grist for the rumor mill...Apple, Steve Jobs, Final Cut and Adobe..

[Robert Kurhajetz]

http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/2008/pulpit_20080502_004815.html

 

[Mark L. Pederson]

http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/2008/pulpit_20080502_004815.html

Oh my ... maybe time for for me to start a blog. This article is so far off base, it's laughable.

 

[Michael "Dorkman" Scott]

Apple's not selling the ProApps division. That was confirmed numerous times point-blank at NAB. And the idea of Apple dropping FCP in favor of Premiere is such lunacy I'm tempted to dismiss that entire blog as satire, because no sane person would actually believe that.

 

[WesVasher]

Cringley is NEVER right. Why anyone still listens to him is beyond me.

 

[KeithHill]

It is LUNACY, man!

After all of took to get Apple where it is today. If they were to think that they could jettison Final Cut Studio after such penetration into the market this would kill their stock price. It's too much riding on Final Cut Studio for them to sell it. This is spectacular lunacy, for real!

You know, it's amazing. The rumor mill behind Apple and I see some of the same stuff happening a bit here with RED users.

 

[M Most]

Cringley is NEVER right. Why anyone still listens to him is beyond me.

I think that phenomenon is commonly known as the Bush-Cheney Syndrome.

 

[David Birdy]

I think that phenomenon is commonly known as the Bush-Cheney Syndrome.

Agreed 100%

Dave

 

[michael zaletel]

Now...if Apple was indeed shopping their pro apps at NAB. The only reason I can think of that they would need to work hard at that seemingly simple task would be if they are requiring the buyer to support only Mac OS X platform for 3 years or something. That's the only sale arrangement that would make sense for Apple and the primary reason other companies would be hesitant to buy. If Apple sells their pro Applications without that requirement, we will see a PC version of FCP within a year (maybe less) which would IMHO be a death-blow to AVID and perhaps to Apple's pro hardware business as well. With the OS X exclusive requirement, it would actually make a lot of sense for Apple to sell their pro apps right now and would probably benefit users tremendously. We already know Steve Jobs is willing to sacrifice all-else for the iPhone business (including top software and hardware engineers). Apple could focus on consumers, which seems to be where they are headed without interrupting Mac Pro sales for the transition period (3 years) and Pro Users would get perhaps much better support and increased future development on apps like FCPro and Shake in particular.

Again, just IMHO.

ADDENDUM: Here I am in the Apple Store today typing on one of their really flat new keyboards on one of their really flat iMac's and looking around the store there are only TWO pro systems on display in the entire store and only two Cinema displays. All of the rest of the shelf space, table space and entire store really is dominated by iPhones, iPods, iMacs and accessories. The pro apps have been relegated to the bottom two shelves of one tiny section taking up about 1/100th of total shelf display space. I don't know, I've been a Mac enthusiast since 1990 owning every Mac (and other device) they have ever released and using every piece of software they've ever made and I'm just tellin' ya, I have a gut feeling they are not only going to sell off their PRO Apps, I think they may even be planning to get out of the PRO hardware business or at least relegate to the back burner. Apple is becoming a consumer company more and more each day. Hey, maybe they are letting that company get away with selling Mac clones (which they've always fought in the past) because perhaps they are planning to turn Pro hardware over to third parties like Dell. All of this is speculation of course...but I just got that feelin'.

END ADDENDUM

-shooter

 

[Michael "Dorkman" Scott]

Now...if Apple was indeed shopping their pro apps at NAB.

They weren't. That's really the long and the short of it.

ADDENDUM: Here I am in the Apple Store today typing on one of their really flat new keyboards on one of their really flat iMac's and looking around the store there are only TWO pro systems on display in the entire store and only two Cinema displays. All of the rest of the shelf space, table space and entire store really is dominated by iPhones, iPods, iMacs and accessories. The pro apps have been relegated to the bottom two shelves of one tiny section taking up about 1/100th of total shelf display space.

