Business Insider by David Dudas

As the entire world knows by now, Apple recently released a major update to their professional video editing software, Final Cut Pro. The update was so radical in nature that Apple increased the software version number from 7 to 10, with the 10 denoted by the Roman X. Shortly after Final Cut Pro X was released, a vocal group of Final Cut Pro 7 users went bonkers with indignation. The offense that triggered their outrage? The new version did not include several popular features from the old version

Clearly, this group of consumers expects major software releases from large software companies to contain all features from previous versions plus (presumably) several compelling new features. Unfortunately, such a product development strategy inevitably leads to complex, bloated software that only meets the needs of the high end of the market – to the exclusion of other, larger customer segments. As Clayton Christensen pointed out nearly 15 years ago, bloated software like this from an incumbent technology company is a prime target – and I mean, as in turkey-shoot; or fish-in-a-barrel; that kind of thing – for disruptive young companies looking to knock the king from the top of the hill.

It’s no secret that video editing software is too complicated for Joe Average. Whether it’s Final Cut Pro, or Avid Media Composer, or Adobe Premiere, everyone knows these products are for the pros, and the rest of us are forced to either learn how to use them (not) or use the crappy consumer grade products. Thus, the market is over-ripe for disruptive innovation. read more...