Between now
and December 27th, educators who have participated in the "X
for Teachers" program can snag Final Cut Express for a tad
under $50, a heck of a lot less than what they would normally
pay. "X for Teachers" was the initiative that Apple
launched shortly after the release of MacOS X Jaguar, giving
teachers a free personal Jaguar license in the hopes that it
would lead to increased OS X adoption in schools. Depending on
your viewpoint, Final Cut Express is either the big brother of
iMovie, or the kid brother of Final Cut Pro.
This appears
to be another back-door move on Apple's part. Any iMovie-using
educator who picks up a single copy of Final Cut Express for
$49 might end up pushing for FCE volume-licensing for his or
her whole school, or some portion thereof. Sounds
like a win-win scenario for me. Kudos to Apple Education
for simultaneously giving educators a huge discount and opening
another back door into the hearts and minds (and pocketbooks)
of schools.
For more information
on the $49 special deal, educators can go to the Apple
Online Store, click on "Educators", and choose
your school. Non-educators still have to plunk down $299
for Final Cut Express.
