Return-Path: Received: from asbnvacz-mailrelay01.megapath.net ([207.145.128.243] verified) by media-motion.tv (CommuniGate Pro SMTP 4.2.10) with ESMTP id 4746098 for AE-List@media-motion.tv; Thu, 14 Jun 2012 00:13:23 +0200 Received: from mail6.sea5.speakeasy.net (mail6.sea5.speakeasy.net [69.17.117.50]) by asbnvacz-mailrelay01.megapath.net (Postfix) with ESMTP id 5138BA70107 for ; Wed, 13 Jun 2012 18:16:05 -0400 (EDT) Received: (qmail 22066 invoked from network); 13 Jun 2012 22:16:04 -0000 Received: by simscan 1.4.0 ppid: 890, pid: 7334, t: 0.5680s scanners: clamav: 0.88.2/m:52/d:10739 spam: 3.0.4 Received: from c-67-185-28-214.hsd1.wa.comcast.net (HELO [192.168.1.125]) (albion@[67.185.28.214]) (envelope-sender ) by mail6.sea5.speakeasy.net (qmail-ldap-1.03) with SMTP for ; 13 Jun 2012 22:16:04 -0000 From: James Culbertson Mime-Version: 1.0 (Apple Message framework v1084) Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary=Apple-Mail-5-541304067 Subject: Re: [AE] [OT] musings on the future of Mac "Pro" Date: Wed, 13 Jun 2012 15:15:56 -0700 In-Reply-To: To: "After Effects Mail List" References: Message-Id: X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.1084) X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.4 (2005-06-05) on mail6.sea5 X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=0.1 required=8.0 tests=HTML_30_40,HTML_MESSAGE autolearn=disabled version=3.0.4 --Apple-Mail-5-541304067 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252 On Jun 13, 2012, at 11:23 AM, Jim Curtis wrote: >> I=92ve never understood power users need for =93small and light=94.=20= >=20 >=20 > "Power users" doesn't mean what it used to. >=20 > I saw an Apple ad on TV yesterday for the new MBP. They were running = FCPX on it. This tells me that their definition of what constitutes = "pro" has morphed. It now means "anybody with a camera and laptop." = Just as "broadcast quality" and "HD" got hijacked by marketeers, so goes = other once-meaningful terms. >=20 > People who "need" a MacPro has been reduced to people who use = ProRes4444, uncompressed HD, Arri RAW and RED. That's a small fraction = of the "pro" market. I'd guess that the rest of the "pro" market, which = includes corporate producers, news gathering, marketing destined for the = web, wedding and event videographers, and so on, is 90% of the total. = For them, a laptop or iMac based equipment package will suffice. >=20 > We're going to need a new word to distinguish between what used to be = "pro," and what is now "pro." Pro HD? Ultra-super Pro? I digress. >=20 > I'm starting to think that if you're in the desktop class, just forget = about Apple. That's a dead end. They're catering to the 90%, and doing = a swell job. A three-year product cycle is not good enough. Fire them. >=20 > If I were running Adobe, I'd consider dropping Mac support for the CS, = except for maybe a dumbed down feature set line of iCrap apps. Clearly, = there's money to be made there. >=20 > I don't know. Maybe I'm succumbing to what Seinfeld called "The = Preemptive Breakup." Perhaps the companies that make Apple products = worth having should dump Apple before Apple dumps them. That could be = cutting off their nose to spite their face. But, investing in = development costs for a dead end product could be a risk not worth = taking. If there was justice in the world, Apple's intransigence = communicating with their customers should cost them dearly. >=20 > Seems to me that investing in Windows hardware is a much safer bet for = the Super Ultra Pro HD set. The fact that the new Retina MBP is twice the geekbench score as my = MacPro 1.1 (and 16GB versus 12GB RAM) tells me that what constitutes pro = is drastically changing. But I am an editor primarily who does a lot of = primarily 2D AE work. raytracing is neat in theory, but almost no = clients want me to take the time to create 3D scenes much less get to = the level of precision of Raytracing. If I can get a TB chassis for my = MacPro hard drives, and an adaptor for my Matrox box, I'm not sure why I = need a MacPro anymore for what I do which is primarily documentary, = independent, and corporate video. My sense is that the Apple roadmap is that eventually we won't need = anything more than a laptop, or a little mac mini to do what we have = always done with big boxes. Once Thunderbolt doubles or quadruples it's = bandwidth you'll be able to put everything extra you need in a secondary = chassis configured exactly to your needs (with corresponding savings). = Have all the functional beefiness of a big box but also walk away with = your essentials at the end of the day on your laptop. Of course, if you need to work with 4K, 8K, whatever K, then you'll need = a bigger "box" at least for a year or three. But that level of "pro" = isn't ever going to amount to more than the tiniest percentage of users. James --Apple-Mail-5-541304067 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/html; charset=windows-1252
I=92ve = never understood power users need for =93small and = light=94. 

