iLegend -- The Final Cut

I am going to die.

Someday.

That’s not really breaking news.

You are going to die someday too.

That’s reality.

None of us know how long we have on this planet.

But most of us hope we leave this place a little better off.

Than it was when we got here.

I’m not sure what my legacy will be.

But I do know the three kids I helped bring into this world are special.

And that’s about all I could hope for.

Setting the bar too high usually ends in disappointment.

I’d love to sit here and say that I am going to invent something special someday.

Something that will change the world.

But the truth is.

That’s not going to happen.

Unless you consider putting peanut butter on your hamburger as changing the world.

Actually I didn’t invent that.

But that’s the type of thing that I’m capable of doing.

Hey, you gotta know who you are.

When we look back at history, it’s very easy to think...

“I coulda done that.”

Like starting a self-serve frozen yogurt shop.

That charges seven dollars.

For something that costs 70 cents.

I coulda done that.

Attaching a little spoon to the bottom of a straw.

To make the Slurpee even more refreshing.

Damn.

I coulda done that.

How about mixing vitamins into tap water.

And calling it VITAMIN WATER.

And then selling $350 million worth of this vitamin water.

In one year.

I coulda done that.

Those are things I coulda done.

But didn’t.

There are also plenty of things I couldn’t have done too.

Enter Steve Jobs.

At the unripened age of 21, Steve Jobs helped start a company that forever changed the world.

Well it didn’t change the world right away.

In fact, it took him getting fired from the company he created before he could come back to save it.

But if it wasn’t for Steve Jobs, I wouldn’t be sitting where I am right now.

The toilet.

Ok, TMI.

But the point is -- that’s where I’m writing this blog.

Thanks to Steve Jobs I can carry a computer around in the palm of my hand.

Anywhere I want.

Anytime I want.

Thanks to Steve Jobs this world will never be the same.

Again.

For me it all started with the iPod.

Probably 5 or 6 years ago.

I remember thinking, “let me get this straight.”

“I can put ALL of my CDs on a device that fits in my pocket.”

At last check, the count was up to like 9,000 songs.

From there I made the jump to the iPod touch.

That gives me my music.

And the internet.

Then it was the iPhone.

My music.

The internet.

AND a phone.

Well it was supposed to be a phone.

Unfortunately Steve Jobs didn’t invent AT&T.

Then the iMac.

And the iPad.

And the iToothbrush.

And the iToaster Oven.

iT doesn’t stop.

Steve Jobs and his minions have done more for technology than any group this side of Thomas Edison.

For example, Steve Jobs single-handedly destroyed my business of television production.

Well TV production as we knew it.

Ok, destroyed may be a little strong.

Let's just say, they iChanged the world of how to make television.

Back in the day, the path to a TV career was pretty simple.

• Go to school
• Get an internship
• Get a low paying job
• Work countless hours in that low paying job
• Stay in that same job

Till death do us part.

Steve Jobs changed all that too.

Well Apple did.

Thanks to products like the Final Cut editing system.

And iMovie.

A similar product with a cool “i” in the title.

Anyone can be a TV producer.

Or a film director.

And I mean anyone.

For a couple hundred bucks you can not only buy Final Cut at the Apple store.

But they will teach you how to use it.

With a smile.

No need for that college education.

Internship?

Puh-lease.

Did you see the movie Napolean Dynamite?

That was edited in the producer’s apartment.

Using a Mac computer.

And Final Cut Pro.

Eat Pray Love.

Final Cut.

Glee.

Final Cut.

Nip/Tuck.

Final Cut.

My daughter’s year-end soccer video.

Final Cut.

The same Final Cut.

A website I found today called, fcproducer.com summed it up:

Steve Jobs changed the marketplace forever.  Big creative edit suites filled with broadcasting gear began downsizing and eventually going out of business because how affordable owning a editing suite became. Small businesses began purchasing equipment and hiring staff to run it. 

Final Cut Pro came out and allowed all us little people the power to begin storytelling. I graduated from film school and couldn’t afford to purchase any equipment. The cheapest professional camcorders at that time were $50,000. Then Canon teamed with Apple to give us the power to tell stories. That was when I finished my first documentary. It was self-produced and funded while I worked delivering pizzas.

RIP Mr. Jobs.

Thank you for changing the world.