Just because you can buy ‘Pro’ tools, it doesn’t make you a Pro
I know with a start like that I sound like I want to complain about how I am a Pro at something and with prices on software being so low, just any person can buy an application now and call themselves a Pro as well. Because they can do this, it may dilute my image as being a ‘real’ Pro. Tools that easily cost over $1000 just a few years ago are now only a tenth of that price for everyone. But, I’m actually standing up for the new people - the ones we all were at one point.
First of all, knowing your tools is part of what makes you be a Pro. My dad is a great example in this. He’s a mechanic, and has been so all of his life. I could pretty easily go and buy all the tools he owns and unscrew a bolt on my car, or change my air filter, or fix a minor issue. I have the ‘Pro’ tools - so I guess I’m a Professional Mechanic now - right? I mean I actually used those tools and did something! Of course not. Not only did my dad have a few years of high level training through Chevrolet and other places over his career, he’s also been doing it for 30 something years. That right there is part of what makes you a Pro - doing it day in and day out, every day, for your life.
I would consider myself to be a Professional Developer. I’ve only been doing it about 5 years professionally, but writing code is what puts food on our table, gas in our cars, a roof over our head, etc. While I’ve pretty much been an ‘Apple person’ all my life (except for a some time in college where I experimented with owning a PC, it was a weird time for me - don’t judge) - I am a .net developer by day. Ive taken the time to learn tons of features in both Visual Studio and the frameworks to make my job easier and my product better. And I try to show others what I learned to help them as well.
A little over a year ago, I decided to jump into iPhone development. Freelance projects came and went, and really delayed me getting into it faster. I have always had Xcode installed on my Macs, but never really took extra time to really learn it. I decided to jump in head first, buy some books, and pay the money so I could put apps on my iPhone. I didn’t want to do this to get rich - I wanted to do it to learn. I feel that to be a professional developer, you really should be well-versed in more than one language and environment. This is also a lot easier than many developers realize. So far I am very happy of the progress I am making here.
But with the App Store, we have seen some really interesting price changes from Apple. Xcode has usually always been free (its included on your install disks) but they are charging $4.99 to get Xcode 4 now in the app store. It was slightly humorous to see how many people thought this was a ‘steal’ at that price. But I also saw a lot of people download it ‘just because they could’ so they could ‘develop apps for their iPhone’. Whats worse though is I saw a bunch of others (professionals) complain about these people.
Developing software is one thing - but lets now take two of Apple’s more creative applications - Aperture and Final Cut Pro. I paid $149 (from Amazon) for Aperture last year, and its now $79 in the App Store. And with last nights announcement of Final Cut Pro X, what used to be $999 is now going to be $299 (possibly - many of the features that were in Studio are now built into FCPX, and Apple noted it was ‘still beta’ and ‘more discussions to come’). When the App Store launched with the new low Aperture price, almost every Aperture blog I read complained about how now ‘just anyone could buy it and call themselves a photographer’. And last night while watching tweets tagged #FCP, I saw the same thing happening. ‘Well now everyone is a filmmaker, great’.
Just because you can buy them doesn’t make you a Pro. Knowing how to use these tools is part of it. Knowing your ‘job’ is another part. Learning (and possibly then even teaching) what you know is yet another part of being a Pro. Not adding something to your Purchased list in the App Store.
But really, why complain? We were all there once. Our first build (that actually ran! and did what it was supposed to do!) made us excited. Our first photo that someone saw and they told you how much they liked it (and it wasn’t your mom) made us excited. If someone wants to learn how to write an iPhone app, modify a picture, or make a great new film - who are you to tell them no? If anything, these people will help us. Those that are new to the tools may find different uses or workflows, or even bugs that affect us. If you are worried about this due to job security - you should be more worried about yourself than others. Continue to strive to make yourself better so that isn’t an issue.
We see time and time again, its talent, passion, and emotion that make great things or make you great at what you do. Not just your tools.
