a way, didn’t they actually come clean 15 months ago? Steve saying it was “awesome” didn’t really address the concerns of the first part of your post. It was more of a platitude.
I think alot of us were in denial, and didn’t want to give up the ghost until we knew for sure. I guess that comes at a different point for each person. For most of us, though, it probably happened on Tuesday.
Professor, Producer, Editor
and former Apple Employee -
That’s okay Keith, we don’t mind letting you waste a little bandwidth with inane insults like that.
Professor, Producer, Editor
and former Apple Employee -
Like it, or don’t like it. You should be able to de-activate it when you want to. There’s no reason that a magnetic behavior could not exist in a traditional timeline structure. This would make everyone happy.
This is the main reason the Avid was so popular when it first revolutionized editing. It had all the old-school concepts available, but also had some interesting new ways to do things. Compared to other things on the market at the time (Matrox Video Cube, Media 100, etc), it had a ton of options. When first learning it, I remember thinking “This is so frustrating, there are a dozen different ways to do the same thing.” After about a week of editing on one, I remember thinking, “This is awesome, there are a dozen ways to do the same thing.”
Isn’t that the ultimate goal of good software? To be flexible enough to make it useful and enjoyable for your user, regardless of how that user is wired? Photoshop has been around for 20+ years because its creators fully embrace that concept.
Professor, Producer, Editor
and former Apple Employee -
I don’t think the man should be fired, but have him do what he does best. He really is an amazing engineer. He’s just wasn’t the right guy to be the designer. When I worked there (2000-2001), the designer was Brian Meeney, who was more of a video guy than a computer guy. Brian and Randy had their disagreements, but I think that was good for the product. I think that was, and still is, the right way to go. Have a creative person who understands the end-user as the designer, and a top notch computer guy as the lead engineer.
Professor, Producer, Editor
and former Apple Employee