The Video Generation Has Yet To Hit Hard

As you know, the reaction to iMovie ‘08 has prompted some very shocked and demeaning responses. The interesting thing, though, is why the massive overhaul occurred.

The redesign was targeted more towards the average consumer who wants to patch up a bit of video and share it with his friends. The more experienced users (which I admit am not) still could take advantage of iMovie to edit Podcasts and create masterpieces.


The design overhaul signaled something: iMovie was too advanced and possibly cutting into Final Cut sales. Rarely has an upgrade that involves cutting out features passed as something feasible. It practically runs along the lines of “we need to ship a new product and just need it to look new without adding anything new.”


This is good for Apple in that more advanced users will resort to Final Cut for their video editing solutions, but I have yet to read positive reviews of iMovie that herald it as a truly groundbreaking video editor.

I haven’t used iMovie ‘08 too much; it looks totally different than iMovie ‘05 (yes, some of us are rocking it two versions behind on PowerPC hardware). Anyway, about the upgrade. I think it has to do with more of what the average Joe wants to do, such as create a YouTube video of a dog riding a skateboard, or if he wanted to induce more of a mind-numbing display by just addding another skateboard. Not only would it look amazing on YouTube on his iPhone, it’d probably amuse the very same people who are dazzled by the myriad of once popular internet memes circa sometime before 1999.

Not all that appealing to the in-between users who didn’t need the massive power Final Cut bestowed upon them but wanted more than Quicktime. However, these power users who make up this odd divide are a small minority, and there is one other thing.

The video generation has yet to hit hard. I am not talking about the acceptance of grainy flash videos that consist of little content. I am talking about the wave of excitement for photos that has yet to hit for videos.

See, a photo can just work. Anything more than basic editing can be done with pro tools. They can be sent easily and anyone can take a picture and then send it or archive it. Video is not so easy, as it requires more advanced editing than a simple picture.

However, I can’t see this wave of popularity hitting. The average consumer will want the basic tools which are not sufficient for video editing. Content creators that monetize their videos will probably be the target audience of this market if any demanding advanced tools such as Final Cut are to be marketed towards them at affordable prices, integrating simplicity and usability.