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Apple Reportedly Lays Off 40 Final Cut Employees
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Anyone with a half of brain and internet access can find the FCP software/serial numbers in less than a minute.
When you combine the layoffs with the neglect Apple has been showing pro users the past 7-8 years...
I've had no problem (logistically or morally) using a pirated version of the latest FCP Studio for my side projects. When/if Apple stops treating their pro users like suckers (Blu-Ray?), I'll consider resuming my purchases.
They already are. Apple has slowly been phasing out prosumer/professional features, and replacing them with SD card readers and not USB 3.0/eSATA/Core i5...
I hope this doesn't have to do with the rumor I heard (somewhere, might have been here) about Apple not offering any more updates to FCE.
That key is Very easy to find a code for online, and one thing that makes it so easy for us legitimate users makes it easy for cheapskates to pirate. I'm in college now and know several students who have pirated it, some helping each other to get codes. I've bought every copy I've ever used starting with Final Cut Studio 1 and continuing through to when I bought my upgrade to Studio 3.
-Brian
I know of some that will buy one license, install it on multiple machines, and then disconnect the network so the machines won't see another copy running at the same time. It really frustrates me that people do this.
Relax dude, I've seen my fair share of this too, but it's usually people who either can't afford it, or would never really need to purchase an additional license anyway. There's a lot of things to get worked up over, but a few students pirating FCP isn't going to break the bank.
I don't think they will drop computer manufacturing, however I do believe going forward their focus will be mostly on consumer notebooks and iDevices. In my opinion the only desktop that has a long term future with the new Apple is the iMac. Their future growth will target consumers not professionals. There are plenty of solutions over on the PC side for professionals. The real money is in the iDevices.
i'm interested to hear more and to contact the fellow with whom I had been communicating on the pro AV team in Austin. I've been having major issues with Compressor and I'm convinced that it's not user error (specifically with cluster usage).
Anyhoo, I have a ticket issued with them. I should follow up again this weekend after running more files.
Still, sad to see folks lose their jobs.
Anyhoo, I have a ticket issued with them. I should follow up again this weekend after running more files.
Still, sad to see folks lose their jobs.
The simplest answer is the most obvious: The employees were not worth the wages they were getting. Which does not necessarily mean the employee had anything to do with it.
An employee has to add more or equal value than what he/she is compensated for. If you fail in this for an extended period of time, you should be fired/laid off. This goes for departments as well. If Apple realized they could produce a better product by getting rid of these people, and focusing that money on either different employees, or more employees, awesome.
If Apple were getting rid of Final cut, but these were solid, intelligent, worthwhile employees, they would not have been fired, they would be transfered.
Sucks to be fired though...
Final Cut Pro is not going anywhere. It is constantly gaining market share and has become an important part of the video production world.
This is interesting news, and it is a concern to me that Apple has pushed Pro App development to the back burner. Final Cut Studio is in dire need of a real upgrade that brings all the apps to 64-bit and one that can effectively leverage Grand Central and Open CL. A new look wouldn't hurt either.
This is interesting news, and it is a concern to me that Apple has pushed Pro App development to the back burner. Final Cut Studio is in dire need of a real upgrade that brings all the apps to 64-bit and one that can effectively leverage Grand Central and Open CL. A new look wouldn't hurt either.
I know of some that will buy one license, install it on multiple machines, and then disconnect the network so the machines won't see another copy running at the same time. It really frustrates me that people do this.
Relax dude, I've seen my fair share of this too, but it's usually people who either can't afford it, or would never really need to purchase an additional license anyway. There's a lot of things to get worked up over, but a few students pirating FCP isn't going to break the bank.
I didn't say students, did I? And I wasn't talking about students, or people who couldn't afford it or didn't need another license anyway. I was talking about two small production companies that I have worked with in the past... hence my frustration.
That said, I still think wrong is wrong. I purchased it back when I was a student. The academic prices are very low, and are nothing compared to the cost of tuition, books, etc.
Well you're mostly correct IMHO. However, that's 40 people from the Final Cut division. What we don't know is what their position was (development, support, etc.) and how many people were and still are part of the team. 40 out of 400 isn't that much, but 40 out of 80 IS a lot.
Exactly!! With the rare exception of when Apple delayed the release of Leopard and took resources away to supplement the final development of that, all these divisions are separate. That's the same reason why I don't see how real Blu-ray burning and playback has been added to the Mac yet. iTunes movies are a completely separate group at Apple and the Pro apps are another completely separate team.
-Brian
Pixar uses Avid for editing. They always have.
They use a bunch of other software for animation, much of it proprietary.
I am kinda frustrated with Final Cut at the moment. The job I'm working on now has had its fair share of problems with crashes and other bugs. Even besides those, I can think of all sorts of things the Final Cut team could work on.
I know of some that will buy one license, install it on multiple machines, and then disconnect the network so the machines won't see another copy running at the same time. It really frustrates me that people do this.
Even though I only support piracy for kids and college people pretty much who don't have money yet, but hopefully when they get jobs they won't pirate as much anymore, I still think it's a pretty stupid idea to have to buy a thousand dollar software, multiplied by for every computer you own, it's really useless as you own your computers and the software.
Now if it was you getting 1 software, installing on your computer then giving it to your friends I can see why it would be bad (but tbh people need to not get butthurt over piracy, their life is not over) since it's for someone else who didn't even pay, but you paid for your software so you use it on your computer(s).
