It would be fun to see stats on how many free users end up purchasing Pro in the end.
But that aside, Trimble already has a customer base which has successfully made them profitable, so I would think it is quite substantial. If Trimble's aim is to have a kind or vertical integration throughout its product range, then this customer base all become potential customers. I have a feeling that the free version will not be a viable tool within this product range, therefore if the version of SketchUp that does allow you to have this integration will be an asset to your business, you will purchase it. In most businesses it is recognized that your best customer is the one you already have, to me, this model makes quite good sense. I also think what Simon said made good sense too. If SketchUp were to be upgraded to the point it could handle very high poly, and nurbs, they would once again be really expanding their client base.
That said, given my experiments with modelers that can handle these, I think there would be a high price in ease of use.
May be a case of "Careful what you wish for".

Wow Mike! I want one of those! The one thing that is also very exciting about this is that there will be lots of work for good 3d modelers. And I think John Bacus is a 3d printing fan so I'm hoping SketchUp will follow.(There is the exporter announced at basecamp)

It's the materials that will make the difference in 3d printing. I had read about this development a while back http://news.softpedia.com/news/MIT-Experts-Develop-Advanced-3D-Printer-221714.shtml
MIT Scholars have developed there 3d printer so it can vary the density of the material it prints. In this article they site the fact they can emulate the structure of bone using concrete. This is really fascinating.
Visionaries in this field picture the day when virtually everything will be available via 3d printers.
As for poor Edison I guess a set of forms worth 25K was a shocker in an era where you could order a house from Sears for $2500.00.

These are eeirly familiar, only with a modern twist to Edison's prefab concrete house concept.
But I really think that the 3d printer is going to change our lives much like the computer did. http://exhibits.mannlib.cornell.edu/prefabhousing/prefab.php?content=two_a

Have a Great Birthday!

Hey welcome to the forum.
I hope you read the SketchUp disclaimer about how addictive it is, cause one leads to the next, then another, then another.....
Keep at it and keep posting the results.

Cheers

These are stunning. I want to see more!

Welcome Ramzez
Thanks for the introduction to the reciprocal roof. I was unfamiliar with its name, though I have seen images of it before. Really quite beautiful.
Are you thinking straw bale and cob for your projects?
Keep us posted on the roof model in SketchUp.

There is a color replacement brush under your brush tool menu in Photoshop. I used it once to change the color of paint a few times on a picture of an old truck a friend was rebuilding, to give him an idea.
It was a while back, and I can't recall exactly how it worked, but it didn't take long to master.
It didn't take long to forget either

You gotta press that link!

It's turning out to be a sad week.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/story/2012/12/06/oscar-neimeyer-obit.html

Have to listen to some Brubeck this evening. Rest in peace Dave.

No problem here on Mountain Lion with .rbz, but I have noticed that I have to run permissions quite often with it. It is the first thing I do if things get glitchy.
I use a program called Onyx, it's free, and has always worked flawlessly. This site http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/11582/onyx is good for downloads as there is a different version of Onyx for each Mac OS. Onyx is a manual system, so you have to run it for these scripts, but if you are leaving your computer on the Mac OS should be running scripts automatically.

I would like to share a personal experience with everyone about drinking and driving. As you well know, some of us have been known to have had brushes with the authorities on our way home from an occasional social session over the years. A couple of nights ago, I was out for an evening with friends and had a couple of cocktails and some rather nice red wine. Knowing full well I may have been slightly over the limit, I did something I've never done before ~ I took a cab home. Sure enough, I passed a police road block but, since it was a cab, they waved it past. I arrived home safely without incident, which was a real surprise as I have never driven a cab before and am not sure where I got it or what to do with it now that it's in my garage!

Thanks Dave. I know there is always something worthwhile in your posts. Appreciate the effort.

I have their site bookmarked, and pop over to see what's brewing every so often. I really enjoyed the work in this book, and having hand drawn a lot, I have immense respect for these artists.

American Society of Architectural Illustrators online book Architecture in Perspective.
Enjoy.

(www.asai.org)

As someone who love concrete and its potential, I really fell in love with this residence.
The Tea House http://www.archi-union.com/allCase.aspx

Well you have me intrigued. Tell us a little more.

Reminds me of this one...
A gynecologist got sick of his job and decided he wanted to become a mechanic, you know, get physical and dirty for a change.
He took the courses, and took his final exam which was a multiple choice test, and a practical test where they had to do a bunch of work on an engine.
The next day the marks were posted in the hall, and there was a big crowd around them, and when he walked up someone asked him how the hell he got 500%.
He was miffed, so he found his instructor and asked cornered him asking why.
"Well" replied the instructor, "you did extremely good work".
"So did a lot of others" he replied.
"True" said the instructor, "but they didn't do it all while working up the tailpipe".