This is an old hat. Please read some very plausible reasons here (in the end, we don’t know).
You know SketchUp from time to time updates client system requirements (higher Visual C++ library or OpenGL version to take advantage of improvements). If you put yourself into the position of the opposite side, of developers, you would see that there are also development tools, requirements and infrastructure. I speculate these equally need to be updated sometimes. A hint is the addition (not replacement) of a web-based version which – this is totally new – has no public version information and is continuously updated (continuous delivery). Besides knocking out piracy, this lets free users test the stability of the application, long before a Pro release is approaching (and needs to be stable).
Don’t you think it would be rather late to announce if there won’t be such a version (SketchUp 2019 Pro desktop)? A release takes a year in the making, so a decision to make no release would be fixed early in the planning. If you read between the lines (you can not read all lines, but luckily the ensemble of the SketchUp community can), you could find:
I agree, an official communication (that’s not thomthom’s job) has been missing. But if you plan to make a surprise to your children, and it delays by a day (and then just only one day more, and then another day more), would you be going to spoil the surprise by telling them it is just delayed a little?
you’re right. I totally need to calm down. Sorry for my statement. I guest I will be able to use my 2018 for a while. To be honest, before reading this post, I was totally believing in it. I guest I just been influenced by so many user who share that worry.
a subscription would extend automagically and left you w/o access to the software if subscription is lapsed, which is not true for the SU desktop version which can be used endlessly w/o any runtime limitation …in the boundaries of the system requirements of course.
could imagine, that a release cycle of new versions not adhering to fixed dates of a periodical release scheme increases the motivation to renew maintenance early
I guess for those who are ready to leap off the SketchUp ship based on unfounded rumors and lies of its sinking, I’d be happy to sell you the plans for that drafting table so you can build your own.
SketchUcation has 776,371 members talking around the planet and this forum has 42,500 registered users …Who’s gonna call the communicators in Team SU at Trimble and ask for a better dialogue from now on between customer and corporation? … we’re all worth it.
Trimble is a publicly traded company and as such the employees are not at liberty to discuss their future plans for SketchUp and LayOut. This has been explained many times both here and on Sketchucation. They’ve never done so in the past even under @Last and Google. There’s no reason to expect them to do so now.
But on the other side, extending a subscription is future-oriented. Although the subscription just includes using the (whatever) current version for the next year, it implies the expectation for a “next year’s” version. It would be detrimental to Trimble’s revenue (and the shareholder’s yield) to give the impression that there wouldn’t be a new version. They should be able to just clarify that.
It’s quite obvious DaveR is a Beta tester, but of course he couldn’t possibly comment and will definitely deny he is. However, his pi$$ taking suggests he’s in a position of some knowledge so I’d suggest that 2019 will be a desktop release, and we all just need to chill and wait.
It’d be crazy, even if they do go subscription only, for Trimble to go solely online only because most people just wouldn’t tolerate that (potential speed and connection issues for a start). The main model I suspect they’d be tempted by is Adobe and most (if not all) of their application cores are installed on machines with only minimal online additions.
My hope (and feeling) is that the delay in release is due to there being quite a lot new in 2019 (please let LayOut finally be sorted ) and so the testing stage is taking longer than usual. Trimble has already pencilled in Basecamp 2020 and they wouldn’t do that if there was any chance of haemorrhaging large numbers of users and potential subscribers, which they must know would happen if they did go online only.
Even if Trimble is a PTC/PLC this doesn’t preclude them officially, via their employees on here, from instigating conversations and discussions about future development and direction (and not just through the specifically selected Beta testers). Imagine the invaluable feedback they’d get from us heavy users with decades of experience. It’s a free and enthusiastic resource they simply refuse to tap into.
I’ve said it before, but it would actually be a very productive enterprise to engage in these sorts of conversations regularly (and not just at Basecamp) but it’s just not going to happen because companies, no matter how big or small, just like secrecy, for “reasons”. It’s a poor strategy IMO but it’s standard fair so let’s not expect much more than we already know. Which is nothing, for the above reasons.
We’ve all been very busy for the past few months so the forums probably haven’t received as much attention as usual. I see a lot of valid concerns in this thread, but also some speculation that I’ll try to clean up.
I can’t speak to corporate strategy, but from what I see as a lowly developer Trimble remains very committed to SketchUp in a way that Google never was. The recent Basecamp event is just the tip of the iceberg of their investment in SketchUp.
The desktop version of SketchUp Pro remains our flagship product for a wide variety of reasons that I think we all know. I personally have a strong preference for desktop software, but I also acknowledge that there are many users for whom a lightweight web offering is perfect.
The web version is great because it dramatically expands the number of platforms that support SU: linux, chromebooks, lab computers, people without admin permissions, etc. I can imagine that if we didn’t have a web version, people would be asking why SketchUp doesn’t have a web version and using it as an example of lack of investment from Trimble.
I love seeing the passion and investment from all of you long-time users - thank you for being part of the SketchUp family. It’s very motivating to know that there are people out there depending on our software for their livelihoods, and using it to effect real change in the world.
) and so the testing stage is taking longer than usual. Trimble has already pencilled in Basecamp 2020 and they wouldn’t do that if there was any chance of haemorrhaging large numbers of users and potential subscribers, which they must know would happen if they did go online only.