Charging for physical media

[jim.overholtzer]

So Autodesk is now going to charge me to request physical installation media...

Let's see...

-Every year we pay hundreds of dollars for ever increasing subscription fees to keep up with the latest version.

-Autodesk touts all of the "added" value we get with this subscription even though the yearly improvements are often minor or do not apply to our usage of the software.

And now I have to pay for physical installation media...unbelievable.

[TravisNave]

I agree.  However, you also have to consider that $30 for media is a small price for us.  Multiplied by a few hundred thousand customers, it is a large expense for Autodesk. 

Though I still believe that we should have access to physical media as a Subscription benefit, unless your internet connection is slow, it doesn't take long to download your software. 

I am sure there will be a lot of grumblings about this.  Just as it was when they went to DVD instead of CD and nobody had DVD drives.  Software distribution is an ever changing medium.  In a way, we're lucky that we have instant access to the entire suite of software, rather than having to wait 3 days for it to arrive by mail.  Gotta take the positives with the negatives. 

[Bob-SprMtTech]

Autodesk's revenue was $2.3 billion last year.  I think they can afford some USB sticks.

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/pc/index?siteID=123112&id=14224433

[TravisNave]

I do not disagree. But revenue is not net profit. I'm just looking at it
from both sides.

[dgorsman]

Just think of the electric utility bill alone...

[jim.overholtzer]

$30.00 is the price they are charging us for it. I highly doubt that it is the price that it costs them to produce and ship it. 

I, and most customers don't care that it may take a few days to get the software in the mail or UPS.

Maybe if they stopped trying to feed their revenue with yearly releases of software (that are not always worth upgrading to), the "overhead" of sending out Installation media would not be so high.

[TravisNave]

I looked into this last week.  After trying to figure out if this was something we could offer as an alternative, I found that it would cost us $20 to purchase and ship a 32GB usb stick, not including man hours to populate the media.  That didn't leave us enough margin to move forward. 

[jim.overholtzer]

Travis,

Thanks for looking into it!

[jeanchile]

Travis, are you an Autodesk employee?

If so, what is the official Autodesk stance on doing something that they know at a fundamental level just isn't fair?

My post in the IV forum is over here but the reality is AD just increased the cost of my software. If we (attempt to) download the software now am I going to see a $30 credit on my subscription? It used to be included.

I haven't had luck with downloading software and all the software my company uses comes on physical media. All of it.

[TravisNave]

No. I am not an Autodesk employee. I just see it from both sides. There
were complaints going from CD to DVD to USB. Now it's digital distribution.

[jeanchile]

Oh, I thought maybe when you were talking about looking into it that maybe you were an AD employee. I can certainly see both sides of it. My point is that they removed a service. That service being that they provided media for those of us in an area challenged by internet speeds. They have removed that service from the list of things they provided but did not issue a credit. They're keeping all the money.

I am trying to figure out how I can justify doing that with my companies. I would love to tell my clients that I am going to cut one service from the things I provide and still charge them the same and see if they just accept it. I'm betting there will be blow-back and I'm just curious how Autodesk can do that from a fundamental/moral level. They just took $30 out of all of our pockets (whether you used the media service or not you were paying for it) and it's difficult for me to wrap my head around how someone can take it without thinking it's wrong.

If there aren't that many of us doing it, and we were all (downloader's and media user's) paying for it anyway, they're already getting a portion of the money. Why not just keep offering it and let it slowly slip into their pocket as we all adopt it instead of announcing that they're taking it?

[pendean]

They did not remove the service: they are now just charging for it? Why? becuase they can and know you will pay for it if you need it and not pay if you don't.

PS: Autodesk staffers have a specific Autodesk-logo identify attached to their signatures/avatars that the rest of us do not have. Look for it to identify staff.

[jbednarz]

I know this is an old thread, but as 2017 versions come rolling around, again I am being charged for physical media, which is ridiculous considering the tens of thousands of dollars my company pays annually for the software. I hoped maybe that they would reconsider this and at least offer one physical copy of each product to its customers for free. Not really free considering the amount we pay annually. 

I have never had a positive experience downloading the over 50GB of software each year. 

And, NO, there is zero justification for not at least sending me one **** copy of each Suite we pay for. 

Charge me for extra copies. Thats fine. But one **** copy will not break the bank. 

[TravisNave]

$30 media for $3000 software represents a 1% cost for you. That same $30
media sent to tens of thousands of customers equates to millions of dollars
for Autodesk. See the difference? Downloading is a free service that they
are already paying for your convenience.

I argued today that they should just roll the cost of the media into the
software and charge you $3030 (estimated for the sake of argument.)

But that's just my 2 cents.

[Anonymous]

this was pulled from their term & conditions for subscription this is what your agreeing to when you renew

4.  DELIVERY

Benefits which comprise software shall at Autodesk’s discretion be (a) available for download at Autodesk Account, (b) shipped to You FCA (Incoterms 2014) Autodesk’s facilities to the address specified on Your Customer Information Form (or, if no Customer Information Form or address is provided, to any other address known or made available to Autodesk by You or on Your behalf), or (c) shipped to You via an Autodesk authorized third party.  Autodesk will notify You of availability of software Benefits and the delivery method, if applicable. If Autodesk ships to You, it will make commercially reasonable efforts to deliver within thirty (30) days of its notice or, as applicable, Your request for physical shipment, but shall not be liable for any losses or expenses incurred by You as a result of late delivery or a delivery to an incorrect address. Additional fees may be payable by You for physical shipments.

[JamesLovell]

i completly agree with what you have said! 

Its a complete pain downloading this! (tried 20 times already)

[Mark.Lancaster]

@JamesLovell

You can review the verbiage below the line/above my signature and follow those steps to download and install your application.

[JamesLovell]

FINALLY!!! after a further 20 attempts, I think i worked out why it was failing..... switching to browser download throws this warning up with our internet filter.....

'False Positive' i guess 🙂

[TravisNave]

I discovered this to be the case last week. Gateway AV products see the download as a virus. I set an exception on my appliances to allow the download.

I apologize for not reporting it sooner -- been a busy week.

[Mark.Lancaster]

@JamesLovell

Maybe too late but you can now get the 2017 version here (thanks to @Darin.Green and @TravisNave) and not worry about the browser download method..