Autodesk and Sketchup
November 19, 2009
When I do run throughs of some of the old familiar Google services, I find that many in my audience don’t know that these “old familiar” Google services even exist. In 2004 for my The Google Legacy monograph, I created a list of Google products and services. That was a tough job and now I rely on younger eyes and minds. One of the products I noticed when I updated my list after The Google Legacy came out in mid 2005 was Sketchup. When I first looked at the product, I thought, “Autodesk killer.” I know there are upscale architectural and engineering design programs, but Autocad is one of those tools learned by students and then used for everything from complex line art by technically adept designers to smashcut prototyping firms in Taiwan’s suburbs. If you are not familiar with Sketchup, start your exploration here. When I read “Autodesk Falls after Forecast”, [this Yahoo link may be dead in a heartbeat], I looked for some references to the Google impact on Autodesk. Maybe Autodesk is a bit like SAP; that is, a company sturggling to dogpaddle to avoid a bigger problem. None of the pundits mentioned Sketchup, although my hunt was abbreviated by a pesky steward telling me to turn off my tiny computer. My addled goose mind thinks that this topic warrants some investigation. If the Google is impinging on Autodesk, perhaps that will foreshadow Google’s impact on other market sectors still blissfully unaware that Googzilla’s shadow may fall across their markets?
Stephen Arnold, November 19, 2009
I wish to disclose to NASA that any umbra referenced in this write up involved no payment, not even shadow money from certain contractors to the governments of the world.
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