Say What You Will
Over the last few weeks, many words have been exchanged over the internet and in the company of others regarding the failure of Final Cut Pro X’s launch by Apple. A vast majority of editors who use the program every day to make a living, have been betrayed by a company that has not and probably never will care for their needs on the level of competing companies like Avid and Adobe. For the past week and a half, I have read one article after another, outlining the unfortunate steps post houses are taking to transition away from an Apple product that started an underdog and finished an Oscar- (and probably Emmy-)winning, world-reknown asset to the professional film and broadcast industries. Beyond that, individuals are voicing their distaste towards the company as a whole, citing them as being ignorant and consumed in their own world of how technology should be and how everyone else should use it. 1984-esuque, the flip-side to the famous commercial aired 25 years ago.
And while the professional editorial industry is lining up to jump ship and walk away from the most admired company in the world, I cannot abandon them. This is a company I still (blindly and foolishly at times) believe in. Why? Because I believe in what their goal is, to introduce to the world a whole new way to approach our media, our machines, our interactions with others, our jobs, our education, our lives essentially. It’s not about how cool it looks or how fast it is (though those things are important), but the world-changing effects it has. When I worked at Apple in their largest North American retail store, I found myself discussing with customers the preference of an iPhone or iPad over HTC, RIM, Android, Samsung, and other mobile communications players. I’d pose to them a scenario: “If you were going to change the world, would you do it with an Android-enabled HTC or an iPhone?” If you were to launch into space tomorrow on an integral and historic flight, would you bring your Droid or your iPhone?
Turns out astronauts from NASA chose the later. Two iPhones were sent into space today, equipped with an App that will runs tests on navigation, radiation, orbit parameters and a couple other things. This isn’t Angry Birds or Tiny Wings. This isn’t a couple kids playing Words With Friends or even a student typing their paper on Pages. Not a business-man taking notes at meetings with Penultimate or organizing with Evernote. Or even an editor using Final Cut. This is NASA, the National Auronautical and Space Association, the organization that landed a man on the God damn Moon! Regardless of how you feel about Apple, about Steve Jobs, about MacBooks or Androids or PCs or Microsoft or Final Cut or any of that, you have to sit back and admire how incredible that is. One little product, manufactured out of glass and stainless steel, held in the hands of millions of satisfied customers, is going to space.
Have there been others? Other products that have been so revolutionary? Sure. Definitely. But in the wake of the uproar surrounding Final Cut and Apple’s betrayal, I think it’s important to remember their successes and how they have changed everything.
For better (or worse).
Again. And again. And again.
