A new home for SketchUp
-
@valerostudio said:
Autodesk or Adobe are the only two company's I think should have got their hands on this.
SketchUp is being used every day to make design decisions, visualize ideas, and document creative thoughts. I think a company that is closely aligned with this industry should be handling what happens to it after Google.
Are you smoking something?
Autodesk - those people who introduced the cut down version of their main app, and then simultaneously increased the prices of both their high end and low end applications, introduced annual updates with file formats which are incompatible with older versions, then introduced annual licence fees for upgrades and support. Now their entry level app is more expensive than some of their fully-featured competitors.
In addition they have swept up a load of competing and complementary companies and absorbed them into one large, corporate anonymous whole, with crap customer service, and zero understanding of what most of their customers really want.
They have improved since Carol Bartz left, but not nearly enough...AutoDesk would have been the absolute worst nightmare for SketchUp users!
-
So I've been reading bits and pieces of this monster thread and as shocked as you all are, I'm getting over it.
I've been ware of Trimble for some time given that they are in the GIS game and so I think this could be cool. I did see this the other day which made me think what could also be possible:
Redstick CAD
http://www.redstickcad.com/It's a 'site to office' process of measuring and modelling buildings....
Way cool.
-
Google paid the anti to get into the phone business....The phone business has brought the biggest giants to their knees.
I can't imagine giving away Sketchup. I think that Google is floundering internally..there would be no reason to sell other than to shore up a cash-flow blip on the near horizen. I'm not on topic here but it will be interesting to see what happens to the cash...if we hear nothing, it was necessasy to keep their metrics looking strong and keep the stock floating....with emphasis on float! -
I just Googled "Trimble" and read this following post. Interesting to say the least, and maybe, just maybe a ray of hope for the future of SU.
-
@unknownuser said:
Google paid the anti to get into the phone business....The phone business has brought the biggest giants to their knees.
I can't imagine giving away Sketchup. I think that Google is floundering internally..there would be no reason to sell other than to shore up a cash-flow blip on the near horizen. I'm not on topic here but it will be interesting to see what happens to the cash...if we hear nothing, it was necessasy to keep their metrics looking strong and keep the stock floating....with emphasis on float!Google's market capitalization, it's value in other words, is $196 BILLION. Hang on, the share price has just gone up a bit and it's $197 billion now.
Selling Sketchup would be completely insignificant if Google needed cash. It would be like spending an hour to get the nickle in the back of the sofa, and having to damage the sofa to get it.
-
I don't see why anyone is dubious of Trimble. Okay if people would have preferred a more design-oriented company, fair enough. But forget all of the marketing stuff around SketchUp. What's there, which is SketchUp's style of interface and modeling tools etc. will stay there (or they would have just made their own software from scratch). Isn't that what makes SketchUp so great? It's not like Google were the perfect people for the job! It's the great software that held everything together.
Both Trimble users I know (both spent an absolute fortune on Trimble stuff!) seem to love the company and it's products, which is a good sign too.
And yes, I'm glad it's not Autodesk.
-
@johnsenior1973 said:
Selling SketchUp would be completely insignificant if Google needed cash. It would be like spending an hour to get the nickel in the back of the sofa, and having to damage the sofa to get it.
From what I have picked up in various blogs here and there and if it can be believed, the 'sale' figure looks to be between $1 and $90M. A big difference there, but as you say, nothing when compared to $197 billion ..... probably more as I write
The 'dots' need to be joined to see a more credible picture/ reason for the change and I doubt cash had anything to do with it.
I think its more a case of possible technology 'cornering' as far as Google is concerned at this point in time. That's what the 'big boys' do when they don't need any more cash.
As I said, join the dots! BTW, SketchUcation will possibly be doing an article on how we see this move effecting the SketchUp Community in the next edition of Catchup
So make sure you are on the mailing list!
-
Wow, just got back from a long weekend to this news. Wasn't expecting it at all. Will be very interested to see where this leads.
Now, just the 26 pages to go back and read through.
