The Video Generation Has Yet To Hit Hard

by Tanner Godarzi Aug 31, 2007

As you know, the reaction to iMovie ‘08 has prompted some very shocked and demeaning responses. The interesting thing, though, is why the massive overhaul occurred.

The redesign was targeted more towards the average consumer who wants to patch up a bit of video and share it with his friends. The more experienced users (which I admit am not) still could take advantage of iMovie to edit Podcasts and create masterpieces.

The design overhaul signaled something: iMovie was too advanced and possibly cutting into Final Cut sales. Rarely has an upgrade that involves cutting out features passed as something feasible. It practically runs along the lines of “we need to ship a new product and just need it to look new without adding anything new.”


This is good for Apple in that more advanced users will resort to Final Cut for their video editing solutions, but I have yet to read positive reviews of iMovie that herald it as a truly groundbreaking video editor.

I haven’t used iMovie ‘08 too much; it looks totally different than iMovie ‘05 (yes, some of us are rocking it two versions behind on PowerPC hardware). Anyway, about the upgrade. I think it has to do with more of what the average Joe wants to do, such as create a YouTube video of a dog riding a skateboard, or if he wanted to induce more of a mind-numbing display by just addding another skateboard. Not only would it look amazing on YouTube on his iPhone, it’d probably amuse the very same people who are dazzled by the myriad of once popular internet memes circa sometime before 1999.

Not all that appealing to the in-between users who didn’t need the massive power Final Cut bestowed upon them but wanted more than Quicktime. However, these power users who make up this odd divide are a small minority, and there is one other thing.
The video generation has yet to hit hard. I am not talking about the acceptance of grainy flash videos that consist of little content. I am talking about the wave of excitement for photos that has yet to hit for videos.

See, a photo can just work. Anything more than basic editing can be done with pro tools. They can be sent easily and anyone can take a picture and then send it or archive it. Video is not so easy, as it requires more advanced editing than a simple picture.

However, I can’t see this wave of popularity hitting. The average consumer will want the basic tools which are not sufficient for video editing. Content creators that monetize their videos will probably be the target audience of this market if any demanding advanced tools such as Final Cut are to be marketed towards them at affordable prices, integrating simplicity and usability.

Comments

  • We do have to be careful though, Tanner, of not reading too much into this cut down version of iMovie. I’m of the opinion Apple simply wanted to get to market as quickly as possible with this new method.

    To have brought it up to spec with the old iMovie would have taken much, much longer. And this way Apple can really find out what features the users really want, instead of just throwing everything at them.

    The list so far
    - Some sort of relative time indication of the position of the playhead
    - Themes
    - Chapter markings
    - Book marks
    - Greater control over audio
    - More video and audio effects

    There’s too big a difference between the price of iMovie and Final Cut Express to consider iMovie could make much difference to FCE’s sales.

    Chris Howard had this to say on Aug 31, 2007 Posts: 1209
  • Fortunately, you can download iMovie version 6, or if you are upgrading to iLife 08, the installer will leave the previous version of iMovie on the hard drive in the applications folder. This way you can use the new iMovie for quick editing of your videos, and use the old version for more serious editing.

    flyboy had this to say on Aug 31, 2007 Posts: 30
  • I think iMovie 08 is a GREAT app for people who has never seen or used a previous version of iMovie: it has a simple interface, great features like non-destructive editing and skimming, and a great easy-to-use video organizer.

    However, if you have used a previous version of iMovie before, you will definitely regard iMovie 08 as a downgrade and miss all the things that Chris listed above.

    Funky Chicken had this to say on Aug 31, 2007 Posts: 1
  • The inclusion of iMovie 06 shows Apple is well aware of iMovie 08’s shortcomings.

    It is quite deeply impressive they were willing to take this step backwards to move forwards in the future. It is stunningly intelligent behaviour for a large company.

    Benji had this to say on Sep 02, 2007 Posts: 927
  • Really?  I can say the same thing about Microsoft extending XP support because Vista didn’t quite meet everyone’s expectations.  Aren’t they taking a “step backwards to move forwards in the future” as well?  Ah, but you’re not going to call them “stunningly intelligent” now are you?  I wouldn’t either. raspberry
     
    Like Chris H said, Apple wanted to get it out to market as quickly as possible.  Good on them to realize that it would piss some people off and thus took this step, but that doesn’t make them “stunningly intelligent”; it just makes them “willing to listen to their customers”, which is what good companies should do anyway.

    MojoJojo had this to say on Sep 05, 2007 Posts: 14
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