Re: Avid says No to NAB 2008

Nice post, Craig.

I agree that the model of the highly focused, efficient and local show with hands-on tactile presentation is one of the ways that the paradigm is being shifted.

Apple does this kind of thing well at NAB, precisely because their user base is already familiar with the user experience and interface principles. It is easy to present basics. But as the new Final Cut 6 Bugs article in the COW Library attests, you won't catch all the snafus and gotchas -- nor discern all the intricacies of a highly complex media managed, file shared, metasync'd system like a high-end Avid -- on a show floor.

It's still a crap shoot.

Apple showed Logic this way at NAB a couple shows or so ago. But Logic is tougher to communicate than the wow and razzle dazzle of showing off a new Motion or Color. Most of the people that came to experience Logic just sat there with their eyes glazed. So, this year at NAB, no Logic.

But targeted at the right market, in the right setting, a tool like Logic is going to be a real success.

In its complexity and left-brained multi-faceted dryness of features that have to be grasped and understood, Avid finds itself with a "I'm here for my first look" presentation hurdle much like Logic. It's a tougher "show" than say FC Studio, wherein Apple races through features and presents the "mountain-tops." But an Avid requires more the kind of presentation that you are talking about, as much of what makes an Avid an Avid is found in the nuance and refinement.

I have always said that an artist understands that it takes 10% of the time to do the first 90% of the job, and 90% of the time to get the last 10% of the refinement done. Refinement takes time and while some argue that Avid needs a radical update, their core market argues that the refinement of stability is worth the premium and they are not arguing for a radical update that throws out the interface in the way that I have to relearn Photoshop everytime a new version comes out -- ggrrrr.

Avid's greatest success has been that their market expects something more than a two-page bug list when they buy an upgrade or a system.

Walter does great work but as a smaller shop, he has different needs and requirements than someone like CBS New York or PBS's flagship WGBH.

And as Randall Raymond (Raymond Motion Pictures) stated, as long as Avid can get their people out there meeting and interacting with their customers, they stand a great chance of being successful.

But only time will tell how the story plays out.



Best regards,

Ron Lindeboom
creativecow.net
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