About 4-5 years ago I was of a similar opinion about SketchUp. I never really took it very seriously. Most of my “real” work was 2D structural documents or architectural plans, hence most of my work was done in AutoCAD.
I had toyed with the idea of trying to do 3D models with AutoCAD (I did one commercial building in 2006), but trying to create 3D solids in AutoCAD was just to laborious. My next attempt at 3D design was a much more serious attempt using Solidworks. I actually created some rather nice construction documents and models with Solidworks but again the software package was not geared toward modeling wood framed structures so it was far too time consuming and lacking in the parametrics that I really needed.
I then took a serious look at Chief Architect and almost went for it but I didn’t really like the constricted drawing environment, maybe it works well for some though, it does have a significant user base. At some point along this journey of discovery I also downloaded Revit and gave it a go for a couple of days. I probably could have mastered it eventually but again it just didn’t feel right and it just seemed overly complicated for what I was looking to do with it.
At that point I gave up on 3D modeling of structures and reverted back to my old 2D ways and AutoCAD.
I’m ashamed to say that I am also guilty of calling SketchUp a “toy” to some of my colleagues around this time. I thought the push/pull concept was really cool and intuitive but it felt like I could not get exact measurements with this type of interface. SketchUp was what I considered a quick and dirty modeler, not good for precise 3D objects like I was familiar with modeling in the aerospace industry with SolidWorks or Catia. Part of this bias or misconstrued opinion was simply my lack of real training or experience with SketchUp.
Obviously, I didn’t really have a clue when it came to SketchUp. My opinion of SketchUp quickly changed when I realized that SketchUp had this amazing API along with the Ruby language at one’s disposal. In truth, SketchUp with its API has more potential in it’s little finger than all of the other 3D modeling programming systems combined. In my opinion SketchUp is not a “toy”. Couple it with a few well crafted extensions and it becomes an amazing “tool”.