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Apple Pulls out of NAB 2008
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The internet is making the need for a Tradeshow dwindle. Sure it is nice to talk to a person, but the days of week long shows and 100's of thousands of square feet of show is coming to an end.
Spoken like someone who has never been before. Trust me, your head will be spinning by then end of your first day and you wouldn't have even seen half of what's there.
My thoughts exactly
I am serious here.
Perhaps not important, but first they removed firewire from the iPod (okay, since this is a music player, perhaps not significant in itself).
Then they tried pushing a MBP without the FW-800 port.
Then they stay out of the London-thingy
Then they come out with the Airbook, with no FW, but "woot!" a USB-port
Now they stay away from one of the top exhibitions in the world (for pros, that is): NAB, using "cost" as the excuse.
All this in combination with the statement from jobs that they would like to be like "Sony" and the tiring focus on iPods and other low denominator consumer items, I am beginning to wonder whether it's about time to reconsider moving to another platform, to be sure I'm not investing in a dead end.
Haha, you're kidding, right? I hope so, because that's like saying blogging is journalism. Get real. There are much more to being a "pro" than having an advanced editing suite and some spare time spend fiddling.
You don't become a nurse or doctor either just because you happen to have a book on medicine and a stethoscope.
This isn't Macworld 2.0 Apple is a small fish in a very big pond. No one will miss them. So Meh. All I know is, I'm about a week, maybe a month away from buying lightroom. I've seen NO forward momentum with Aperture. Apple has this huge nest egg in their coffers yet they seem to be doing only a handful of projects here & there. No doubt iPhone 2.0
This isn't Macworld 2.0 Apple is a small fish in a very big pond. No one will miss them. So Meh. All I know is, I'm about a week, maybe a month away from buying lightroom. I've seen NO forward momentum with Aperture. Apple has this huge nest egg in their coffers yet they seem to be doing only a handful of projects here & there. No doubt iPhone 2.0
Yup. I, for one, don't even dare buy any (expensive) software at the moment, as I am still on the fence whether this will continue to be my platform of choice.
and to all people that take offense at the above (can't help but think of the usual "Don't let the door hit you on the way out", and "MS-fanboi" and what have you, I really like OS X, but it's only as useful as it is (if that makes sense to you). And I am not willing to end up the creek without a paddle from bad choices in tools.
My thoughts exactly
I am serious here.
Perhaps not important, but first they removed firewire from the iPod (okay, since this is a music player, perhaps not significant in itself).
Then they tried pushing a MBP without the FW-800 port.
Then they stay out of the London-thingy
Then they come out with the Airbook, with no FW, but "woot!" a USB-port
Now they stay away from one of the top exhibitions in the world (for pros, that is): NAB, using "cost" as the excuse.
All this in combination with the statement from jobs that they would like to be like "Sony" and the tiring focus on iPods and other low denominator consumer items, I am beginning to wonder whether it's about time to reconsider moving to another platform, to be sure I'm not investing in a dead end.
Add to that the lack of a Aperture update at the photo show and the complete lack of native Blu-Ray support on the mac. I've already heard of several Mac business owners in the event video business who have had to add a PC to the mix to be able to meet customer demands. I know they want to push itunes video, but lets not get ahead of ourselves here. As much as Apple is great at innovating, they also have an unfortunate tendency to lose interest in anything they can't innovate in.
Take Appleworks for example. It was considered to be one of the best word processors out there during the Claris days. When Jobs came in he didn't put any effort into it, let it get way behind MS Works on the PC side, and didn't give a second thought to the productivity arena until they could innovate with iWork.
There really doesn't seem to be that person at Apple who is the keeper of the mundane. If it isn't cool and new it doesn't seem to interest them. However if they keep thinking like that, I have to wonder if the pros will stay. They don't have the luxury of doing things on Apples schedule like those on the consumer side, they have a bottom line to think about.
yeh i appreciate ultra high end wouldn't use AE (i edited my post!) - I thought Autodesk Flame was the one a lot used
Steve, with this move it appears that you have abandoned the professional field. As of now things appear that apple is focused on the consumer market and 'business' market with the iphone & airbook.
