Fusion 360 introduced this week at Autodesk University is only a transition product, probably.
Whereas Inventor is desktop-bound, Fusion 360 is the stepping stone, running half on the desktop, half on the cloud. In my opinion, it is the predecessor to the cloud-only version of CAD, which customers can expect in 2-3 years.
To follow, it is important to note that in his comments on this subject Carl univocally said that although "everything will move to the cloud", he believes this is true for all things and not just Autodesk software. He further clarified that despite "everything" moving to the cloud, this by no means indicates that the desktop products will be going away.
Posted by: Noah Cole | Nov 30, 2012 at 02:59 PM
I signal the dual nature of the software through the word "available" in the headline. I understand Autodesk remains committed to desktop software for the foreseeable future.
Posted by: Ralph Grabowski | Nov 30, 2012 at 03:49 PM
Noah - Carl Bass has explicitly stated "every one of our products will be used online. The only way to use them will be online."
"Our products" and "only way". This is a totally unequivocal statement that all Autodesk products are going exclusively online. Oh, and it's happening in 2 or 3 years. Try wriggling out of that one.
Ralph - What makes you understand that? Sure, some Autodesk people have said it, but others (including Carl Bass) have said the exact opposite. I don't see how you can interpret this vacillating performance as representing any kind of commitment.
Posted by: Steve Johnson | Dec 02, 2012 at 05:22 PM
Steve and Ralph -- I will point you to Cadalyst's transcription of Carl's comments on this subject at AU:
http://www.cadalyst.com/cadalyst/video-carl-bass-cloud-15248
In response to the question if customers will have a choice about working in the cloud or on the desktop:
The real direct answer is, yeah, customers will absolutely have a choice. To the extent people find this the most productive environment to be working in, they should absolutely use it. My suggestion to anyone would not even to move wholesale. Even if you love the vision of where we’re going, what you should do is figure out which of the things that make the most sense and incorporate them one by one — even if you like it. If you hate it, you shouldn’t do anything differently than what you’re doing today.
Posted by: Noah Cole | Dec 05, 2012 at 11:22 AM
Noah, thanks for the link. It's not clear why Carl is so thoroughly contradicting himself with his "clarification", but let's assume that this version of what he had to say is the "I really mean it this time" version.
Carl says we're going to have a choice.
So is this going to be the same kind of choice customers have about being on Subscription? Sure, you can choose to keep upgrading instead as long as you're happy to pay 70% of RRP every year.
Or is it the same kind of choice AutoCAD users now have about having Cloudy Help? Sure, you can choose to keep using offline Help as long as you're happy to keep using the shoddy crock that was inflicted on users at ship time, rather than the mostly adequate new version? You know, the version that could easily have been provided for everyone but which was deliberately withheld from online users as a matter of policy.
Choice. Hmm. Rubbery concept. People walking the plank had a choice too, didn't they?
Posted by: Steve Johnson | Dec 11, 2012 at 09:38 PM
Carl Bass says that Autodesk will make it compelling to use their software on the cloud. I wonder if the compulsion will take the form of making desktop software painful, like they are making it painful to stay off subscription.
Posted by: Ralph Grabowski | Dec 12, 2012 at 06:48 AM