Avatech vs Autodesk

Avatech ships plugins to make AutoCAD drawings appear in the correct location in Google Earth. Autodesk follows suit. What does this mean for Avatech? I asked them, "With Autodesk releasing their own Google plug-ins, is there a future for your products?"

Avatech director of R&D Matt Mason: As one of the largest integrators of Autodesk software worldwide, we were certainly aware of Autodesk's upcoming Google Earth plug-ins for AutoCAD.

However, we thought providing a solution quickly would help our current and prospective customers overcome some of their challenges. Our Avatech Earth Connector for Autodesk Revit was actually the first solution to the market. Besides, the deep expertise within our R&D department allows us to quickly develop and perfect these types of offerings without a large strain on resources.

We believe there will continue to be opportunities for our innovative plug-ins that leverage the new Google Earth 4.0 format and to date we've received lots of positive feedback from early adopters.

Comments

[Evan Yares]

I don't see a conflict. It's a fairly good bet that, before Avatech did their plug-in, they thought about what would happen if Autodesk did their own. They likely went ahead based on the assumption that Autodesk would follow suit.

It's dangerous to assume that your suppliers won't eventually compete with you.

[Matt Stachoni]

Um...

Aren't both Avatech's and Autodesk's plugins for Google Earth FREE?

It just makes me wonder if Autodesk even cares that Avatech made a plugin, and vice versa...