"Power users" doesn't mean what it used = to.

I saw an Apple ad on TV yesterday for the = new MBP.  They were running FCPX on it.  This tells me that = their definition of what constitutes "pro" has morphed.  It now = means "anybody with a camera and laptop."  Just as "broadcast = quality" and "HD" got hijacked by marketeers, so goes other = once-meaningful terms.

People who "need" a = MacPro has been reduced to people who use ProRes4444, uncompressed HD, = Arri RAW and RED.  That's a small fraction of the "pro" market. =  I'd guess that the rest of the "pro" market, which includes = corporate producers, news gathering, marketing destined for the web, = wedding and event videographers, and so on, is 90% of the total. =  For them, a laptop or iMac based equipment package will = suffice.

We're going to need a new = word to distinguish between what used to be "pro," and what is now = "pro."  Pro HD?  Ultra-super Pro?  I = digress.

I'm starting to think that if = you're in the desktop class, just forget about Apple.  That's a = dead end.  They're catering to the 90%, and doing a swell job. =  A three-year product cycle is not good enough.  Fire = them.

If I were running Adobe, I'd consider = dropping Mac support for the CS, except for maybe a dumbed down feature = set line of iCrap apps.  Clearly, there's money to be made = there.

I don't know.  Maybe I'm succumbing = to what Seinfeld called "The Preemptive Breakup."  Perhaps the = companies that make Apple products worth having should dump Apple before = Apple dumps them.  That could be cutting off their nose to spite = their face.  But, investing in development costs for a dead end = product could be a risk not worth taking.  If there was justice in = the world, Apple's intransigence communicating with their customers = should cost them dearly.

Seems to me that = investing in Windows hardware is a much safer bet for the Super Ultra = Pro HD set.

The fact that = the new Retina MBP is twice the geekbench score as my MacPro 1.1 (and = 16GB versus 12GB RAM) tells me that what constitutes pro is drastically = changing. But I am an editor primarily who does a lot of primarily 2D AE = work. raytracing is neat in theory, but almost no clients want me to = take the time to create 3D scenes much less get to the level of = precision of Raytracing. If I can get a TB chassis for my MacPro hard = drives, and an adaptor for my Matrox box, I'm not sure why I need a = MacPro anymore for what I do which is primarily documentary, = independent, and corporate video.

My sense is = that the Apple roadmap is that eventually we won't need anything more = than a laptop, or a little mac mini to do what we have always done with = big boxes. Once Thunderbolt doubles or quadruples it's bandwidth you'll = be able to put everything extra you need in a secondary chassis = configured exactly to your needs (with corresponding savings). Have all = the functional beefiness of a big box but also walk away with your = essentials at the end of the day on your = laptop.

Of course, if you need to work with 4K, = 8K, whatever K, then you'll need a bigger "box" at least for a year or = three. But that level of "pro" isn't ever going to amount to more than = the tiniest percentage of = users.

James


= --Apple-Mail-5-541304067--