(The iphone not prime for business yet, no 3G, and other issues, so your shooting yourself in the foot there also.)
What happened at PMA? No update to Aperture?
No show of commitment to the products you make. The trade shows are a good time to at least show your commitment and not leave people guessing if you have lost interest and just are 'focused' (if you can call it that) on airbooks and iphones.
Now NAB, no show? Avid, Media 100 gonna eat you for lunch if your not careful Apple. Arrogance will not suite you well. Yes you are reaching a market that doesnt even go to NAB, but at the same time you cant forget your roots. This at least keeps open and shows your commitment to these segments.
Even with the macbook pros.
Intel released updates (Penryn/Santarosa) and you cant even update/refresh the books? No clue, no word...just a lot of 'air'.
Used to you could blame IBM...not whats your game?
And what of the Pros who waited over a year for an update for the Mac Pros.
apple, oh dear apple.
Steve dont forget the Leopard you released late and still cant get 10.5.2 out of the door. That is a release that fixes the buggy introduction that you called a major update in software.
Be clear, dont be shy. If your about iphones and a bunch of hot air, just say so. Discreet has a nice line up. (you messed up there not buying Maya, now we have a monopoly in 3D as they own Maya and Max.)
Well, I will end the 'rant' here.
If you are committed, and you have other ways of showing it...then be clear about it. But your apple stores? Please remember international expat dont have access to your stores...only wanna be apples stores that dont offer the same experience.
Your website...How do you confirm your stance in the pro market with the web? Do you have on going training, etc? Or is it a store with a product and a movie about how the out dated product works?
Oh, you killed shake - did you ever replace it. Not even a hint at NAB.
Now I may have missed such announcement, but it doesnt seem so.
So whats up again? Trying to show you are above and separated from the rest of the world. Not participating in their games? There are different ways to view things, not sure this is the most beneficial way Steve.
You may think your iphone is hip and cool. The fact is, its missing quite a bit of stuff. Why cant you have a true GPA built into it and the ipod touch? You have a premium $ but not a premium product.
peace
dAlen
(The iphone not prime for business yet, no 3G, and other issues, so your shooting yourself in the foot there also.)
What happened at PMA? No update to Aperture?
No show of commitment to the products you make. The trade shows are a good time to at least show your commitment and not leave people guessing if you have lost interest and just are 'focused' (if you can call it that) on airbooks and iphones.
Now NAB, no show? Avid, Media 100 gonna eat you for lunch if your not careful Apple. Arrogance will not suite you well. Yes you are reaching a market that doesnt even go to NAB, but at the same time you cant forget your roots. This at least keeps open and shows your commitment to these segments.
Even with the macbook pros.
Intel released updates (Penryn/Santarosa) and you cant even update/refresh the books? No clue, no word...just a lot of 'air'.
Used to you could blame IBM...not whats your game?
And what of the Pros who waited over a year for an update for the Mac Pros.
apple, oh dear apple.
Steve dont forget the Leopard you released late and still cant get 10.5.2 out of the door. That is a release that fixes the buggy introduction that you called a major update in software.
Be clear, dont be shy. If your about iphones and a bunch of hot air, just say so. Discreet has a nice line up. (you messed up there not buying Maya, now we have a monopoly in 3D as they own Maya and Max.)
Well, I will end the 'rant' here.
If you are committed, and you have other ways of showing it...then be clear about it. But your apple stores? Please remember international expat dont have access to your stores...only wanna be apples stores that dont offer the same experience.
Your website...How do you confirm your stance in the pro market with the web? Do you have on going training, etc? Or is it a store with a product and a movie about how the out dated product works?
Oh, you killed shake - did you ever replace it. Not even a hint at NAB.
Now I may have missed such announcement, but it doesnt seem so.
