I’m not ready to eat all my words from my last article about Apple’s strange moves of late. I still think the 30% piggyback charge on app providers such as the Amazon Kindle Store is so unlike Steve Jobs. Remember, he was the one who went to the mat with the record companies to keep iTunes downloads at $.99. He has always thought in terms of growing the system long term. This surcharge idea on app providers just does not seem to fit the way he has always done business. Makes me wonder if some decisions are getting by him. I hope not. Apple and Amazon may be frenemies these days, but forcing Amazon Kindle off the iPad and iPhone makes no sense to me.
I may be wrong in having reported as accurate what current Final Cut users have been saying about Final Cut X. I have used the former Final Cut interface and loathed it. I use Adobe Premiere Pro for my stock footage business and love it. However, there are times when it’s easier for me to use the simple video application that comes with every Mac, iMovie. I can set it for capture and leave the room. iMovie is limited for sophisticated editing and uses lots of built in conventions to make things simple for the average video shooter but still, it is one clever program. Having now read more reviews in depth, the comment that most caught my attention was an editor complaining that Final Cut X is like “iMovie Pro”. To me, that sounds awesome. Looks like I was taken in by the early reviews and the “experts”. Sort of like the film academy giving “Hurt Locker” the oscar over “Avatar”. I have always thought the original Final Cut was a hurt locker. I’m going to order Final Cut X and find out for myself.
I have been looking to buy a new laptop for my video business. I need huge storage onboard for HD clips that average about 1 Gig a shot. Yesterday, I opened to the Apple home page and saw the new Air laptop has come a long way. I can now custom order an Air with 256 G of flash memory onboard. For me, that’s the magic number. Imagine, quick startup and no more mechanical hard drives to go bad as they all do over time. I don’t burn DVD’s with my laptop anyway, so no loss there. And despite the angry reviews about Lion, I guess I will also be forming my own opinion. The new Air runs Lion. I’ll let you know, at least from the perspective of a video producer.
I guess it comes down to the generalization that as we age we become more resistant to change. I started shooting on 16mm Mylar film in the 70’s. Then came U-matic video, then 1″, then studio mixes before nonlinear editing programs made that unnecessary. I’ve been reeducated more times than a Chinese dissident and that can be wearying. Still, some changes are so immediately productive that even at my age I need to keep running to keep up.
I remember, as a young producer, attending the major television conventions. The food and entertainment was lavish. Stars from all the syndicated shows would be on hand to help sell their shows. Shrimp, champagne and everyone in suits (including the women, it was the 70’s). I still go, but now not only am I years older than most in the field, I’m generally the only one wearing long pants. They call me “Pops”. If I want to feel young, I play golf in Florida.
I intend to keep going to shows to see the latest cameras, try out the new applications and meet the young people coming up with all these innovations (cheeky bastards). I’m even going to buy the new ultra HD Red Scarlet when it finally comes on the market. I’ve resolved to stay current within my field and be more cautious about assuming the crabbing I hear from my contemporaries about change is deserved. So, sorry Apple about my prejudgment about Final Cut X.
I’ve gone from negative to neutral about buying AAPL after this market correction.
