Apple has the resources to own a big piece of the pro media market too - Mac Pros, Final Cut Pro, Color, Shake, Final Cut Server, Logic, XSan, OS X Server, etc. - they keep systematically destroying these for some reason.<p>I think Apple's corporate culture and ego, however, doesn't lend itself at all to this market - this market requires communication and feedback between developers and end-users, and roadmaps of upgrades and bug fixes and features, all things that Apple doesn't do for the most part.<p>All in all it is a shame in any event - I had a friend who runs a video editing department with 20 editors, and they literally just completed a very large Final Cut Server install a few weeks before FCPX (not Final Cut Server compatible) and the very sudden EOL of Final Cut Server. Of course it will work fine for a while, until hardware/OS render it obsolete/incompatible, but what about bug fixes, support, etc?
There are broadcast customers with installations of hundreds of FCP seats [1]. I suspect that Apple discovered that they may have contractual obligations to these customers due to the way Final Cut Server was sold.<p>It's easier to bring back the product in the most limited distribution possible, rather than risk a lawsuit.<p>[1] For example, Norway's national broadcaster NRK has 200+ FCP seats just for their video library: <a href="http://broadcastengineering.com/mag/nrk-keeps-watchful-0709/" rel="nofollow">http://broadcastengineering.com/mag/nrk-keeps-watchful-0709/</a>
I read earlier that Lion was Apples "Vista" moment.<p>The FCP situation is more reminiscent of what happened with Vista - where MS had to extend the life of WXP until they offered something better.<p>Although, it'll be interesting to see how well Lion is doing in terms of market share at Apples next event.
This might as well turn into a new New Coke [0].<p>[0] <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Coke" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Coke</a>
I'm not sure that this actualy means anything. Just a pragmatic move while they get the pro features into FCPX.<p>I guess if there is any hidden message it might be that they are wanting to keep the pro's onside - which might be good news for the direction of FCP and Logic.<p>(also to note that there is nothing actually wrong with FCPX - I'm using it everyday working on some marketing materials right now. I can see that Pros are missing some features which is fair enough but it's an extremely usable application and I'm finding it very friction free to work in)
The update is hilarious:<p>'<i>Update: An Apple spokesperson told The Loop that the company has "a limited quantity of Final Cut Studio still available through Apple telesales to customers who need them for ongoing projects."</i>'<p>Don't Apple know how they can make more copies ... if they don't someone else will do it for them.
"more than 8,000 people signed a petition that demanded the source code to Final Cut Pro 7 be sold to a third party"<p>I wonder that anyone would make such a short sighted demand. Apple should properly release the source code of Final Cut Pro 7 to the public under a Free Software license. That would prevent this type of thing from happening again.
"Final Cut Studio can be purchased for $999 (or $899 for educational buyers). That's the same price the suite was being sold for as of July 2009, but $700 more than its newer replacement, Final Cut Pro X."<p>Yes, the new one costs 299. Way to make a buck...