So whats up again? Trying to show you are above and separated from the rest of the world. Not participating in their games? There are different ways to view things, not sure this is the most beneficial way Steve.
You may think your iphone is hip and cool. The fact is, its missing quite a bit of stuff. Why cant you have a true GPA built into it and the ipod touch? You have a premium $ but not a premium product.
peace
dAlen
trade shows aren't just a shopping mall.
have you ever been to one? There are dozens of seminars/presentations that are really instructive in helping people make desicions about gear/workflow refinement/business development.
no one really goes into a trade show and drops £10000 on kit do they? I usually spend no more than about £100 (books, tapes, prawn sandwiches...)
I think he meant flame rather than inferno - i agree though, after effects is a very powerful program, why not use it if it does what you need just because the 'industry' looks down it's nose a it a lot of the time?
I myself edit in Final Cut Express quite a lot of the time, we have one machine with FCStudio for big jobs and the other machines have FCE. For quick jobs, i like the simplicity of FCE, there is a lot of snobbery about software packages.
What if they had an NAB Convention
...and nobody came?
I think that, while HDTV is seen as the great hope of the old broadcast infrastructure, sort of Color TV II, broadcast is collapsing as fast as the economy will carry it. Sure, HD is nice, and people are buying more and more of the sets as the price falls. But HD isn't at all the big savior for the networks, cable, and all the rest of the broadcast infrastructure. The whole idea of a stream of broadcasts, available now and not tomorrow, no matter how often it is repeated on HBO or the dozens of reuses a single movie can have, is defunct. We want HD podcasts. We want giant TiVos in the sky. We want to Google the world's video, the International Library of Audio-Visual, historical, recorded broadcasts. We want Video that we decide we want to see. Some can be free, some can be advertising supported, government-funded, or Pay Podcasts.
For 50 years, a small number of men have gotten incredibly wealthy telling us what to watch and when. We want to watch what we want to watch when we think of it. If I want to see the entire works of Alain Resnais, I want it now. If I want all the documentaries made about World War II, I want them now. I want to watch the show on my iPod, on my iPhone, on my computer, on the plane, on the train -- I grew up at a time when I couldn't watch all the TV I wanted to, I had to go upstairs and do my homework away from that. Now, it's just as often the book that is the distraction.
...and nobody came?
I think that, while HDTV is seen as the great hope of the old broadcast infrastructure, sort of Color TV II, broadcast is collapsing as fast as the economy will carry it. Sure, HD is nice, and people are buying more and more of the sets as the price falls. But HD isn't at all the big savior for the networks, cable, and all the rest of the broadcast infrastructure. The whole idea of a stream of broadcasts, available now and not tomorrow, no matter how often it is repeated on HBO or the dozens of reuses a single movie can have, is defunct. We want HD podcasts. We want giant TiVos in the sky. We want to Google the world's video, the International Library of Audio-Visual, historical, recorded broadcasts. We want Video that we decide we want to see. Some can be free, some can be advertising supported, government-funded, or Pay Podcasts.
For 50 years, a small number of men have gotten incredibly wealthy telling us what to watch and when. We want to watch what we want to watch when we think of it. If I want to see the entire works of Alain Resnais, I want it now. If I want all the documentaries made about World War II, I want them now. I want to watch the show on my iPod, on my iPhone, on my computer, on the plane, on the train -- I grew up at a time when I couldn't watch all the TV I wanted to, I had to go upstairs and do my homework away from that. Now, it's just as often the book that is the distraction.
I actually meant Inferno and still do. Inferno and Flame has very similar feature sets but Inferno is MUCH faster and is more inclined towards film work with better grain control, CC etc. So if you are working in 4k with producers breathing down your neck you want Inferno. However, time on Flame is less expensive then in Inferno so therefore lot of motion graphics are done in Flame. AE and FFI (Flint, Flame, Inferno) are made for totally different user groups. One is high end work and other is mainstream. Without FFI doing the magic would take a life time.
Still a possible explanation...
