Videoguys NAB 2012 Reflections: The Post PC era & the Post Apple era in Post

Videoguys Reflection of the NAB Show 2012
by Gary Bettan

NAB is a professional show - again.
Over the past few years the NAB show started to feel more and more like CES. We were starting to become dominated by the Apple distortion field and the thousands of FCP fans that attended. While FCP had made enormous inroads into professional post, the NAB floor seemed to be teaming with FCP kiddies. This crowd was full of young, aspiring editors who went more for the fun and give-aways than to conduct business. Last year’s FCPX fiasco at the Supermeet put an end to that, and I don't think it’s a bad thing. Don't get me wrong, I still love the SuperMeet and the Videoguys are a proud sponsor, I just think that the NAB show is better when it is attended by professionals and people who make a living using, selling, and creating products.

The Post PC era
Tim Cook, the new head of Apple, now refers to the current technology trend as the “post PC era.” I happen to agree with him when he talks about the people who use technology to view, watch and participate in media. But, when it comes to actually creating, managing and working with media, we still need the strongest most powerful machines.

The buzz around NAB was that the Mac Pro is dead. I heard speculation about this at almost every booth I visited. Based on all the intel (pun intended) I could gather, I'm going to give it to you straight - We will not see new Mac Pro updates. I hope I'm wrong, just like I was a year ago with FCPX. But my gut tells me that it's a done deal. Sure, Apple could change their mind in a heartbeat, but I don't see it happening. What I could see, and what I would LOVE to see happen is for Apple to license Mac OS to HP and allow us to run OSX on one of the new HP workstations, especially my dream machine, the all-in-one HP Z1 workstation.

As I tweeted the other day @videoguys “OS X on a new HP Z1 would be amazing! A Symphony to my ears, Smokin hot for all NLEs, my head would be in the CS6 clouds.”

The Post Apple era in Post
Since Apple pulled the plug on FCP and decided to go after the masses with FCPX the video editing industry has become more exciting than ever. All editors learned that they can't become dependent on any one company or tool. You need to keep on top of and have access to all of the tools you need.