Conan Wastes No Time Lampooning "Final Cut Pro Ex"

Despite being the resident Apple fanboy, I’m not going to try to defend the new Final Cut Pro X. I simply don’t use Final Cut enough to know how good or bad it is compared to the old version. But I will say this, the backlash is very predictable.

Apple completely changed a very popular piece of software — rewriting it from the ground up. People hate change. Revolt. Some changes are made. Everyone calms down and forgets. End of story. It happens time and time again. It’s just more striking when it happens with companies like Apple and Facebook because they’re among the only ones seemingly not afraid to upset their massive user bases.

And perhaps it’s extra infuriating for some because it’s almost like these companies don’t even think twice about making such changes. And the harsh truth is that they shouldn’t. When you start to second guess yourself and let the masses dictate your product decisions, you’re done.

Maybe Final Cut Pro X ends up being a hit that changes filmmaking. Or maybe it flops. But Apple thrives by making bold moves — remember when they killed off their best selling iPod, the mini, to introduce the iPod nano? Revolt! Then everyone forgot and Apple sold more iPods than ever.

And yes, I realize this is a professional product that people base their careers around. But remember, the old version of Final Cut Pro isn’t going anywhere either. And in fact, you can’t even move your old projects to the new version if you wanted to. I’m sure Apple could have made that possible, but perhaps they didn’t on purpose. This forces a clean break, a fresh start if and when users do decide to make the jump.

Wait, did I say I wasn’t going to defend the new Final Cut Pro? Sure sounds like I just did. Whoops. My bad. To make up for it, here’s Conan and crew ripping it apart earlier tonight. Every time they say Final Cut Pro “Ex”, you can just imagine the boys in Cupertino wincing. It’s “ten” damnit. TEN!