Hey, Scott:
Using your analogy, here's how I see it:
If you are Company B and your business is reviewing Company A's design's
then $99 is a very fair price when compared to $400 for a new seat of
Acrobat, $700 for LT or $3500 for AutoCAD. However, when compared to an
existing investment in Acrobat or any of the other PDF packages (Paperport
comes to mind) then it's not as attractive.
I don't believe that Composer should be a free download. But I am
*disappointed* in the fact that it is not bundled with AutoCAD or AutoCAD
subscription. I like Composer. Would I spend $99 on it? Probably not - for
us it has limited value up against existing technology investments. But for
others it could be a really great answer. Would I push for integrating it
into our processes if it were included? Definately. The fact that the DWG
viewer is not integrated with Composer is a little dicey, though, eg you
can't markup DWG's but you can open and plot to DWF which can then be marked
up. (although I do not know if that was changed in the shipping version)
And I understand your Home Depot comparison, but to clarify: Home Depot
does provide *some* architecural services. I can have them design my
kitchen, bathroom or deck - complete with little drawings and bill of
materials (aka shopping list). And for that I'm not even obligated to buy
anything. It's not a stamped plan and it may be off by a couple inches, but
it's a good place to start and I didn't have do all from scratch. And I
think that's about the same level of value you get from Composer.
My disappointment stems from the fact that I'd like to see DWF take off. I
don't want to wait a couple years for it to *maybe* become an "industry"
standard - and even then be an "industry only" standard. I'm tired of
people sending PDF's that are a pain to plot full size because the plotter
can't handle them or they were created at 11x17 or PLT files which are even
worse.
And that's my 2 cents....
"Scott Sheppard" wrote in message
news:4093b1d4_1@newsprd01...
> If you are Company B and your business stems around the fact that you
review
> Company A's designs, then $99 is a fair price for your participation in
the
> process. You would recoup that in FedEx costs alone. I remain astounded by
> the number of businesses that want software for free. If I am building a
> house, and I decide to buy everything from Home Depot, e.g. cement,
bricks,
> mortar, wood, nails, wires, fixtures, etc., I'd wind up spending a lot of
> money at Home Depot. Does that mean Home Depot would just throw in some
> architectural services for free? I am spending so much money at Home
Depot,
> would you think they could afford to have an architect draft out my home
> design for me? No way. IMHO there is no way DWF Composer should be free.
> Value is added through the markup, measurement, and round tripping back
into
> AutoCAD. The fact that someone else already bought AutoCAD (cement,
bricks,
> mortar, ...) is not enough.
>
> "James Murphy" wrote in message
> news:4092f40c_2@newsprd01...
> > I agree there should be someway for Composer to be available to use for
a
> > client with out paying for it. If I'm a developer and have Co. A doing
> civil
> > design and Co. B doing Arch design why should I have to pay someone else
> to
> > review their designs? If you are Co. A are you willing to buy me a
program
> > to mark up your designs (along with the other 20-30 clients you may
have)?
> > MHO is Composer should be embedded on a firms web page to use and markup
> any
> > drawings (DWF) on the web site and only that web site.
>
>
