That is " as we ARE just puling out of these difficult times."

But think of all the awesome shit you can buy for $400 bucks. They are practically paying YOU to use their software that is being phased out in most offices.

AutoCAD hasn't really changed much in over a decade. These incremental upgrades should be on the same price point as MS office. blah.

"$400 by mail in rebate."

The fact that is a mail-in rebate means they are intentionally just bending you over and going to town.

I think for beta testing, the ultimate approach would be to give you 5% off for every reported, acknowledged and resolved bug you had a part in bringing to their intention.

But, the sad part is that the $400 is not even an instant rebate or a discount.

Everyone knows mail-in rebates are pretty awful!

i've said enough about autodesk in the past. i mean, what did anyone expect?

i'm hoping this little analysis holds true for autocratdesk as well:

This week Apple launched the Mac App Store which will likely make another dent in Adobe’s future plans. By offering an ultra-simple solution for Mac owners to purchase less expensive software through Apple, developers could usurp Adobe’s high-priced products and offer them direct to consumers at a fraction of the cost.

outed, I'm not sure why an App Store would effect Adobe's pricing. App Store would be beneficial to smaller developers who now would not have to deal with distribution costs. 30% cut by Apple is actually a pretty good deal for small shops.

Are you saying App Store will bring out an amazing Photoshop clone at fraction of the cost? I highly doubt it.

yeah, i'm buying the hype on this one. look, the biggest issue with adobedesk is that they design bazookas. which are great when you need that kind of firepower. but how many of the people who use illustrator need everything it can do? they don't. so, some of these programs that can do a few things well but leave out a whole lot are going to get a chance to shine (more - it's still a relative thing) on this kind of platform. i'm also a huge believer in having cloud based working software be a reality at some point (for more intensive graphics based work)

i don't think adobe will actually put their things for sale on that kind of store unless their tariff is much lower (maybe 10%). otherwise, they just won't do it. too much of a hit on the margins. definitely no way autodesk will do it - too much of a threat to their reseller ecosystem plus the margins are too steep. for both, i suspect the poison pill will be apple's insistence that they tie the prices (in some way) to the app store price. like they do with the music and books.

What you guys are all forgetting, or perhaps didnt know is that Autodesk is in the NYSE. Meaning, that that paltry $400 discount is not sitting well with shareholders.

This is a company that charges several thousands dollars for software that has barely improved 5% in the last decade, as architects are hurting in the pocketbook. The huge profit margin for selling software is mainly intended to making stockholders happy. The mac market they are going after now is for offices that have adapted to Vectorworks. VW is a $1000+ software program that if offices running Macs were smart, would ignore ACAD's advances.

Let me think.....spend thousands for dollars to make shareholders happy, or stay with a stable program that will help me rough it in tough economic times? Tough choices.

The first time I used AutoCAD was either version R13 or R14 back in 1998. The first studio I used it in for arch school was in 2000, and I have to say I can't see how it's changed all that much since then.

Since I've never worked for an arch firm maybe it's become so much more awesome in the last 10 years, I couldn't say from a firm/CD perspective, I can just say that I haven't seen it.

All I can say is that I could never afford the prices they charge, and as frequently as they "upgrade" the version and charge full price. Even if upgrades were $100, I couldn't afford the thousands of dollars to buy it in the first place.