I recently wrote about why I think AppleCare is well worth the money. I pointed out that I think that Apple provides what I consider the best customer support in the industry for consumers. With well trained Apple Genius technicians, free training, low cost one-on-one training, and fast turn-arounds on most repairs, Apple has certainly “nailed” it as far as consumers are concerned.

However, if you are a pro user or especially in the broadcast industry your take could be quite different. I wonder, how a company that is so good with consumer support, could be so mediocre at pro support. You may be asking, what do you mean?

Support for professional Final Cut Studio, Aperture, Logic Studio, Shake, and Final Cut Server is nothing like what Apple’s consumer customers experience. Much of the on-site support for these products are pushed to third-parties, resellers, and Apple Consultant Network members. Most will tell you that the support they receive from Apple is small.

For larger networks and video pros, taking their Mac to an Apple Store is no so practical. In fact in the case of Xsan or Final Cut Server it is impossible. As well trained as the Apple Genius may be at fixing a Mac and solving an OS X problem, they are not edit professionals. I do not see the executives that make the purchase decisions at CBS, ABC, NBC, or Fox coming to the local Apple Store to check out Xsan, Final Cut Server or even Final Cut Pro for instance.

Apple’s recent “no show” at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) show in Las Vegas last week will certainly have some fallout from professional users. Especially major broadcasters and TV stations. With over 105,000 attendees at NAB this year (even in a sliding economy), it certainly seems there are still plenty of people interested in the annual Las Vegas event. But both Apple and Avid were no shows this year, leaving a huge hole in the event, that other companies like Sony and Adobe were happy to try and fill.

Apple claimed that pulling out of NAB was because there are better ways to reach customers.

“Often there are better ways to reach our customers. The increasing popularity of our retail stores and Apple.com web site allows us to directly reach more than 100 million customers around the world in innovative new ways.”

Well, as much as I understand that Apple may have wanted to save the huge expense and trouble of the spectacle of NAB, their stores and website are NOT at all a place were industry professionals can get a demo, kick the tires, or meet Apple pro app employees face to face. The Apple stores sell Final Cut Studio in a box and can sell you hardware, but getting a demo of Final Cut Server or getting intricate questions about pro apps answered is not going to happen there. Apple has always been secretive about their roadmap and upcoming products and pro users have depended on NAB for announcements and demos, as consumer users have watched in anticipation at MacWorld. Apple’s press event before NAB opens the exhibits has always been packed by the thousands.

Being a no show at NAB this year has exacerbated a perception that video pros have had with Apple in the last year or so due to Apple’s lack of Blu-ray support and the very late arrival of Final Cut Server. Quietly dropping their own Xserve RAID to outsource it to a third-party, Promise did not help.

Apple has talked up Blu-ray in the past few years and claimed to be an early supporter of the Sony high definition disc format. However, they have failed to bring the format to the video pros that depend on it. Both Sony and Adobe now support Blu-ray as well as many other companies. Apple has not brought Blu-ray to the Mac with drives or adding support to DVD Studio Pro. Right now pros have to look elsewhere. Blu-ray should have been available last year from Apple in my opinion.

Sure the Apple TV shows that Blu-ray has a challenge against downloads. Video pros that need to produce Blu-ray disks will have to buy solutions from competitors. With many video pros it is all about “workflow.” So if Apple does not soon support Blu-ray they may find some fast competition from others, maybe even on Windows.

While attending NAB, I spoke to several resellers, Apple partners, and video pros that are now questioning Apple wanting to be in the pro apps business. One reseller I spoke to from New York said, “If you are not at NAB, you are not really in the broadcast business.” I had to agree. Apple being so tight-lipped did not even inform their own partners their intention of ditching NAB until the public announcement.

Maybe this is the writing on the wall that Apple now lacks interest in the professional market. They have never had the support offered by Avid for broadcasters. With Avid handing out “pink slips” and canceling NAB, maybe Apple felt they could skip this year. Apple may pay the price of losing some customers. Maybe they want to play only in the consumer world. Time will tell.

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