Suddenly “Professional”
- Posted by Jon Labes
- on April 19th, 2010
Final Cut Pro is a software suite created by Apple for video editing.
I started using the program my first semester of film school at NYU, when non-linear video editing was just beginning the incredible trend of accessibility to non-professionals we’ve seen over the past decade.
Flashing back to the early 2000′s, Final Cut was a competitor to Avid, a mammoth software company that completely dominated the professional industry. Mainly because of Final Cut’s more visual, mouse-based format for editing, the program was viewed as unprofessional, and its users thought of as amateur.
However, fundamental change was in the works. The amateurs, working from home, suddenly were allowed to participate in the upper ranks of content production and distribution thanks to the internet and cheap camera technology. Final Cut allowed these early adopters to create new, bold styles of filmmaking with help from the intuitive system Apple created for video editing.
The tipping point came a few years ago when Final Cut penetrated Hollywood. Academy-award-winning filmmakers like the Coen Brothers were using Final Cut to rough cut their films themselves when previously they had no option but to submit to a darkened editing room at a production facility.
Not only did Final Cut penetrate the upper-reaches of the industry, but its more modern workflow became industry standard.
Avid fought back, creating “Express” versions of their software and lowering the sticker price for the “pro-sumer” category. Today, Avid and Final Cut are both heavyweights in their industry. But ask a professional editor in 2001 whether they would consider using Final Cut, and their answer would be drastically different than today.
I bring up this story with Stocktwits in mind — a modern and intuitive system for consuming real-time financial data.
It will be interesting to ask the haters what they think in 5-10 years.
The information in this blog post represents my own opinions and does not contain a recommendation for any particular security or investment. I or my affiliates may hold positions or other interests in securities mentioned in the Blog, please see my Disclaimer page for my full disclaimer.
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