So you're suggesting they operate like a social welfare and keep staff they don't need just because they have billions in the bank?
I do agree that layoffs are ugly and unpleasant, but companies are not welfare entities.
I don't think it's because the Pro division is doing bad, maybe more like a realignment of staff.
Why would you infer that I was suggesting that? I specifically said that the network was disabled so the software wouldn't detect another copy running at the same time. That is not the same as an individual having a copy on their laptop and their desktop. I was talking about an environment where more than one person is working simultaneously.
Surprised? No. Business as usual.
Surprised?
Absolutely not. Doesn't anybody remember the change of the corporation's name a few years ago? The removal of the word compute should have been a big heads up. The only survivor of the original Personal Computer movement from the 70's removing that word should have heralded the final nail in the coffin of the idea of Apple as a solely computer manufacturer.
It's not to say that the CPU is out of their product range, it's more about the idea that everything is chip powered and that concept is now a 'given'.
As is the idea that if Steve thinks it is so, there is no argument.
White becomes Black, and vice versa.
Right now, portability is sexy, ubiquitous computing is sexy, digital content is ... 20th century.
I still want to believe that ProApps have some life left in them. I'm fairly certain that the people who were told to report to HR, were more than likely the skeleton Post Sales/Engineering specialists who come and go and provided the face to comfort the decision makers.
Apple would see them as having built in redundancy because they don't generate revenue and for all Apple's residual sense of being a company that cares (external perception, I promise), all they value is ... sales.
If you aren't generating any, you have no value in the organisation.
Period. The End.
There is no sweet, kind, human capital concern at the organisation.
All that there might have been, died when the NeXT guys moved to Cupertino (cue death star music). Its all about sales and will be from now on in. And if I may suggest to those of you who are affected by the reality distortion field, I doubt very much that Apple cares about pirated copies of software. What they care about is that if you use it and get used to it and refine your workflow to suit, you'll always buy another Mac. Software as loss leader, as it were.
Now, once it can show that sales are dropping off because of antiquated software, then there'll be a big ol' announcement and a new set of killer apps will emerge, which will also demand a killer machine to run them, don't forget that!
For my purposes, I would love to see an iMac with an eSATA port and I'd be happy as the proverbial Pig in Feces. I mean, seriously ... since when should editing video and compositing with either AE or Motion ever require two multi-core workstation class CPUs?
At least not with modern codecs it shouldn't!
Surprised?
Absolutely not. Doesn't anybody remember the change of the corporation's name a few years ago? The removal of the word compute should have been a big heads up. The only survivor of the original Personal Computer movement from the 70's removing that word should have heralded the final nail in the coffin of the idea of Apple as a solely computer manufacturer.
It's not to say that the CPU is out of their product range, it's more about the idea that everything is chip powered and that concept is now a 'given'.
As is the idea that if Steve thinks it is so, there is no argument.
White becomes Black, and vice versa.
Right now, portability is sexy, ubiquitous computing is sexy, digital content is ... 20th century.
I still want to believe that ProApps have some life left in them. I'm fairly certain that the people who were told to report to HR, were more than likely the skeleton Post Sales/Engineering specialists who come and go and provided the face to comfort the decision makers.
Apple would see them as having built in redundancy because they don't generate revenue and for all Apple's residual sense of being a company that cares (external perception, I promise), all they value is ... sales.
If you aren't generating any, you have no value in the organisation.
Period. The End.
There is no sweet, kind, human capital concern at the organisation.
All that there might have been, died when the NeXT guys moved to Cupertino (cue death star music). Its all about sales and will be from now on in. And if I may suggest to those of you who are affected by the reality distortion field, I doubt very much that Apple cares about pirated copies of software. What they care about is that if you use it and get used to it and refine your workflow to suit, you'll always buy another Mac. Software as loss leader, as it were.
Now, once it can show that sales are dropping off because of antiquated software, then there'll be a big ol' announcement and a new set of killer apps will emerge, which will also demand a killer machine to run them, don't forget that!
For my purposes, I would love to see an iMac with an eSATA port and I'd be happy as the proverbial Pig in Feces. I mean, seriously ... since when should editing video and compositing with either AE or Motion ever require two multi-core workstation class CPUs?
At least not with modern codecs it shouldn't!
You didn't say who you were referring to. It's a pretty small amount of businesses that are pirating final cut. I've experienced this first hand, but it's usually only temporarily, trying stuff out. Apple usually ends up getting money in the end.
If you have a problem with a company doing that, you should let them know. I think we should cut students some slack though. I can afford final cut now, but when I was a student, I had no money.
Avid is the #1 editing platform in the world, with offerings on Mac and PC. FCP is close second. Adobe, well, adobe has no part in the professional editing world. Never did. It's very cute that consumers have heard of it because Adobe makes a good number of products that consumers have heard of, but there isn't any professional Premiere ediitng going on. The occasional in house corporate office run by a one man team perhaps.
It's been said to death but yes, Avid Media Composer is an awesome editor.
The one thing that it ROCKS in is a true open timeline that doesn't need to render out any footage that doesn't match the timeline.
Back when I used it heavily it was just Avid Express, and even on the Mac with the Avid Mojo (render and breakout box) we never had to slow down to render a thing. My jump to Final Cut left me frustrated for WEEKS at how much rendering needed to be done for simple edits.
Not bashing FCP however, the price and interoperability will keep me there. Avid's site will give you a great overview of Avid's best features, many of which neither Premier or Final Cut have.
