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Autodesk announces 925 layoffs

venturebeat.com

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Re: Autodesk announces 925 layoffs

#21

Post by rpgmaker »

blue1 wrote: post #6
yoklov wrote: post #2

Looks like this is to focus on their subscription model or something along those lines. Haven't tried Autodesk's subscription, but I will say that I (unlike many I know...) am extremely happy with Photoshop CC. $10/mo is trivial for something like Photoshop, and it still works without an internet connection, so I'm not sure what all the hate is about. General mistrust of the business model?

For me, the hate is about several things: (a) CC's price make sense only when compared to the price of upgrading the Creative Suite at every release (under the old model). But I did not do that; I used to upgrade every two/three releases: the Suite is mature software and in most cases there is no need to be on the cutting edge. By the way, I work in the design industry and this was standard practice. So for a lot of…

> Ironically, it has been noted, cracked software is more reliable, as it lasts forever

That's the funny thing. The software it still cracked like crazy so this nuisance, as always, just hurts the people that actually bought the software.

Re: Autodesk announces 925 layoffs

#22

Post by rdudek »

Silhouette wrote: post #17
dangerlibrary wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're right - for a professional it is more expensive and it absolutely was a move by Adobe to capture more of the value of their products (read: increase profit). The flip side of the argument, of course, is that more profitable companies have more room to innovate and experiment (Bell Labs, Kodak, Google, etc.) and Adobe isn't exactly resting on its laurels and allowing their products to stagnate. There is a valid…

...Adobe isn't exactly resting on its laurels and allowing their products to stagnate. The thing is, if Adobe had been consistently developing valuable new functionality and making it available in newer versions, their customers would have been paying them to upgrade in the previous model as well. The fact that so many people didn't see enough added value to buy each major upgrade suggests objectively that the produc…

Also note, Adobe's products are known to be some of the most pirated pieces of software around. During my high school and college times, everyone I knew owned pirated copies of Photoshop or Creative Suite. Same folks now just pay the monthly fee to have the fully updated and activated product because they can't be assed to fight activation issues periodically.

Re: Autodesk announces 925 layoffs

#23

Post by officialchicken »

Disruptive_Dave wrote: post #18

That "A" logo is too close to Google's AdWords logo for my liking.

I'd say you've got it backwards - Autodesk began using the 'A' logo in the early 80's and shipped on 5-1/4 floppies - at a time when very few computer users had mice, tablets, and (VGA/EGA) graphics-capable displays.

Re: Autodesk announces 925 layoffs

#24

Post by arca_vorago »

I have a lot of seething anger for Autodesk. They have managed to achieve mindshare lockin for so many people when doing certain tasks (primarily AutoCAD variations), but their pricing is horrible on budgets. $210 monthly cost for a single Autocad license?!

Thankfully, avoidance of their ecosystem has pushed me further into Blender which I am loving more and more, but on the business side I still quietly mumble curses at them.

Re: Autodesk announces 925 layoffs

#26

Post by fsloth »

Just in case people are not familiar - Autodesk owns a considerable share of cad market (which is far more encompassing than just Autocad) and they've palmed few of the biggest 3D modeling suites - Maya, 3DMax and (sigh ) XSI.

Their DWG format (Autocad's native databaseformat) is a binary blob that still has a huge impact in construction industry and is a major PITA unless one is using Autocad tools.

They are a huge player with many expensive software suits. But they are not very innovative.

Re: Autodesk announces 925 layoffs

#28

Post by vvanders »

fsloth wrote: post #26

Just in case people are not familiar - Autodesk owns a considerable share of cad market (which is far more encompassing than just Autocad) and they've palmed few of the biggest 3D modeling suites - Maya, 3DMax and (sigh ) XSI. Their DWG format (Autocad's native databaseformat) is a binary blob that still has a huge impact in construction industry and is a major PITA unless one is using Autocad tools. They are a huge…

few of? Pretty much everything in my mind.

Still such a sadness that XSI got bought, they had killer engine integration(treating a game engine as first-class citizen inside XSI).

Re: Autodesk announces 925 layoffs

#29

Post by the_common_man »

justinclift wrote: post #4

Wonder how many of the layoffs will be from QA? Fusion 360 is the buggiest shipping product I've ever seen. Really hoping they don't lay off any QA staff. But, seeing the shipping product so far, I'm not optimistic. :(

I don't get your comment. If the product is buggy, isn't the QA to blame and should thus get the axe first?

Re: Autodesk announces 925 layoffs

#30

Post by coldtea »

fsloth wrote: post #26

Just in case people are not familiar - Autodesk owns a considerable share of cad market (which is far more encompassing than just Autocad) and they've palmed few of the biggest 3D modeling suites - Maya, 3DMax and (sigh ) XSI. Their DWG format (Autocad's native databaseformat) is a binary blob that still has a huge impact in construction industry and is a major PITA unless one is using Autocad tools. They are a huge…

>They are a huge player with many expensive software suits. But they are not very innovative.

Compared to what? "Disruptive" social sites and Uber for X?

There is orders of magnitude more computer science innovation in Autodesk than in the average "unicorn".

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