OT: Any truth to a possible Apple buyout of Sony?

Mindmatter wrote on 10/27/2010, 3:03 PM

FC was the first app ever to make me feel hopelessly frustrated and powerless in front of a computer since I first bought my Atari 1040 and struggled my way up through Win 95, 98 etc etc. It is the most counterintuitive, hopelessly and unnecessarily complicated app i have ever come across in my life. I tried it for about 4 times 2 hours with best intentions, before nearing a tantrum and almost kicking my computer in disbelief... I tried Vegas and flowed through the functions for 2 hours with a smile on my face and bought it.
I find apple machines fascinating and fun, but don´t like working on them at all. ( - not on mac OS, for I´m actually on a mac pro with bootcamp/ win7) It´s all very nice and designy but damn unpractical. Most pro people I talked to when scouting for an NLE hate FC, they are on edius or Avid. I honestly do not know what the fuss is about, just like with protools. compared to something like Cubase, it is a 3rd world country in terms of workflow, editing possibilities and intuitiveness. Yet, they still claim to be "industry standard". No one really knows what justifies that statement, just like with FCP.
oh well, just my 2c.

Guy S. wrote on 10/27/2010, 4:08 PM

<<Yet, they still claim to be "industry standard". No one really knows what justifies that statement, just like with FCP>>

I know exactly justifies that statement: Everyone knows that FCP is a professional app because "all the pro's use it" and/or "it's the best".

I've heard that from more than one FCP editor and from several more who want to be FCP editors.

Some of these folks have suggested that I'm not a pro because I use Vegas on a PC. It always surprises me to find out that I'm not a pro because every two weeks for the past 13 years I've been getting these slips of paper that I can take to my bank and exchange for money. I used to think that getting paid qualified me as a pro and I will be very sad when the person signing my checks finds out that I'm really not.

mtntvguy wrote on 10/27/2010, 4:47 PM

I use Vegas on a Mac. Does that make me a semi-pro, even though I'm on a MacBook Pro?

I also have Final Cut Studio on the Mac OS side of my system. I have to dust it off from time to time because it doesn't get used much.

But I do like the Mac hardware and OS. I recently switched from WIndows XP Pro to Windows 7 Pro on the Windows side of my Mac, I'm not crazy about Windows 7, pro or no pro.

Guy S. wrote on 10/27/2010, 5:16 PM

<<I use Vegas on a Mac. Does that make me a semi-pro, even though I'm on a MacBook Pro? I also have Final Cut Studio on the Mac OS side of my system.>>

I think that merely having a Mac enhances your status at least a little.

It would be nice to get an official ruling on all this. We do have FCP Studio - though it's on an old G5 and I only use it to author DVDs. But if merely having FCP qualifies me as a pro that would be great as it would preserve the professional status of my videos -- if shooting with a micro 4/3 camera hasn't already ruined that.

Life would be so much simpler if I'd just developed a taste for Kool-Aid...

Alf Hanna wrote on 10/28/2010, 12:00 AM

And MS will loan them a copy of .NET to run it on...

...if you wonder what that sound is, it's the sound of one mouth snoring...boring...

Dach wrote on 10/28/2010, 5:06 AM

While it is true that Apple is "thinking" of using its available cash to acquire a new business. I highly doubt that it will be Sony. Others have suggested that Sony has to much at stake with manufacturing off all of their products. Don't forge its not just the NLEs that compete, but you have this little thing called a "walkman" vs. "ipod" war. Blah... blah...

The same artticle suggested Adobe and Disney. This is a big IF, but possible reasons.

Adobe... would give a leg up in actually applying such software in the PC market, while not having to make a Final Cut for the PC ( that was funny, sorry)

Disney... Content

My 2 cents,

Chad

Widetrack wrote on 10/28/2010, 9:23 AM

So, what would we all do in the event this were true?

Would it make sense to pick up the latest Vegas (if we didin't aleady have it) and hang on as long as possible?

My experience with FCP was also extremely frustrating. Premiere wasn't much better.

What to do, what to do? (wrings hands)

Chienworks wrote on 10/28/2010, 10:55 AM

Seems like a good plan. If you're careful about how you set up your projects, a current version of Vegas could suit many of your needs for many years to come.

The photo editing / page drawing / 3d modeling / clipart software i use was published around 1996, and the company that created it ceased to exist around 1999. It still installs and runs fine, under 95, 98, 2K, XP, Vista, 7, and several linux distros as well.

apit34356 wrote on 10/28/2010, 9:18 PM

Adobe would be tough deal unless Steve was going to toss the PC product line and force Adobe to be Apple like product producer. It would be costly but it would force a lot of PS users to use Apple products if their not already. Steve could then spin off flash and other non=Apple products into a separate corp.... which would major help to survive.

Disney is just too complex to blend with Apple micro - management style. Too much money would be needed to keep talent and the talent would milk Steve for every $$$ Apple had and would not follow Steve's closed shop. Adobe would be a safer money loser deal than Disney because Disney staffers would be in every newspaper/tv/rumor story........ too many other voices for Steve's liking.

But each corp has a couple of products or services that Apple could use. Apple should Just buy the needed technology or the division from each corp. But Apple has a history of just using other corps patents or names and not buying them until forced too.

HyperMedia wrote on 12/12/2011, 9:40 AM

Well that was a joke back in 2010. But now a year later...I can say they have the resources to buy Sony. But they won't! Apple is doing things other companies wish they can do. With far less products and more cash on hand.($76 billion ).

But the scare thing is? If Apple start making TV sets. Now the rumor is out! http://www.businessweek.com/technology/here-comes-apples-real-tv-09132011_page_2.html

Red Prince wrote on 12/12/2011, 10:05 AM

But they won't!

Of course they won’t. With Steve Jobs dead, Apple is a has-been.

Geoff_Wood wrote on 12/12/2011, 5:21 PM

Yuk,

TV set a funny colour that only play Apple TV programs ?!!

geoff

cybercom wrote on 12/12/2011, 7:01 PM

Just look at what Apple did to SHAKE - the absolutely best compositing program ever created. Bought it and killed it!

<*)###><(

jabloomf1230 wrote on 12/16/2011, 5:22 PM

I'm a Windows/PC guy all the way, but Apple will do just fine without Steve Jobs. The key to their success is snazzy marketing, crisp customer service plus attention to quality control. And these days, if your hardware is made in China and your quality control is weak, your products are complete junk.

What people don't understand about electronics components is that they are "binned". Every component is individually tested and then assigned a bin letter (like A through D, etc.). The big guys like Apple get all the A-binned stuff and the rest of the industry gets the crumbs. You can see it in the way that Intel markets CPUs. The ones with the highest stock clock speeds (for a given design and generation) are the A-binned CPUs.

riredale wrote on 12/16/2011, 6:29 PM

Not to my knowledge.

Intel makes a whole bunch of cpu chips at once, then cuts them out and tests them. Some of them fail completely, some run very fast, some run only at a lower clock speed. Intel then looks at sales projections and intended price points and packages the chips appropriately. A marginal chip would never be sold as a high-speed product, but plenty of high-speed cpu's are sold as inexpensive versions. It all depends on the needs of the pipeline at the time. And there's nothing "wrong" with the inexpensive cpu--it will happily run forever at the clock speed spec'd on the case.

As for Apple, Jobs was the cult icon. As such, now that he's gone there will be a big crash the first time a new product doesn't sparkle.

I don't know where HTC makes their Android phones, but we tried both the Apple and HTC smartphones and thought the HTC phone (and the Android OS) a better choice. To each his own, I guess.