End of an Era? No More Pro-Sumer?
When I look at Apple’s forced bundling of its professional video applications and Adobe’s plans to put out separately equipped versions of Photoshop, I have to think that the current era of professionally equipped amateurs in both the video and graphics arts fields may be coming to an end.
This week, Apple let it be known that its professional video editing applications, i.e., Final Cut Pro, Soundtrack Pro, Motion, and DVD Studio Pro, would no longer be separately available. Instead, if you want those packages, you’ll have to buy them as Final Cut Studio, a package currently retailing for $1299.
Adobe also pushes its products out the door as a Creative Suite. The cheapest version of the suite costs $899 (the Standard Version), and the Premium version costs $1199. Today, these versions are not differentiated by features within any particular program but by the different programs included with each bundle. Think Secret reported last year that the next version of Creative Suite (CS3) may not only be differentiated by the programs included in each bundle but that some end Photoshop functions may only be included in the Premium package.
All this points to one thing. Both companies are moving in a direction that discourages the pro-sumer, the hobbyist or business hopeful that today can afford to buy into these packages. One of the great things about computers has been how it has opened the doors of creative fields to more people. But these movements, especially when individual software packages are arbitrarily made not available, are pushing the market in the other direction. Soon, only businesses will be able to afford this exorbitant pricing. The pro-sumer will go the way of the do-do bird. What those of us who fit that category may find is that even though computer technology itself is advancing, our capabilities may begin shrinking in the name of ever-increasing profits.
Start combining that with the activation technologies that are becoming the rage, and these folks make Scrooge look like a kid on a playground.
Admittedly, the sting for us Final Cut Pro users isn’t that terribly bad if Apple’s web pages are telling the truth. They are promising a Universal Binary version of Final Cut Studio for $199 for those of us who own Final Cut Pro HD, Soundtrack Pro, Motion, or DVD Studio. (I own all of them.) But I’ve also read that there is a lot of confusion even within Apple’s ranks, and some Apple Store personnel are saying that the upgrade price will only be for Final Cut Pro 5. Better not be. If it is, Apple can take their Intel powered PowerMacs and shove them up every dark crevice they’ve got. (I just paid $299 for Motion and $99 for the Soundtrack Pro upgrade. I’ll be dammed if I’m going to finance that again!) If they hold to their word and send me a Universal Binary version of FCP Studio at that price, then they’ve opened the door to me buying an Intel powered PowerMac later on.
For the little guy, having access to this level of programming has opened new worlds. Part of that was that I could buy the programs one at a time, spreading out the cash investment and making it more manageable. It’s obvious that I’m not going to have that option anymore. Neither will my college age nephew, a budding filmmaker. I guess he’ll have to make do with iMovie longer than he had hoped.
Of course, the good news is that many of these applications have matured to the point that they are close to “pro” applications. An Indy film has already been made using iMovie, and Photoshop Elements can process RAW files and has the Photoshop features most people use. But I still think we’re looking at the end of an era, and that one that’s coming is going to force a differentiation between the professionals, the consumer, and their in-betweens, i.e., the pro-sumer.
This week, Apple let it be known that its professional video editing applications, i.e., Final Cut Pro, Soundtrack Pro, Motion, and DVD Studio Pro, would no longer be separately available. Instead, if you want those packages, you’ll have to buy them as Final Cut Studio, a package currently retailing for $1299.
Adobe also pushes its products out the door as a Creative Suite. The cheapest version of the suite costs $899 (the Standard Version), and the Premium version costs $1199. Today, these versions are not differentiated by features within any particular program but by the different programs included with each bundle. Think Secret reported last year that the next version of Creative Suite (CS3) may not only be differentiated by the programs included in each bundle but that some end Photoshop functions may only be included in the Premium package.
All this points to one thing. Both companies are moving in a direction that discourages the pro-sumer, the hobbyist or business hopeful that today can afford to buy into these packages. One of the great things about computers has been how it has opened the doors of creative fields to more people. But these movements, especially when individual software packages are arbitrarily made not available, are pushing the market in the other direction. Soon, only businesses will be able to afford this exorbitant pricing. The pro-sumer will go the way of the do-do bird. What those of us who fit that category may find is that even though computer technology itself is advancing, our capabilities may begin shrinking in the name of ever-increasing profits.
Start combining that with the activation technologies that are becoming the rage, and these folks make Scrooge look like a kid on a playground.
Admittedly, the sting for us Final Cut Pro users isn’t that terribly bad if Apple’s web pages are telling the truth. They are promising a Universal Binary version of Final Cut Studio for $199 for those of us who own Final Cut Pro HD, Soundtrack Pro, Motion, or DVD Studio. (I own all of them.) But I’ve also read that there is a lot of confusion even within Apple’s ranks, and some Apple Store personnel are saying that the upgrade price will only be for Final Cut Pro 5. Better not be. If it is, Apple can take their Intel powered PowerMacs and shove them up every dark crevice they’ve got. (I just paid $299 for Motion and $99 for the Soundtrack Pro upgrade. I’ll be dammed if I’m going to finance that again!) If they hold to their word and send me a Universal Binary version of FCP Studio at that price, then they’ve opened the door to me buying an Intel powered PowerMac later on.
For the little guy, having access to this level of programming has opened new worlds. Part of that was that I could buy the programs one at a time, spreading out the cash investment and making it more manageable. It’s obvious that I’m not going to have that option anymore. Neither will my college age nephew, a budding filmmaker. I guess he’ll have to make do with iMovie longer than he had hoped.
Of course, the good news is that many of these applications have matured to the point that they are close to “pro” applications. An Indy film has already been made using iMovie, and Photoshop Elements can process RAW files and has the Photoshop features most people use. But I still think we’re looking at the end of an era, and that one that’s coming is going to force a differentiation between the professionals, the consumer, and their in-betweens, i.e., the pro-sumer.
posted by Andy Foster at
10:52 PM
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