# The result of Apple's direction with pros



## Amiga2000HD (Jan 23, 2007)

Yesterday morning, I turned up at a client site to do some work and saw a documentary on Steve Jobs being edited in Avid Media Composer on a Hewlett-Packard Z800 running Windows 7.

The Steve Jobs documentary could, and at one time probably would, have been edited using his company's application software (Final Cut Pro) on his company's workstation (Mac Pro) running his company's operating system (Mac OS) but instead, there were no Apple products involved at all.

I've been saying for months now that the effects of Apple neglecting professional customers are real. The secondary effects on people who make their livings from professional customers who are migrating away from Apple equipment are also real. If the irony of a Steve Jobs doc being cut on a Windows based Avid system doesn't make this clear, then I have no idea what will.


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## Ottawaman (Jan 16, 2005)

Apple made a 64bit Final Cut Pro 8 and then decided to kill it


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## eMacMan (Nov 27, 2006)

I think Apple's stubborn refusal to market a non all-in-one computer somewhere between the all out tower and the bottom of the line mini also speaks volumes on their desire to maintain their place in the professional market. 

The irony here: It was the loyalty of the Pros that helped keep Apple alive back when all the prognosticators were printing funeral notices.


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## groovetube (Jan 2, 2003)

I've been saying that this is a really bad mistake for Apple for some time, but I don't see that people really get why.

I recall back in 2002/03 when I had switched over the mac completely for work, I was one of the very few in my field who used macs. I actively promoted how great they were, and probably effected no less than a hundred people switching over. Directly probably about 20 people who work in my industry and related, and the fan out effect was noticeable. People listen to people they perceive as knowledgeable, it takes time, but it happens.

When content creators start using peecees more and more, that's when a problem begins I think. Ramming all in ones with glossy messes for screens on us is a really bad idea. Apple may have a lot of money, and a decent hold on a large market share of ipads, but I don't think that marketshare is by any means solid at all.


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## screature (May 14, 2007)

eMacMan said:


> I think Apple's stubborn refusal to market a non all-in-one computer somewhere between the all out tower and the bottom of the line mini also speaks volumes on their desire to maintain their place in the professional market.
> 
> The irony here: It was the loyalty of the Pros that helped keep Apple alive back when all the prognosticators were printing funeral notices.


Exactly.


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## keebler27 (Jan 5, 2007)

I'm almost done reading the SJ bio book and I really wonder.

I'm conflicted. Part of me reads the continuous bits about the mac being their first computer, the creative ppl they market it too etc.. and I think there's no way they'll turn their backs on that market (which I believe is a complete satellite market - buy the MP, buy the apps, buy the iphones/ipads etc..etc..). Then I read the bits about SJ wanting to market to the masses (latest products have done that).

Then I see (and this could be just an error), but the Mac Pro listed under the iMac on the refurb page:

Refurbished Mac Notebooks & Computers - iMac, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and Mac Pro Sale - Apple Store (Canada)

In my heart, I don't think they squash the pro hardware or apps. Sure, most of us don't like FCX, but I think they have the best intentions. The MPs are taking longer b/c of the newest Intel chips being ready (at least, that's what i think...just a hunch....no real data whatsoever).

Amiga, I'd write Tim Cook and email describing exactly what you saw. Maybe it won't do any good...maybe it will. It's definitely ironic in the least.

Cheers,
Keebler


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## Macfury (Feb 3, 2006)

There was certainly a sense that creative people _had to_ own Apple equipment to perform creative tasks. That was cemented early on when Apple craftily cornered the market on professional output for print publications in the early '90s. It was the only place I recall where people on the dominant format would be forced to translate their documents into Apple format. Note even more recently, the large number of filmmakers who would proudly state that they edited their film using Final Cut on a MacPro. The cool factor of knowing the film you are watching was completed on a Mac should not be discounted. It's so much like the concept cars displayed at car shows that create buzz about a brand without going into production--except these MacPros are really being used for something tangible and can be seen in Apple Stores.


