Exactly ! I think this “terrible move” or “Trimble move” shot very well … in the foot of Trimble. Many of us seem to have a problem with forced subscription, with very different user profiles.
In addition, to say that underwriting, which is also a price increase, must make it possible to finance new features is absurd (and a form of blackmail on customers). This was not the case before Trimble. Since Trimble, the evolution of SketchUp is weaker compared to before.
We absolutely do not see this on other software by subscription. I’m not familiar with 3DS, but I am told that despite the very high annual rent cost, there has been practically nothing for a year. We also see it on Revit, whose updates are better than Trimble SketchUp but a little disappointed …
The best economic model for SketchUp and customers was before Trimble or a fate like Blender, which was bought by a user foundation, which made it open source and even free software, and developed it enormously.
Blender is a demonstration that Trimble’s arguments for changing our license are not logical.
What do you use, since you only use SketchUp occasionally?
The FORCED subscription, the lack of choice and the fact that you stop paying you are left with nothing! Imagine a world of subscription only? Who will own all the goods?
How is the feeling to own nothing, but the endless bills? Vectorworks Architect Perpetual Pricing
People had paid a classic perpetual license since years and don’t wait to rent what they had paid.
SketchUp updates by Trimble are disappointed since the begining. It is not the value of the maintenance fee.
Rhino that have not a UI as nice as SketchUp, have advanced nurbs modeling tools AND amazing Grasshopper. It is half the price of SketchUp pro suscription on 10 years.
Rhino + BIM visualarq or Revit LT are (very) under the price of SketchUp + BIM PlusSpec
SketchUp can be used as pro with compromise. Because we have lost the free version (I am a pro paid user, but I regret this free version for other user profiles), and we lost the cool license, these compromise are balanced with the new subscription price.
some as me (or many ?) refuse the subscription. And I will probably pay for a last maintenance year, and after I stop to pay.
Blender is free, have very professional advanced tool. Blender have two amazing rendering engine. I don’t like the UI, but it is ok, it is improved to be more easy. It is possible to develop tools on Blender. Blender have already architecture and BIM extension. There is a new version each 3 month I heard…
As SketchWood told you, there is a choice of perpetual license on VectorWorks. We want to have the choice.
Many of our users are engineers or other professions who use Civil3d, Vectorworks, Revit, etc as their daily tool, but we maintain SketchUp for them so they can use it from time to time, it’s not their core software. We could possibly downgrade to Shop for those users, but I havent looked into the practicalities of that yet.
I’m also slightly baffled as it’s not like Trimble are doing anything that other firms haven’t already done. Though Adobe and Autodesk get their fair share of critiscism, I guess we hoped SketchUp wouldn’t follow the same path. They did actually say they wouldnt follow this model.
But honestly the idea of paying for software monthly isn’t exactly rocket science - anyone here use Spotify or Netflix??
Companies and sole traders can make the $ work as long as the product is reasonably priced…(if Netflix gets too pricey I’ll move to its rival Amazon Prime), but it would be so much easier on a monthly basis. Nobody rents scaffolding or a concrete mixer on an annual basis; it’s “per project”.
Imagine that you rent Netflix for 1 year in advance, then they end up releasing nothing but Cartoons for the next 12 months?
I imagine it’s very difficult to scale software that’s used by Enterprise and also sole traders/semi-pros, because the economies are completely different. SketchUp Pro Studio should be epic…and rival featuresets found in other top AEC products, and probably cost $1500/year. And SketchUp shop should remain basic and cost $200/year. Totally different markets.
The thing to do Is watch Netflix until you’ve seen it all, then cancel and watch Amazon, then cancel and watch Starz etc. Doesn’t really translate to 3d software strategy.
This is not the same. I tried Netflix during about a year. I buy my favorite programs on iTunes. I stop Netflix… we don’t work with Netflix, we don’t produce files, personal data, work with Netflix.
I think Adobe revenues increase with subscription, but this is not the case with Autodesk. And Autodesk forced to use Revit by lobbying about BIM. They face a lot of piracy in reaction. Affinity low price and classical licence exist because of Adobe licence policy.
The forced subscription for tool/professional software is made with the idea in mind of capturing the customer.
