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| Editors Note: Changes In Latitude |
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By Mark J. Foley, September 12, 2003
Recent events and trends in our business have made for positive growth for the production community. The flurry of new camera technologies and the latest generation of workstations on the way have shown all of us that this industry is on the way up.
Case in point is the news of the upcoming G5 and Panther OS from Apple. What does Steve Jobs and company know that we don't? Some say that Jobs has a crystal ball somewhere tucked away in the confines of Apple headquarters in Cupertino so he can see into the future. Is that true? I doubt it. Other companies such as HP and SGI have also announced their own new products.
Although it might seem this way, new technologies and hardware don't just happen overnight. Companies like Apple and others know that they must constantly be on the move to keep ahead of the curve. The push by end users for faster, affordable, and more reliable software and hardware products is on. It is end users that make the bow in the curve and drive companies to reinvent themselves on a regular basis or perish. This means that now more than ever, production professionals are in a great position to make equipment decisions based on their needs and the needs of their clients. This newfound freedom of choice has had a profound effect on every part of the production community. But as with every choice there are some positives and negatives to think about as we move ahead.
Great Expectations
As I said earlier, production professionals everywhere are bowing out the curve, which is pushing new product development like never before. One only has to look at the burgeoning development of new HD tools, IT infrastructures, asset management, acquisition, audio, and graphics software to see what I am talking about.
This dizzying array of new toolsets can make even the most seasoned professional feel like they are in the middle of the Indy 500. Faster, bigger, stronger (sounds like The Six Million Dollar Man) are the marching orders of the day
. Better product on a faster turnaround is what it is all about. But before we hit technology and production nirvana there are some speed bumps that need to be dealt with. Here are just a few that you should think about as you decide how to go about your business.
There are going to be bugs in new software that you bought and there will be a need for fixes in that new plug-in you just put in your computer. There are going to be features that you think should be in that new camera but are not quite there yet. There is going to be a time when the learning curve on a new product is a little bit (maybe a lot) steeper than you imagined.
New technologies are created not by computers but by honest-to-goodness human beings just like you and me. So that means sometimes some adjustments are in order to go to the place you want to be with that new gear or software. These are just all part of the process of moving technology and yourself ahead. That means getting on the phone or logging on to one of our many Creative Planet websites to get some of the answers you are looking for. Any new technology or product worth building and implementing is going to go through some growing pains. If you want to be up on that edge were I like to be, you have to realize that sometimes it's not going to be such a comfortable place. But who ever said production was a walk in the park?
Many organizations like Avid and others have made real strides in improving how they interact with and work with customers both large and small. Companies have changed. They are really listening to the customer more than ever and it shows. Good feedback from you means that fixes and improvements get put in place. The industry as a whole is gaining momentum and moving in the right direction. New products, new trends, new attitudes. I like what I see and hear. Production professionals and manufacturers are working together to take technology to a whole new level, and that may be the most important new trend of them all.
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