Is Final Cut Pro X Apple's Biggest Mistake In Years?

Hugh Pickens writes "The latest version of Final Cut Pro, the widely used tool in the professional video editing world, was getting a reputation as the app that launched a thousand complaints, as the 955 reviewers and raters on iTunes collectively rated FCP as, 'Two and a half stars.' 45% of reviewers gave the software one star, the lowest rating possible, bestowing on the program the dubious honor of being the lowest-rated Apple software hosted by the company's digital store. Many complaints center around lost features. We used to be able to do this, and now we can't. You can't work with existing FCP Suite projects. There's no external video monitoring, no EDL imports, no backup application disk so good luck re-installing the software on the road without a good internet connection, and lots of unanswered questions about site licensing." Pickens continues: "'This was the product that completely built my company starting in 2000 / 2001 and now it's time for me to say goodbye,' writes Walter Biscardi. 'As I tell everyone else, if the tool isn't working for you, then find a tool that does.' But is this negative response just a very short-term response from editors who have gotten used to doing things the old way and don't want to change? Clearly, there are some amazing new features in FCP X. The 64-bit architecture means much better performance. The new tools such as the magnetic timeline, clip connections, compound clips, and audition seem like intuitive, great features. 'Great design, like great music, is almost always foreign at first, if not disturbingly strange,' writes David Leitner. 'You have to spend time with it. But if it is great, and if you invest your attention, it will change the way you look at the world.'"

Comments

Re:I thought that was the iPhone

[AlienIntelligence]

especially Linux netbooks - no consumers will want windows once they've seen ubuntu...

Yeah, but then you get into things like... Crysis 2 doesn't play on Linux...
and that makes me have to dual boot. And if I don't feel like shutting the
game down, to run another app... then I have to stay in Windows. Then
the whole thing kinda breaks down after that. Why dual boot at all,
since I'll hit another wall with another program I want to run soon enough.

My time is valuable and even at a super fast boot... I really don't want
to wait that long plus the time to launch the app and then back again.

Which leaves me in Windows most of the time.

I really want to see Linux succeed... but the drivers and Windows only
apps, kills it every single time.

Exactly the same issue when I try to explain to someone else why
they should switch over. It's always well what about this program or
this peripheral. And that typically kills it.

I even tried to run Ubuntu on most of my laptops, here's how that went.
The two that only browse web... no problem. Home theatre lappy... no
go. Dual monitor support sucks, audio sucks. Great, back to Windows.

This laptop... 1 damn program that has no Linux analogue... great, back
to Windows.

Linux is almost ready for the desktop =) but everything else we need
to use... isn't ready for Linux for the desktop. And the adoption stagnates.

-AI