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## cap10subtext (Oct 13, 2005)

I too worry that unless Apple starts upping their game for Pro use, they are going to see their market share drastically reduce in the future. They've worked so hard to establish that they are more than just "expensive toys", as have their evangelists, but recently their decisions in the Pro market are getting harder to defend (Xserve? Really?) to the point where I personally can't even be bothered anymore. My wife had to buy a new laptop and we were seriously considering Windows machines simply because of some of the software for work she has to run in Windows, the mixed reviews on Lion support for her blackberry, and the fact she needed an integrated CD/DVD drive which automatically bumped her up to a "Pro" laptop. If it wasn't for a killer deal on a refurb and Virtualbox allowing her to reuse her existing VMware 2 VM, then it could have easily gone the other way. At one point I would have given her the "it just works" line, but I don't really believe that anymore. (Perhaps in the future when we're no longer being thrown curve balls like PPC to Intel and 32 to 64 bit then we'll start to see support with a bit more longevity again. Who knows.)

I'm sure it wouldn't take much persuasion on this forum that the world would be better off running more Apple products in the work place (I currently cannot send a business associate of mine emails because I'm always being caught by her companies outdated and kludgy anti-virus software). But I'm pretty sure that unless Apple has some brilliant scheme for the next few years that I just can't grasp, there will be another generation that grows up thinking Macs are for the home, PCs are for real work. Then it becomes harder to justify spending just that little bit more when you know you are going to be nickel and dimed when transitioning between home and work (parallels, windows install disc, flip4mac, MS Office) in the long run.


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## hayesk (Mar 5, 2000)

Ottawaman said:


> Apple made a 64bit Final Cut Pro 8 and then decided to kill it


The more interesting note in that article was that it was about choosing FCPX over other options out there anyway.

Apple isn't ignoring the pros, it's getting ready for the next generation of pros. While some of the old generation of pros may be left in the lurch, it's there own inability to adapt that is leaving them there. Now I agree, the FCP transition could have been handled better, but it is happening and the needs of the pros are being addressed.

And others claiming the Mac Pro is going away: hogwash. 
Mac OS X 10.7.3 Beta Drivers Reveal Evidence of New Mac Pros - Mac Rumors


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## screature (May 14, 2007)

hayesk said:


> The more interesting note in that article was that it was about choosing FCPX over other options out there anyway.
> 
> *Apple isn't ignoring the pros, it's getting ready for the next generation of pros.* *While some of the old generation of pros may be left in the lurch, it's there own inability to adapt that is leaving them there*. Now I agree, the FCP transition could have been handled better, but it is happening and the needs of the pros are being addressed.
> 
> ...


Really? It is interesting that you feel that way... but as a developer that does not actually have a work flow experience with the software they create it isn't entirely surprising.

"Next generation of pros"... please explain and why that should mean ignoring the current generation of pros where many $$$ can be made.

If any company ignores their current base to the exclusion of a to be determined "future" base it is a bad business model... ever watch Dragon's Den...? 

The "future" is always there but it is the present that makes $$... If you ignore the present to the *exclusion* of the future it is a gamble to say the least... a balanced business model is what makes the most sense...

The last generation of the Video Toaster closely resembles the current iMovie interface and means of editing.... and still 15 years later lots of pro video editors don't accept it as a model and it is relegated to the amateur rank and FCP looks more like iMovie than any other generation before it... so if you are implying that being a next generation Pro means more closely resembling an amateur then I agree with you.

Not all software should be dumbed down in the pro market... as they are Pros and need more control than the average user.


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## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

Actually that's pretty good news :clap:


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## screature (May 14, 2007)

MacDoc said:


> Actually that's pretty good news :clap:


You mean this, Mac OS X 10.7.3 Beta Drivers Reveal Evidence of New Mac Pros - Mac Rumors

Yes it looks promising, except for the fact that a new Mac Pro would be shipping with Lion (I know there is no escaping that). Actually there was a thread started in the Anything Mac section about it.


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## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

There is a potential that the 5770 could be swapped in.


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