Software Price Drops

My turn for a rant. Have you notices that the price of software is coming down.  It was just highlighted to me again yesterday when I read a story on the Digital Media World Newsletter about Apple's "Shake".  It's dropped from $4199 to just $769!  That's some reduction.  One of our clients recently bought a 'light' version of Pro-Tools.  It cost him $725.  He runs it off a laptop and this combination gives him about 75%of the processing power we have in our 'professional' system.  Our system didn't cost that amount.  It cost tens of thousands more. Why are the prices coming down?

Well it seems that software developers are looking at the next generation of web browsers which will offer pretty much everything you need.  As connection speeds get faster, you will no longer have to buy a CD, install all the software, then get updates etc.  With the new browsers, you will be constantly updated.  And the reason they want to go this way?  Well, apparently it makes it easier for you and me.  We'll just pay a monthly subscription fee and all will be well.  A monthly subscription fee?  Now there's an idea.  Not only are you guaranteed an income for ever, but you can lock down your software.  The user only gets it if he subscribes.

So it makes sense that the best way to get someone into your software is to give it away and then pull up the costs later on.  And also, you'll cut down on piracy which accounts for about 35% of total new installations (US40billion a year).  So, you win both ways.  Nice work if you can get it.

The makers of Pro-Tools did a clever thing a few years ago.  They offered a version of Pro-Tools for download at no cost.  Now it didn't do much other than simple edits and a basic mix, but it got millions of people hooked on their software.  I wouldn't be surprised to see a subscriber web based system from them in the future.

So how does the reduction in software impact our industry?

Someone said to me recently that they love the democratisation of software.  It gives everyone the ability to produce television.  I'm still in two minds.  I guess the cream will always float, but there is an element of cost cutting becoming more prevalent in corporations these days.  I don't think an accountant should judge what's good and what's bad.

I have a friend in Canada who has just made a corporate video for his company.  He's a transport expert.  When did he become a producer?  Well, it happened when he said he could get software for under $1000 that would do the job.  The accountants love it. Along with that, I think audiences have been 'dumbed down'.  There's so much crap vision and audio on our screens, you just get used to it.  Let's not even get to the story telling issues....

So I reckon software and equipment price drops are not the best thing for the industry.  Yes it allows us to make things quicker and easier, but we made those same programmes fifteen years ago with proper budgets.  It screws everyone down to a lower level.

Maybe I'm stuck in the past.  Well not really, because Glenn & I are an example of people using these low costs.  We're just completing post on a new series of "Active Kidz".  We couldn't have done it with out the low cost of software.  But here's the difference.  We've worked in television for twenty five years.

Do yourself a favour or maybe not, and have a look at YouTube.  Now this thing is covered with amateur video productions all because software and hardware has become so cheap (there is some good stuff to, just to be fair).  The sad thing is, this may be where our viewing pleasure is headed.  Fifty million viewings a day is pretty impressive.

So, it's nice that Apple want everyone to use Final Cut, which works so seamlessly with their OS, but for God's sake, let the professional's make the content!  Cheap software for our industry?  I'm not convinced.