So, it could make sense if you look at it from a perspective that Apple's target for ACDs and MBPs is much larger than those who go to NAB. So, maybe there's no new version ready for Aperture or Final Cut - you could then logically think that Apple doesn't need to hit the conference.
It can make sense!
And now we have this 2/26 event - so I still could be right.
So, it could make sense if you look at it from a perspective that Apple's target for ACDs and MBPs is much larger than those who go to NAB. So, maybe there's no new version ready for Aperture or Final Cut - you could then logically think that Apple doesn't need to hit the conference.
It can make sense!
And now we have this 2/26 event - so I still could be right.
I don't know if this is new, but they're stating FC-server will be out early 2008:
http://www.apple.com/finalcutserver/
http://www.apple.com/finalcutserver/
this is deeper than just the lack of a product launch at NAB, I think this is the first sign of Apple starting to move away from regular updates to Pro Products.
Apple are much more focused on consumer level products - iPod/iPhone/iTunes store (movies)/iMacs/TV the list goes on - at the moment. I think it is getting to the stage where there isn't much you can't do in final cut, there isn't much you can't do in Logic (i'm told) - Why do we need MAJOR updates to software all the time?
Hardware is another thing, but updates to the MBP are hardly overdue and the MP is all new and shiny.
There are updates due - Aperture 2.0, but we know that is probably coming, and Final Cut server is sort of there for those that need it (major studios that use FC will have been approached by apple)
Blu-Ray/HD-DVD is perhaps the future, but Apple really sees the future in Downloads.
Actually the lack of annual FCP upgrades is due to fact that users want finished product with minimum amount of bugs and therefore with least amount of updates / bug fixes. For Mac geeks (me included) its fun to get new 10.5.2
or similar updates but in reality one should hope for single release with no bugs to fix. Downtime for post houses is big no no and Apple has actually been listening, beta testing and communicating very well. On pro (at least video, don't know about anything else) line-up there should be less updates with more solid products. So this means more time between upgrades but more solid products that enable you to keep that money coming in. The next ground shaking release would be hardware integration with FCP / Tremor. Both of them will be expensive as hell from mainstream point of view but very competitive with AutoDesk IFFFS and Quantel products. With FC Server coming the turn-key systems would make Apple one of the major players among the high end post production equipment manufacturers. Only then will Apple have solid products from consumer (iMovie) to high end without forgetting the mainstream (FCP Studio).I'm not the DVD / Blu-Ray guy but I bet there will be separate release at least for Blu-Ray support.
The decision makers in the broadcast, post, and film industries do not go to NAB every year to buy point products. They go to make decisions that will affect their buying patterns and plans for the entire year, and some, for many years.
The way they do this is not by standing on the floor and trying to see and hear over the shoulders of 5000 other people---they do it in private strategy rooms with manufacturere executives, workflow solutions experts, engineers, and demo personnel attending those meetings. They discuss the product roadmaps and future plans and the impact that it will have on that client's business and plans.
The floor presence is a great way to reach the many editors, artists, freelancers, schools, producers etc.
Apple is a consumer hardware company that sells software in order to sell more hardware. There is a lot more money in the consumer industry. The professional industry has been flatline as far as growth for the last decade and ASP's (average selling prices) have crashed. I don't fault Apple for making business decisions, only for leading people to believe that they are committed to the professional industry....when they clearly are not.
The way they do this is not by standing on the floor and trying to see and hear over the shoulders of 5000 other people---they do it in private strategy rooms with manufacturere executives, workflow solutions experts, engineers, and demo personnel attending those meetings. They discuss the product roadmaps and future plans and the impact that it will have on that client's business and plans.
The floor presence is a great way to reach the many editors, artists, freelancers, schools, producers etc.
Apple is a consumer hardware company that sells software in order to sell more hardware. There is a lot more money in the consumer industry. The professional industry has been flatline as far as growth for the last decade and ASP's (average selling prices) have crashed. I don't fault Apple for making business decisions, only for leading people to believe that they are committed to the professional industry....when they clearly are not.