Re: Illustrator turns 25 today. Thoughts on it, Luddites and FCP X

[Richard Herd] "There's no straw man there, which means he builds the contradictory point of view in order to knock it down."


Richard,


His view is that Apple's FCPX is revolutionary. He paints a character of those who do not share this view:

Apple was truly aiming where the puck will be with FCP X, and many of us dislike where the puck is going to be.
...
Like Luddites (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luddite) we believe this new technology was a death sentence to our much loved craft.
...
Let us not be Luddites.

(See my post below for a clearer picture of Luddites and their aims.)

The implication is that those who do not view FCPX as revolutionary are Luddites (with his meaning and negative connotation) and a bit emotional about it all.

I'll be clear: I don't know where "the puck" will be, and can't say that I dislike the future he seems to know. I don't feel FCPX represents any kind of threat or death to a craft (loved or otherwise). I am also not convinced that FCPX is a good tool for me (though I am still undecided).

There are many here who are just assessing FCPX as a tool, and it comes up a bit short in that assessment.


[Richard Herd] "... it's really difficult for anyone who hasn't actually worked (not toyed with, worked) in X to say anything convincing about it or critique it ..."

This is true to a limited extent (though "difficult" does not mean impossible); on the other hand (and this was not true when FCP first debuted) there is a fairly broad, varied field of choices right now for NLEs. A piece of software now has to actually attract my interest for me to invest time and energy into learning it.

This is change and progress, too.


Franz.