This IS the Avid L2: Re: [Avid-L2] My take on NAB

"Avid not being clear about what it wants it products to be and for whom those products are is one of the core issues"

Avid is in a tough spot. After being king of the hill, with very expensive hardware/software turnkey systems for many years they suddenly had to compete with Apple, who essentially use Final Cut Pro as a loss leader to sell Macs. Tough to make money competing with that. Avid can use MC as a loss leader, but the only hardware they make is primarily for higher end outfits that require bulletproof shared storage. Now throw Blackmagic into the mix, who now offer high end grading and online for FREE, as a loss leader to sell their mostly inexpensive hardware (Resolve control surfaces, notwithstanding), I don't really know how they can make any money, except from broadcast networks and "the big guys". You can make the little guys feel loved, but how the heck can they make a profit from that market, competing with free or next to nothing.

On Sunday, April 13, 2014, Job ter Burg (L2B) <Job_L2@terburg.com> wrote:

Avid not being clear about what it wants it products to be and for whom those products are is one of the core issues I feel the need to bring to the table in the ACA's Community Advisory Council (which, yes, I was asked to join and didn't pay for and have ended up vice-chairing).

Here's my take on the first time the CAC got together:
http://community.avid.com/forums/p/124229/725873.aspx#725873

Like Terry mentioned, it appears that it's not just the independent editors or the small shops that feel they're not being heard, Hollywood has at least as tough a time, and even Big Broadcast is not as happy with the current quality level of a lot of the products (MC in our case) as is sometimes assumed here and on the Avid Community Forums.

Also, ACA is not a top-down thing. Not at all. So it's not a question of our Council asking any "grand-poobahs" anything necessarily. It's about us raising concerns and stirring the pot. Shure, we'll probably get some answers left or right, but the main thing is that we need to voice the concerns that we pick up in the Community. IMHO, that means that rather than asking them: "do you still care about us" and "what have you done for us lately", we should tell them: "small shops and independents feel there's a disconnect between Avid (the company AND its products) and their market segments. Either show them you care and put your money where your mouth is, or be honest about not being interested in them as customers – tell them what you're up to".

I wrote a rather lenghty piece about what I feel are the core concerns among the users I encounter around me IRL, Cow, L2 and Avid Community Forums. I've posted it on the ACA CAC portal. It boils down to:

- disconnect between company / product developers and users: what does Avid want its products to be and to whom?
- lack of Avid product owners / developers on the Forums
- lack of quality of the product (lots of unfinished or ill implemented features, longstanding feature requests not being addressed)

- lack of vision on innovation (where is Avid planning to take its products?)

I think most of our beefs fall under one or more of those topics. But do let me know if you feel I'm missing something.

J

On 13 apr. 2014, at 14:03, <switthaus@mac.com> <switthaus@mac.com> wrote:

Terry/Job - you guys have something to do with the ACA correct (hopefully they did not make you pay the for that privilege)? Perhaps you can ask the grand-poobahs what this all means for the smaller guy going forward