I am a hobby Sketchup user, using it for various projects in my spare time. The application is ingenious, but the lack of 2D printing (Layout) and now with the web based “Make” version I am ever so tempted by purchasing a license - except that the price is way higher than I can justify.
How about creating a new “Home” license with a more affordable price tag ($50-100) for an offline version with basic Layout functionality? I am forced to stick with an older version of Sketchup to continue my projects, as I am often using my laptop on the road…
cherry picking the main functionality for pocket money would be surely nice… but controlling a non-commerical use is impossible and thus would probably kill sales of the Pro version appreciably … as Free/Make has already proven in the past.
I see your point, but limiting the functionalities available can remedy parts of the problem. Limiting the number of prints per month? A4 print only? Only one viewport per page? No free text possiblities?
My view is that adding a second, cheaper tier (maybe through App Store and Microsoft Store) would increase sales, and thus revenue. My guess is that hobby users like myself will either use an old version, a competing product or worse; an illegal copy.
I’m not an expert on these matters but I think developing, testing and administrating several versions with different set of features would be extremely costly for Trimble.