Did Final Cut Pro Just Hit the Amateur Circuit?

It looks like Apple may be giving away its near-monopoly on quality editing software to gain more big amateur consumer bucks. /Film has an excellent write up and collection of articles on Apple's release of Final Cut Pro X, the newest and cheapest version of Final Cut Pro.

Apparently, Apple cut the quality way down in order to cut the price from thousands of dollars to hundreds. They're hoping that people like me, who use Final Cut Express, will feel like we can finally afford to move up to Final Cut Pro. But is it worth it to pay a few hundred more for something that's no higher quality?

Now film professionals are worried that their software, Final Cut Pro 7, is going to become obsolete (Apple has not confirmed that they will keep producing FCP7) without having a new version to adopt. Instead, they'll have to spend thousands on Avid or another professional-grade software and take serious time to learn them. That doesn't sound like fun.

Is Apple seriously jumping off of the professional bandwagon? Or is this some sort of weird publicity stunt? Or is it really not as bad as it sounds? Your thoughts?