Have you tried or see possibilities with Rhino Grasshopper ?
Before I use it, I was made aware of this software by consulting and training companies, who had shown me that it was used by engineers.
Yeah it’s a different paradigm. I suppose businesses have a better financial strategy with subscriptions, but the architectural field is heavily based in intellectual property. To keep and control the data is pretty important. To say that at some point you no longer have your drawings is alien. And pdfs are as good as blueprints (i.e NG). You have to accept that to unlock your work in the future you need to have a subscription if there is one still to be had.
Well, you don’t pay for SketchUp software as well, you pay for the license ‘to use the software’.
This is where it all starts to go wrong. The license has always been to ‘use the software as is’
Not: here is a bunch of code, wrapped in an .exe, it’s yours.
You might own the license, but never the software.
I used to buy records and after on CD’s, but there were always songs on them that I didn’t play at all, because I didn’t liked them.
Then came iTunes where I could buy per individual song and get to keep the mp3. (I ‘owned’ it) But I had to keep looking for new content and making playlists myself and so winding up with to ‘shuffle’ my contents endlessly.
Then came Spotify and Sonos where I could just pick playlist of somebody else or just listen to the radio.
Btw, there still is a market for the old records and a small part of he industry even are making new one’s, as well.
Disruptive business’s in the music and photo industry made the then ruling companies or publisher’s even disappear.
The software industry doesn’t want to make the same mistake, I guess.
We have clients that need to manage over 400+ different software packages, imagine that every software producent would have to send an update by mail accompanied with a serial number.
License is a law thing to use a software. Trimble had unilaterally change our contract to forced subscription.
You are right, the problem is not the software that we don’t own (this is why Grasshopper interest me, I make my own software), but our work. This is not to compare for a video/music service.
So the question is can we continue to use SketchUp owned by a company as Trimble, and risk to invest our work, time and money on it.
And if we don’t own a software as you say, Trimble don’t own customer… until forced subscription of course : ).
They give you an option, they do not force you or take away what you have.
The anouncement is about the change that’s coming up.
There still is classic license.
It is a perpetual license.
And it will be for you to keep.
The license of Rhino works the same. ‘You may use the software’
You do not own the software, you own the license to use it.
Lately, the Mac version of Rhino don’t follow the same speed of upgrades as the Windows version (Rhino 6 was for Windows only first)
If they keep wanting to offer the same for all platforms for the same price or system, believe me, they will also come up with something.
But there is always Bender (they don’t have ‘l’ for ‘license’
If it’s about keep having access to your work, I believe you are in good hands with Trimble. You will always have access to a Free plan on Trimble Connect, where you can upload a file and convert or downsave it to the last version you have (2019+, I guess)
Keep saying that it is forced, doesn’t make it so.
This involves the people who have a classic, they can keep it and thus always have access to their work.
Period.
No, it is a forced subscription, because a software without updates could technically be incompatible with future OS/hardware. This is for example the case for old version of Layout.
So classical or perpetual license are discontinued. It is as buying a dead animal in a pet shop (the animal is perpetually dead ). Of course, the “new” features by Trimble are not my priority.
No, this is not their policy. The next version 7 (beta) is already downloadable on both Mac/PC. The 6 version was for PC first, but Mac user’s had access to their version 6 beta at the same moment.
The coast of Rhino perpetual cool licence + update is half the price of SketchUp Pro forced subscription on 10 years.
Of course, the marketing team say “the SketchUp you love” , not you forced
About uploading our files on free or Shop version, Trimble can guaranty they do not access to them, keep dynamic component, etc ?
This has always been the case. People might have confused the Maintenance and Support plan with ‘I pay development team to get new features’.
So, 120/300 part of the subscription is for that, I guess.
People still use old versions and pay M&S. They are entitled for support and could upgrade the latest. (No forcing, though)
Edit: I see you have edited your post three times after you post it, I guess I will leave it here.
Right, what you pay for is “only” being allowed the use of the program. So what you create with it is yours, not the software, never.
How long you are allowed to use the software depends on what you went for. It can be perpetual, a year, a month or whatever.
You will not own the program.
). Of course, the “new” features 
by Trimble are not my priority.
, not you forced 
