The web and blogs were abuzz recently about Apple’s official denial that the Pro Apps are for sale. These rumors have been skipping around for some time now (I’m guilty of commenting on them as well) and seemed to reach a new level with this article from Robert Cringely. While I think it’s safe to say that any official statement from any publicly traded company can be turned on a dime this official word from Apple is rare and if nothing else a welcome sign for those of us who use FCP on a regular basis.

With that, this headline from TUAW caught my eye: TUAW: Apple re-affirms commitment to video apps.

That headline says a lot. And now I say to Apple: prove it. It feels as if Apple’s commitment to the Pro Apps of late has been more of an effort to keep users quiet than innovating with the products and giving users what they have been asking for. Apple hasn’t been making huge version updates on a yearly basis in a while. They didn’t attend NAB 08 so there was no Final Cut Pro 7 or Final Cut Studio 3, but no one really expected that. It feels as though FCP has been relegated to second class citizen as of late. If Apple wants to re-affirm its commitment to its Pro Apps then prove it not by acquiring some other company’s innovations and re-branding them as your own but address some of the long standing issues with Final Cut Pro that power-users have complained about for years. Prove it by overhauling the Log and Capture tool to allow for some kind of interactivity when capturing. At the very least show the user timecode! Prove it by providing a true WYSIWYG title tool that allows you to build the titles directly on an image. Prove it by adding Blu-ray support to DVD Studio Pro and, at the very least, provide good support for external Blu-ray drives. Prove it by addressing media management problems that have plagued FCP since version 1.0. Prove it by providing support for native codecs like MXF and REDCODE. We know it’s possible, you just have to implement it. And how about a fully Carbon based version of the application to take full advantage of the Mac OS. If there wouldn’t be that much of an improvement from such a large re-write of the application then explain to the user-base as to why not. We know Apple doesn’t comment on future products but doesn’t a million users deserve that? I was told by a couple of different people that Final Cut Pro has a very small number of actual beta testers… maybe less than 10. I tried to confirm this but was hit with the NDA wall. It’s hard to imagine that there’s such a small number of beta testers for such a big application but if it is true then that sure feels like a small commitment. Wouldn’t an application as high profile as FCP need more?

Though I’ve been a Macintosh user for years and a Final Cut Pro supporter since version 1.0 I’ve never really considered myself a “fan boy.” I have sung the praises of both as the best alternative to the confusion and complexity of Windows and the expense of Avid, respectively. But these days it just “feels” like something is strange in the Apple camp as far as the Pro Apps go. This article from Patrick Inhofer really got me thinking, and this quote in-paticular:

In other words: Apple’s consumer strategy is now at odds with its development of its ProApps product line.

Is it possible that Apple no longer deserves to handle the ProApps division? Has Apple finally reached its inflection point where it will sacrifice its traditionally strong and loyal ProApps customers for its newfound success in content delivery?

I think he hit the nail on the head. Apple sits on the Blu-ray board but does not have any Blu-ray support. Why? Because they sell high definition content that they want you to download through iTunes. Apple has barely touched DVD Studio Pro and iDVD in recent updates (and not even mentioning them in update presentations) of their parent software suites. Why? Because Apple sees the future as video downloads and not physical discs. Quicktime recently broke the rendering capabilities of Adobe After Effects (a software package that many people make a living with). Why? As I remember it’s because they had to deliver some kind of updated DRM for consumer movie rental downloads. As a creator of content and user of Apple’s professional tools this makes me angry. I don’t want a software company (or especially Steve Jobs) telling me how to deliver my content when I can clearly see what my customers are wanting. Just the idea that DVD is dead is opposite of what people are asking for. Maybe the idea of purchased Hollywood content on DVDs is numbered but the disc is still king with dailies and screener copies of rough cuts, corporate distribution and wedding and event production just to name a few. I still want the creation tools for DVD improved and updated, Apple’s download strategy be damned! And if Comcast’s monthly download cap and overage charges actually become a reality that might put some brakes on Apple’s all download-no DVD idea. This is where people will begrudgingly begin to look elsewhere. If Adobe is ready to tap this market they might have some market share to gain.

As we enter the post-Pro-App-sale-rumor era I would challenge Apple to listen to the Pro App customers. Listen to comments on the message boards and listen to the feedback you get submitted through your own website. I don’t know about anyone else but I would feel Apple is more committed to Final Cut Pro if they were to address the smaller interface and general workflow issues that have existed for many many years. If there’s any one who has his finger on the pulse of the FCP world it’s Larry Jordan. He compiled a list of Interface Suggestions for Final Cut Pro (this is a pdf link) in the summer of 2007 and handed that list over to Apple engineers. In typical Apple fashion they made no comments or gave any kind of response to this list though Larry was told it was handed over to every Apple engineer working on Final Cut Pro. No one but Apple knows if those engineers are still working on the app or not but that list still exists. If the list isn’t currently pinned to the Pro Apps bulleting board then the link is above. And here’s that link again just in case an Apple engineer missed it. I’m no programmer but it would seem that a lot of things on this list could be easily addressed. But looking over the list I’m hard pressed to find any thing from it that has been changed, fixed, tweaked, addressed …. It would seem these kinds of enhancements are things that a small incremental update are perfect for!

I think Final Cut Pro is in a unique position. Many people make their living with this piece of software. Sure there are pros who also primarily use Aperture and Logic but I would bet that there is a much larger contingent of professionals who depend on Final Cut Pro to bring in a large majority of their income. And that’s not to mention the millions of dollars worth of post production facilities and boutiques that have been built around the software. You don’t see this with iMovie and iWork. And Apple as a company is in a unique position here in this industry as you don’t see Avid selling MP3 players or Quantel making phones. It’s true that Apple probably counts on the Pro Apps to drive high end hardware sales. But as Apple moves to a more consumer oriented focus will the professionals and our tools suffer? As iMacs and Macbooks gain more market share will Apple be as dependent on Mac Pros for profit? When Apple’s professional offerings are at odds with its consumer offerings, who do think will win out in the end?