Like others, I’ve used Sketchup since the Google days; for woodworking, remodeling and other personal projects, but never in a professional capacity. I’ve read through this very long thread (ok, I probably skipped over a few) and there are many valid points made on both sides of the fence.
I’m squarely in the “please keep Make alive” camp. Many of the arguments made here ultimately revolve around professional needs and personal preferences (many of which I share). I’ve attempted to put those aside and find a few “truths” that I think most will accept, and base my ultimate opinion on those:
• The current state of Sketchup Free is vastly inferior to Sketchup Make
• Any cloud-based application is limited by its dependence on both a fast, reliable, high-bandwidth internet connection and the operational stability offered by the service provider.
• The availability of a free version of Sketchup, along with a freely-available programming API for developing add-on functionality, has been integral in expanding awareness of Sketchup in the professional community and cultivating a large user base, many of whom go on to use the Pro version as one of their business tools.
• Make 2017, although still available for use, if not supported by Trimble will eventually succumb to technology creep and cease to be a viable application.
• There is support among many in the “non-professional” Sketchup community for paying a reasonable price for Sketchup Make (think Photoshop Elements).
• For a software company to release a product in a new but functionally inferior platform while simultaneously ending support for the previous platform with no guarantee that the new platform will reach equivalent functionality before the old platform becomes unusable, is at best callous and at worst unethical.
Personally, my plan is to use 2016 or 2017 for as long as it continues to work. If it becomes unusable, I’ll have to look at alternatives. I suspect someone will come along and take advantage of the void by offering a lower-cost alternative to Sketchup Make. It’s already happening to Adobe – Serif has released Affinity Designer: a high-quality, low-cost hybrid of Photoshop and Illustrator.