Apple and their FCP Deliberate Disability
Scott Simmons over at the Edit Blog has stumbled upon a facinating tidbit of information regarding backward compatibility of FCP version increminents.
He writes:
So the other day I noticed an older version of Final Cut Pro (6.0)
opening a project created by a newer version of FCP (6.0.1). This came
about after a new install of Leopard. I was quite surprised by this as
it?s not supposed to be possible. Just to make sure I wasn?t going nuts
I created 4 different projects of varying complexity in FCP 6.0 and
they all opened in 6.0.1. But then I tried to update to 6.0.2 on the
Leopard partition and Software Update wouldn?t see it or any recent
Final Cut Studio updates. I had a feeling that I needed a new version
of Quicktime. It wanted to update my QT to 7.4 but since there have
been issues with that version I got the stand-alone Quicktime 7.3 installer and installed that. Then I was able to update all of the Studio applications.
After that the magic was gone. No more backward compatibility. I
have always believed that Apple could allow an older version of FCP to
open a project created in a newer version. Maybe not FCP 1.0 opening a
6.0.2 project most definitely within the same version number and
probably at least one version prior. This has to be possible and I
don?t think anyone can convince me otherwise. There?s just not enough
different in 6.0.2 and 6.0. Yes there are XMLs but it?s still not the
same thing. I don?t think it will ever happen as that?s a sure-fire way
to sell upgrades. But I can dream can?t I?
Scott seems to be able treat this with a less infuriated tone than I might. Apple are certainly not alone in this deliberate and technically unwarranted hobbling of their products to force users to upgrades, but they've certainly been one of the more consistent corporate entities to screw their users.
Why should simple incrimental updates NOT be backward compatible. In fact i know of no other NLE on the market where simple 'point' releases render project files unable to be opened by previous point releases. Premiere Pro, Vegas, Avid all have multiple point releases updates that have no bearing on the project file's usuability within the same numbered version.... So why Apple?
Posted at 12:00AM Feb 23, 2008
by Mike Jones in video |
