Need Creative by Paul Antico

OSX 1.0. The $200 reduction in price for iPhone. iOS 3.0's buggy first release. The end of 99 cent songs. iTunes. App Store developer agreement changes. Antennagate. And now, Final Cut Pro X.

I could go and on and on about all the times people have suddenly boiled over in rage at Apple for the decisions they have made. It's actually kind of stunning to me the level of emotional vitriol that is leveled against Apple when they make a mistake, just as much as the nearly in-tears-from-happiness level of religious epiphany people feel when they hold up a new iPad 2 after waiting in line for 6 hours.

Why have people reacted to Final Cut Pro X (FCPx) the way they have, with all the seeming emotion that encounters the release (or in some cases, removal) of every Apple product? Is it just about the program, it’s launch, or is there perhaps something bigger going on? I’ll try to examine all of those elements here.

This article isn't necessarily about the technical intricacies of what Final Cut Pro X (and isn’t). This article is more about the emotional connection people, especially creative people, seem to have with Apple, why they feel that way, the changing definition of what a Video/Film Pro is, and what Apple seems to be trying to do about it all (good or bad). read more...