-
@unknownuser said:
@unknownuser said:
I can't imagine Google giving away Sketchup. (and similar sentiments)
i can.. from what i gather, google's mission is to collect and provide all of the world's data (you know, over the next 300 years
)and, from what i gather, the 3D models on google earth aren't actually providing much usable information at all.. if i need information about a building or building site, google earth is not going to give me anything usable other than "where's the closest coffee shop so i can go there on break time" ..
but the building's model itself is going to likely be inaccurate with no details of the innards of said building etc.. i can't use it for construction purposes..
the idea that we could see a city on our computers with 3D shells of buildings, while it sounds kind of cool, isn't really worth anything.. there is probably technology now (or soon) in which satellites can scan a city and provide more accurate info than what we're seeing on google earth.. and at the same time, give more details than being provided by 'an army of sketchupers' will ever be able to provide..
i just think google saw sketchup as a deadend street with regards to their original intent so they've simply decided to let it go to a company that will be able to make better use of the app.. and it's a good decision in my opinion..
jeff,
I think you have a point there. -
jgb - You mention IBM & Lotus. I've been through this before with IBM when they sold our division to a Wall Street leveraged-buyout firm. Things looked bleak. We negotiated usage of said Lotus products (Notes, 1-2-3, etc…). But we started with a couple billion dollars in debt, assuming we'd be split up and sold off. In about 3 years, the debt was paid off and the company still is going great guns 20+ years. Thank you John Akers, who licensed NeXTSTEP 1.0 at IBM and stopped, and sold me.
So I went to work for NeXT. We were trying to go public when some on-the-downhill-slide Fruit Company bought us and an operating system we were throwing in the trash. They added some spit and polish to us, and FruitCo is doing pretty well these days, no?
On to my third major buyout of SketchUp by Trimble. You're entitled to your opinion, and I'm entitled to ignore your opinion based on my personal experiences.
What's happened in all three cases, and part of what attracted me to this kind of company, was that some outsider finds some technology that another company owns (my current employer), but does not provide the proper value to that technology. The outsider realizes that this is a bargain, and just like picking up a pound puppy, they provide a little love and care, the technology grows up to be a REALLY NICE dog, er, technology. Geez, I think I've just written half of my first children's book.
b
@jgb said:
YIPES!!!!!!!
Couldn't spend the time reading all 25 pages, but here is my $0.02.
I have seen too many instances where a company acquires the competition for various reasons, NONE of which were to benefit the customer or end user. Witness IBM buying over Lotus, which I will use as an example. Wordperfect is another, as are all the Canadian income tax programs.
The reason for acquisition is either to pillage the patents, corner the market, eliminate competition, grab the super skills, and to upgrade their own products, until the competitive distinction is moot.
Then KILL the acquisition. IBM wanted Lotus Notes. IBM now uses MS EXCEL internally, not Lotus 123, which was exclusive at IBM prior the takeover. Neither of which exist today. I was on contract to IBM at the time of the takeover as a Lotus 123 developer. A year after I left they wanted me back to convert all my 123 spreadsheets to EXCEL.
If Trimble is planning to incorporate the SU engine into their products, where will that leave SU in the future? Except for being free, there is no competitive advantage for Trimble to keep SU, free or Pro.
They will probably release Ver 9, as it is well down the pipeline, but what about Version 10 or 11?
Google has the great reputation of being a great place to have ideas and try them out. Does the new owner have a similar environment?
Google has some reputation of listening to outside ideas, maybe not so much in the SU community via these forums, but better than most companies.
IBM would only listen to clients who were willing to pay to have their ideas implemented. What about Trimbles track record??Be afraid, be very afraid.......
-
@unknownuser said:
I can't imagine Google giving away Sketchup. (and similar sentiments)
i can.. from what i gather, google's mission is to collect and provide all of the world's data (you know, over the next 300 years
)and, from what i gather, the 3D models on google earth aren't actually providing much usable information at all.. if i need information about a building or building site, google earth is not going to give me anything usable other than "where's the closest coffee shop so i can go there on break time" ..
but the building's model itself is going to likely be inaccurate with no details of the innards of said building etc.. i can't use it for construction purposes..
the idea that we could see a city on our computers with 3D shells of buildings, while it sounds kind of cool, isn't really worth anything.. there is probably technology now (or soon) in which satellites can scan a city and provide more accurate info than what we're seeing on google earth.. and at the same time, give more details than 'an army of sketchupers' will ever be able to provide..
i just think google saw sketchup as a deadend street with regards to their original intent so they've simply decided to let it go to a company that will be able to make better use of the app.. and it's a good decision in my opinion..
-
barry,
thanks for the reassuring post. best wishes on the move.
-
@unknownuser said:
@unknownuser said:
just think google saw sketchup as a deadend street with regards to their original intent so they've simply decided to let it go to a company that will be able to make better use of the app.. and it's a good decision in my opinion..
Plausible, but remember the 'deal' as we have been informed. The Pound are holding on to the Puppy Dog's tail to possibly ensure that the Garden (3DWH) gets regular fertilizer
-
Meh, I have no issues with their products. I start the day, fire them up, do my work and go home.
