Justin Kahn
Posts: 752 +6
Apple's controversial redesign of its video editing suite with Final Cut Pro X fueled much talk over whether or not the company was devoted to its professional users. While the redesign came along with a host of new streamlined features, it was heavily criticized to have changed gears and focused more towards casual users.
In a time when the software was really beginning to take a serious hold among professionals, the company seemed to have abandoned them for a more mainstream appeal. Being that Apple is so focused on hardware sales, it was also a little perplexing as to why the company would change focus on what was one of the biggest draws among pro video editors and production houses to its pricey Mac Pro line.
This move had many questioning Apple's long term dedication to the professional market as a whole, and now we have some new information that could give us a little more insight on the situation. Former Apple advertising consultant Ken Segall took to his blog regarding this very issue, saying that even Steve jobs himself once thought about abandoning Apple's professional product lines.
"Would Apple ever even think about saying goodbye to the pro market?
I hope you're sitting down for this, but Steve Jobs did in fact once consider that very option.
This was back in the days when iMac had established itself as a global bestseller. During one of the agency's regular meetings with Steve, he shared that he was considering killing the pro products.
His rationale was as you might expect: consumer products have an unlimited upside, while pro products are aimed at a niche market that eats up major resources."
Although FCP X remains, Apple has since regained a certain level of confidence among pro users with the long deserved redesign of the Mac Pro and positive reviews of its professional audio software Logic Pro X.
Logic Pro X has indeed received a fresh coat of paint and much of the same streamlined approach as Final Cut Pro X, but without completely leaving professional engineers and musicians out to dry. The app still packs the same deep feature set it always has, while introducing a bunch of nice additions like Flex Pitch and the new Drummer tracks.