The Apple Store is for home computer enthusiasts and gear geeks to come and play. Professionals know what they want to buy, why they want to buy it, and don't need to put their hands all over it to know the specs meet their needs. The Apple Store isn't for the professional market segment, by and large, so it doesn't make sense to allocate a lot of space to them when really you're trying to get Ma and Pa Kettle convinced that they want the shiny iMac for their newfangled e-mail accounts.

 

[michael zaletel]

I hope you're right. Believe me I do!

-shooter

 

[Andrew Kimery]

So Cringley's big thing is Apple is going to ditch FCP in favor of the wildly more successful and popular Adobe Premiere? Seriously? After all the years spent building up the market share, and mind share, of FCP they want to take a drastic step backwards and hoist Premiere up as their flagship app? Really?

-A

 

[M Most]

After all the years spent building up the market share, and mind share, of FCP they want to take a drastic step backwards and hoist Premiere up as their flagship app? Really?

Apple's "premier app" is OS X. The iApps, Final Cut, Aperture, and anything else they happen to publish are interesting sidelights, but the star is OS X. Everything else is window dressing. Interesting window dressing, but window dressing nonetheless.

 

[Andrew Kimery]

But what is a great OS w/o great apps to run on it? OS X might be the beautiful, luxury cruise-liner, but apps like FCP are the sought after ports-of-call that get people to board the boat.

-A

 

[Robert Kurhajetz]

Hey folks, I really apologize for posting the original link - had I only checked Webster's I would clearly have had more insight into Cringley's modus operandi....

 

[Dj Joofa]

The only reason I can think of that they would need to work hard at that seemingly simple task would be if they are requiring the buyer to support only Mac OS X platform for 3 years or something.

-shooter

I think it will be a difficult task porting Final Cut Pro code to say Windows. Apple already had to import more or less a major portion of the Carbon framework as Quicktime Media Layer (QTML) when they ported Quicktime to Windows. As is famously said that you can take Quicktime out of Mac, but not the Mac out of Quicktime, anybody who has programmed in Quicktime or Apple frameworks knows that functionality from several frameworks will need to be ported to Windows to make FCP work there.

It is a double-edged sword. The functionality that Apple provided through those frameworks to lock developers into programming for OS X, might come back to haunt them while porting stuff to Windows.

 

[Mark Allen]

Apple's consumer market is what allows them to develop and support the higher end apps which in turn allow them to take technology and put them into their ilife apps which is the "killer app" package that sells their hardware which alllows them to deveop and support higher end apps which....

Jobs is absolutely a believer in "the killer app." He's absolutely a believer in software driving hardware sales (itunes and ipod for example).

I think he is very aware of what he is doing to support his killer apps - thus he buys the best companies like Logic (emagic) to continue to develope and meanwhile steal technology from.

The only anomalie to all of this is Shake which was discontinued... which means to me that it is going to reappear in another app like final cut or the long rumored compositing application.

If anything, I think the problem is going to be when Adobe finally ditches mac support because Apple has cut into their territory too much. I own the CS production package... I have not once opened Premiere... I wish I could trade in Premiere for dreamweaver as do most of my team who all own the same production package. That tells me something.

 

[Dominique Grenier]

That should put it to rest:

"I can categorically state, on the record, that is not the case," said Richard Townhill, Apple's director of marketing for professional video applications

[LINK]

 

[Dj Joofa]

If anything, I think the problem is going to be when Adobe finally ditches mac support because Apple has cut into their territory too much. I own the CS production package... I have not once opened Premiere... I wish I could trade in Premiere for dreamweaver as do most of my team who all own the same production package. That tells me something.

Adobe just made a concerted effort to put Premiere on Mac, so why would they do it now? I would encourage you to try the dynamic link combo of Premiere with After Effects, it is very powerful, and much nicely integrated than anything Final Cut Pro has, which is through "out of band" Motion and very shaky Shake round tripping.

 

[Andrew Hewlett]

Don't know if this is pertaining to a change somewhere down the road, but I've recently been hit up a couple of times with Final Cut Studio feedback surveys. I actually just finished the survey I'm sure every FCS owner got in their email today.

It stated Apple hired a consulting firm to gather information on FCS usage.