FCP 7 is mostly dead

AppleInsider has some interesting news here about how Apple is still considering selling FCP7 to enterprise clients.

Some of the more interesting bits:

 "The Cupertino, Calif., company did confirm at the meeting that Final Cut Studio 3 has been discontinued. Wiggins noted that Color and all the other apps have been "killed off." AppleInsider exclusively reported last month that Final Cut Express, Server and Studio had been marked "end of life" by Apple."

Which means Final Cut Studio is the dead. But as for Final Cut Pro X:

 "During the briefing, Apple promised a range of updates in coming months, with XSAN support arriving in "the next few weeks." Some of the updates will cost money, while others will be free. The addition of multicam support will reportedly be a free upgrade, though Wiggins noted that Apple's employee may have said it "accidentally."

Accidentally? Its' been mentioned before from Apple. Could it mean however that multicam may not be a free update? It can be interpreted both ways, at least to me.

Which means that Final Cut Pro X, after it's all said and done and matches FCP6/7 features will not be "only" $299. As we pay for features to bring it up to par with FCP6/7 it builds upon the initial $299 price Apple wants us to pay. Users shouldn't have to pay for each feature that is standard now. Apparently Apple is going to nickel & dime us about this.

Then there's this:

 "Attendees at the private briefing, which took place on Wednesday, reported that Apple is looking into the legal ramifications of reopening enterprise licenses of Final Cut Pro 7."

Apple realizes (and I suspect we'll hear more about this soon enough) that Final Cut Pro X is seen as a bit of a joke in the pro industry and has to do something once FCP7 can't run on OS X dot whatever in the future, or can't run on whatever new hardware is out, to prevent many many FCP7 users from jumping ship to Premiere or Avid.

A few people I know are already hedging their bets and have bought and begun to learn Avid and Premiere in preparation for that day since Final Cut Studio is their current bread and butter.