[Paul Dickin] "Hi
Would that still have been an ongoing 'issue' in 2011?"
Part of my wild speculation but I'd guess yes actually. I've alluded to it before. Apple's dropping of FCS suddenly and without warning, without their continued EOL sales (as they've done with Shake and even iDVD/iWeb as part of iLife) as well as not following the same transitions used between OS9 and OSX as well as PPC to Intel, leads me to believe there was a licensing issue they couldn't (or didn't want to) resolve.
In short that some license needed to be renewed and maybe it was at a price they didn't want to pay for a product they were transitioning away from. I can only imagine that months back they probably thought they'd renew at a much lower cost than they were hit with on the negotiating table.
If you read the history of FCP on Wikipedia, one of the reasons Macromedia sold FCP to Apple was due to a licensing issue they were experiencing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Cut_Pro
Macromedia could not release the product without causing its partner Truevision some issues with Microsoft, as KeyGrip was, in part, based on technology from Microsoft licensed to Truevision and then in turn to Macromedia. The terms of the IP licensing deal stated that it was not to be used in conjunction with QuickTime. Thus, Macromedia was forced to keep the product off the market until a solution could be found.
There's no way we can know this but that there was a license renewal issue seems to be the only rational reason for Apple to make a business decision to EOL and cease sales of FCS so suddenly. Of course some of you just think Apple was being a (expletive of your choice) but I think are being lead by their emotions. Apple's a business. They don't seem to be stupid in that department. That it was EOLd was part of the longer plan but that it was pulled so suddenly may have been due to a position they were placed and (and may not have wanted to negotiate out of).
