Deelip.com

Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Inventor LT Woes

Yesterday, someone on the Autodesk Inventor Discussion Group asked what I believe is a profound question, although I doubt he realized that.

"Autodesk, will there be a chance to download Inventor LT in Asian region soon?"

Down the discussion, one obviously pissed off guy blew his fuse. "If they don't want to let me have their software then I don't want to have it. Take it away, forget I ever asked for it, and that they sent me an e-mail saying I would get it."

Sam Antos, the Product Manager of Inventor, calmly send his standard reply. "We are still limiting availability to US and Canada to ensure the best possible experience for customers who do have access. We are working on expanding to more countries in the future but I cannot provide an ETA. Thank you for your patience."

I wonder how long are they going to keep this up.

posted by Deelip Menezes at 10:01 PM

4 Comments:

  • Spin always has it traps in wording and for Autodesk is often means they will looooose credibility when the about face happens, again....
    What on earth does Antos mean by, "to ensure the best possible experience for customers who do have access."
    I fail to see how limiting, and stopping my access to the software improves the 'experience' of a yank or Canadian except for the fact that they can have cheaper software than I can? Ah? Maybe that's another reason ;-)

    By Anonymous Anonymous, At 4:29 AM, June 20, 2007  

  • Sorry Deelip accidentally left my name of earlier post stating "Spin always..

    By Anonymous Anonymous, At 4:32 AM, June 20, 2007  

  • I think it's interesting to watch speculation about things such as this.

    Autodesk is not a monolithic "it", acting in some unified and consistent manner. It is a collection of many people, all with their own motivations. In many cases, Autodesk employees are motivated by wanting to make great software that helps people do their jobs better. But, at the higher levels, decisions regarding pricing and availability can be traced to the compensation plan of the people involved.

    If someone with enough authority thinks that making Inventor LT available in the Asia-Pacific region is going to help them to "make their numbers," then it will happen. However, if that someone thinks making Inventor LT available in the Asia Pacific region will not help them make their numbers -- or worse, will cannibalize existing sales -- then it's not going to happen. Period.

    Yea... I'm sure someone will put out lots of good reasons besides money for decisions such as this... but before accepting these, you might want to take a look at Autodesk's investor presentations.

    In any case, if you'd like free solid modeling software, I'd be happy to point you to several good products that are probably more capable than Inventor LT.

    And, truth be told, in this realm, the difference in productivity between good products (such as Inventor) and excellent products (I can think of a half dozen off the top of my head, none of which are considered market leaders) is big enough that the difference between free and full price meaningless over six months time.

    Sometimes I'm amazed at the short-sightedness in this industry. What do you want -- free software that's crippled, or reasonably priced software that will help you do your job better and faster?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, At 7:48 AM, June 20, 2007  

  • How is this "free" software licensed, and/or regulated?

    What is to stop someone in Oklahoma from getting the download and sending it to someone in a "banned" country?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, At 12:01 AM, June 21, 2007  

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]



<< Home