CompuServe Messages

Joe, I'd like to address some of the points made in your letter re: 3DS and its hardware lock. <<This entire idea of hardware locks is ridiculous. . .even though I've paid my $3000 for this program, Autodesk has the nerve to tell me in the doc's that if this lock device is lost or stolen it is just too bad, I'll have to buy another program at the regular price.>> I believe Autodesk decided to include a hardware lock on V.2 and later versions when company officials discovered pirated V.1 disks and photocopied manuals selling on the streets of Hong Kong for about $25. The hardware lock, although inconvenient, is an attempt to address the very real problem of piracy. If you can come up with a better solution, we'd like to hear it. (Digimation, BTW, offers a lockable box that attaches to the back of your computer and enables you to link several hardware keys that run parallel to the back.) One suggestion, of course, is to reduce the price of the software drastically, so that users might have less incentive to pirate. However, please note that pricing 3DS is an extremely complex issue, involving (in no particular order): Autodesk's relationship with its dealer networks and their margins; the perceived value of the software to end users and the CGI industry as a whole; Autodesk's profit margins; the time and effort demanded of its developers vs. their share of the profits, and, yes, what Autodesk believes the market for this *niche* software will bear. (See my Microsoft comments below. With an installed (legitimate) base of between 30,000-40,000 (I've read), Autodesk must be doing something right. I know the entire development staff for 3DS, and this is how they make their living. (And no, they don't drive Ferrari's or light cigars with burning dollar bills.) I've known the primary programmer, Tom Hudson, for almost 20 years and consider him my best friend; when I meet someone who smirks and says that he's running a cracked, pirated version of 3DS, it makes me want to punch the pirate in the mouth. What *I* hear is, "I'm stealing mortgage and car payment money from your best friend." <<How do I make a working backup copy of my program when the program will not work without this lock? …Even to do a backup you have to remove the lock device.>> You're contradicting yourself here. You should be able to make backup copies of the disks without the hardware lock. You cannot, of course, then try to use these disks to install and then run the software on another computer without the lock (although you could do network rendering). <<For example, you cannot run your 3D Studio program on a Mac with a Dos board. Has anyone seen a parallel port on a Macintosh lately?>> Since 3DS requires a math coprocessor, and Mac/DOS emulation largely omits FPU functions, the point is moot — you probably couldn't run 3DS anyway. It's a PC program; it's not intended to run on a Mac any more than a diesel car is intended to run gasoline. Even if it were possible, the performance hit of running 3DS under emulation would probably make it not worth the effort of trying to run it on a Mac, lock or no lock. <<Did Microsoft become the largest software company in the world by using hardware locks on their software? No! Autodesk's new Autocad 13 does not come with a lock device, and it far outsells 3D Studio, does this mean that Autodesk trusts people that use Cad programs but not Graphic or Animation artists?>> Microsoft, for well-documented economic, management and historical reasons, has the luxury of selling both operating systems and almost indispensable apps (spreadsheets, word processors) that the company can sell virtually as commodity items at a relatively low price point, to a market of over 100 million PC owners worldwide. Autocad and 3DS are, despite their market share, still niche items catering to people with specialized needs; most users can justify the cost of this software because they can make their living from it, and its purchase becomes a capital expense. As far as your other observations, you'd have to ask someone at Autodesk for their marketing strategy. As for me, I think that I'll drop Bill a line telling him that I think 3DS is way cool; after all, using it is how I earn my living. — Jon Bell 3D Effects Director, Acclaim Coin-Op