Just thought this was interesting:
···
Date: Tue, 31 Aug 2010 07:06:05 -0400
From: Craig Birkmaier <[email protected]>
Subject: [opendtv] News: Autodesk Will Reintroduce Its AutoCAD Design Software
For nearly two decades, if you wanted to run AutoCAD you have had to
use a PC. Today Autodesk is announcing that they are reintroducing
AutoCAD for the Mac and will be introducing free apps that will read
AutoCAD files for the iPAD and iPhone.
There are many engineers in the TV business who rely on AutoCAD for
plant engineering tasks. It will be nice to have access to all your
drawings on an iPAD...
Regards
Craig
Autodesk Will Reintroduce Its AutoCAD Design Software for Macs
By MIGUEL HELFT
Published: August 30, 2010
SAN FRANCISCO - When it comes to Apple products, the iPad and the
iPhone get all the headlines.
But in recent years, the company's Macintosh line of computers has
enjoyed a remarkable revival that has been vital to Apple's emergence
as the most valued technology company on Wall Street.
In the latest sign of that comeback, Autodesk plans to announce on
Tuesday that it is bringing its flagship AutoCAD design and
engineering software to the Mac for the first time in nearly two
decades.
The return of AutoCAD to the Mac could help Apple sustain its
momentum in the competitive market for personal computers, especially
with business customers, where Apple has made significant inroads
recently. Autodesk estimates that 10 million people use the AutoCAD
software around the world, and the company said that its customers
had been asking for a Mac version with growing frequency.
"This is an endorsement from our side that design and engineering
customers are taking the Macintosh seriously again," said Amar
Hanspal, senior vice president for platform solutions at Autodesk.
The Mac was once a popular platform for AutoCAD. But Apple's share of
the personal computer market dwindled in the early 1990s, so Autodesk
made its last version of AutoCAD for the Mac in 1992, and stopped
supporting it in 1994. The company continued to make other products
for the Mac, including software used in the entertainment industry.
Autodesk could no longer ignore Mac's comeback, Mr. Hanspal said.
The Mac accounted for nearly 10 percent of all PCs sold around the
world in the first quarter, according to Gartner, or more than double
its share just a few years ago. In the most recent quarter, Apple
sold nearly 3.5 million Mac computers, a 33 percent increase from the
same quarter a year earlier. That rate of growth far exceeded the
overall PC market.
In a news release, Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president for
worldwide product marketing, said his company was thrilled that
Autodesk was bringing AutoCAD back to the Mac. "We think it's the
perfect combination for millions of design and engineering
professionals," he said.
The Mac version will cost $3,995, the same as the PC version, and
will be released in October. AutoDesk will soon introduce a free
mobile version of the software that will run on the iPad, iPhone and
iPod Touch. That version has more limited capabilities, Mr. Hanspal
said. But with it, an engineer, for example, could bring drawings to
a job site on an iPad, rather than on a big roll of paper, and make
annotations on them.
The mobile version will be able to read any AutoCAD files, whether
they were created on a PC or a Macintosh.
Mr. Hanspal said AutoDesk was considering making mobile versions of
the design software for other tablets on the market.