Re: Apple are hilarious

[chris north] "Sure. I guess the fan-boys can just wait around for them to get their act together. Everybody else will move on."

That doesn't appear to be an accurate characterization of what's happening. Apple has already plugged most of the major functionality gaps that existed in 10.0.0. FCP X already appears to be rather popular. And while there aren't any world-famous editors talking it up yet, there are now high-end users one can point to in order to validate that FCP X can be a useful part of high-end workflows. There isn't really much reason to expect an overall erosion of NLE market share, and the data we have, while sparse, seems to indicate there hasn't been one.

Will Apple take a short-term hit in some market segments? Maybe, but compared with what baseline? Compared to a universe in which Apple had shipped a release with 10.0.4's functionality 12 months earlier? OK, but what software company wouldn't be doing better if its product development were 12 months ahead of where it presently is? Compared to a universe where Apple shipped an NLE with a more conventional interface? Perhaps, but though some established editors might find it awkward there are some real benefits to Apple's new approach that could help with attracting and retaining new users -- and a product that effectively attracts and retains new users probably has better long-term prospects even if it loses some of the old guard in the process.

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Digital Workflow/Colorist, Nice Dissolve.

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