@valerostudio said:
Autodesk or Adobe are the only two company's I think should have got their hands on this.
SketchUp is being used every day to make design decisions, visualize ideas, and document creative thoughts. I think a company that is closely aligned with this industry should be handling what happens to it after Google.
-
@unknownuser said:
Meh, I have no issues with their products. I start the day, fire them up, do my work and go home.
@valerostudio said:
Autodesk or Adobe are the only two company's I think should have got their hands on this.
SketchUp is being used every day to make design decisions, visualize ideas, and document creative thoughts. I think a company that is closely aligned with this industry should be handling what happens to it after Google.
Their products (at least the ones I use: CS5 and ACAD LT 2010) are great, it's just their product acquisition history is not.
-
I knew I would stir the pot with that Autodesk comment.
Do I love Autodesk, no.
Are they pure evil, kinda.
But all I am saying is that I would rather trust the future of SketchUp in the hands of a company that deals with this kind of software. I don't know Trimble from a hole in the wall. I have never ever heard of them mentioned on this forum or any other site for that matter. From the looks of their website, I fear for what SketchUp will become. I trust AutoCAD and 3D Studio and Photoshop to do its thing day in and day out without fear that in 2014 the software is no longer available or gets turned into a land surveying program. That's all.
I just want my little old SketchUp friend to be safe and unharmed.
-
Ah, for example my old friend Lightscape -- look what Autodesk did to it... I'm of the opinion Google's benign neglect may have been preferable to some active discombobulation. We shall see in due time where Trimble's acquisition falls on the scale.
-
No more evil than Apple, Adobe or MS. All 4 are pretty much the same imho (the big players). AutoDesk has done better with recent products. 123D suite, AutoCAD WS (web/iOS/Droid), SketchBook mobile and so on. I think they need to look at LT's price again with recent free LT clones in the wild. Hard to pay for LT when DraftSight is free (unsupported).
But yes, they do their job.@valerostudio said:
I knew I would stir the pot with that Autodesk comment.
Do I love Autodesk, no.
Are they pure evil, kinda.
But all I am saying is that I would rather trust the future of SketchUp in the hands of a company that deals with this kind of software. I don't know Trimble from a hole in the wall. I have never ever heard of them mentioned on this forum or any other site for that matter. From the looks of their website, I fear for what SketchUp will become. I trust AutoCAD and 3D Studio and Photoshop to do its thing day in and day out without fear that in 2014 the software is no longer available or gets turned into a land surveying program. That's all.
I just want my little old SketchUp friend to be safe and unharmed.
-
@bjanzen said:
On to my third major buyout of SketchUp by Trimble. You're entitled to your opinion, and I'm entitled to ignore your opinion based on my personal experiences.
What's happened in all three cases, and part of what attracted me to this kind of company, was that some outsider finds some technology that another company owns (my current employer), but does not provide the proper value to that technology. The outsider realizes that this is a bargain, and just like picking up a pound puppy, they provide a little love and care, the technology grows up to be a REALLY NICE dog, er, technology.
I have no reason to believe Trimble will do good
or do evil 
with Sketchup.I do not know the company other than they do great stuff in the GIS spectrum. I would love to believe they acquired SU for the reason you quoted "some outsider finds some technology that another company owns, but does not provide the proper value to that technology". And perhaps that may prove true.
But my experience says otherwise, that when a company buys into technology that is outside their frame of reference, there is an ulterior motive.
I do hope I am wrong on this acquisition.
-
I, for one, welcome our new overlords.
From an ArchViz perspective I think many of us here seem to have forgotten the frustrations of Google's ownership. We'll never really know how much control Google had over SU's development but since Google's acquisition, has not each release been fairly underwhelming? Some nice tools have been added: solids, dynamic components,...I'm sure there must be others, but over the last several years I don't remember ever seeing an update and being really excited to try out a new feature.
The Warehouse has been nice and I hope it continues in some form, but it too has hardly developed since it's inception although it has a lot of room for improvement.
Google used SU to build there Google Earth empire and pushed its development to that end. But that was THEIR goal, and it rarely aligned with many of ours.
I know little of Trimble but the speculation I'm seeing suggests they purchased SU for somewhere between $50-$90 million. That's a pretty significant investment so you have to assume they have some plans to develop it further. I also hear they are somewhat involved in BIM which is something I see a lot of requests for around here.
-Brodie
Advertisement