AutoCAD Release 12 was the mother of all software packages. It got a special mention by PC Magazine in 1992 for having a package size that spanned something like two feet of shelf space. (I still have my copy of the software, but it is buried at the back of one of my storage areas.)
Then the AutoCAD package began shrinking, first to CDs, then to DVDs, and finally downloads. With 2012's emphasis on suites, the download size is getting a bit large, and so the suites are available on 16GB and 32BG USB keys (aka thumbdrives). For example, Ultimate Product Suite takes up 17GB.
(Don't think you can reuse these USB keys; they are read-only and I found that Linux won't even mount them.)
Here is my photoshot of unboxing:
1. The boxes for the design suites are about 5.5" wide and 4" tall, by 1" thick. Here are the boxes for the Ultimate versions of ProductDesign Suite and Design Suite. The difference between the two: one has more software on it.
2. The colorful cardboard packaging is just a wrapper. Slide it off for the actual box.
3. Open the black box to see the USB key nestled inside.
4. Use the cardboard pulltab to remove the nestled USB key.
5. The USB key is triangular in shape, made of plastic. The color is titanium, with a nice clear yellow accent line. There is a hole with which the system administrator can lockdown the key.
Both boxes have USB keys that look identical. This means that you cannot tell which software suite is on which USB key.
6. Open the key by pulling hard on the cap.
7. The back of the key has all kinds of logos that you normally don't see on any other USB key. This must be a very dangerous one.
8. To install the software, plug the key into a USB port on your computer. Double-click the Setup.Exe file. The Serial No. and Product Key are pasted on the back of the cardboard wrapper.
TIP: The cap is very tight. Don't make Al Dean's mistake and try to twist off the cap. That's just breaks off the connector.
Got to admit the packaging is very nice, almost Apple-esque in its "less is more" philosophy.
Posted by: Kevin De Smet | May 22, 2011 at 06:15 AM
Our Design Suite came with a commercial invioce showing this product is worth AUD$0.01.
Thats it guys one(1) cent is what Autodesk wants Australain customs to think this box and the tricks within are worth.
Autodesk's customers are not the only one being conned ;-)
Posted by: R. Paul Waddington | May 22, 2011 at 03:28 PM
I've wondered how corporations get away with that. I ordered the record-CD combo from RadioHead in England, and it arrived last week with a customs declaration stating that the two records and the CD each had a value of $0.
Posted by: Ralph Grabowski | May 22, 2011 at 03:46 PM
For the answer you got to get deep into the rules behind customs declarations. Whilst I have, in the past, been involved in the importation of machinery and know how machinery can have differing import taxes applied to different components. ie. None for some parts and lots for motors; as far as the design suite is concerned I do think there exist reasonable doubt there is no justification for the one(1) cent cost.
Posted by: R. Paul Waddington | May 22, 2011 at 07:13 PM
I guess I can see them wanting to make the drive read-only and not reusable, but for the price of the suite they should throw in a second, empty 32GB flash drive as a bonus :-)
Posted by: R.K. McSwain | May 26, 2011 at 11:00 AM
Okay, I think I figured it out. Just because the Autodesk suites come on a USB device that our computers recognize as a drive doesn't automatically make it a flash drive.
There are fundamentally two types of memory on the computer world, with several sub-variants of each.
First comes RAM (Random Access Memory), which is what we have in our computers. It can be read from and written to.
The other type is ROM, or read-only memory. It is manufactured with the data already burned into it, and it cannot be changed.
Now comes the secret analysis. ROM is cheaper and electronically simpler than RAM. I believe the Autodesk drives are ROM, which is how they cram so much (32 gB) into such a small device. There is no way they can be unlocked. There is no great conspiracy here, it just isn't physically possible.
Posted by: bill fane | Jun 04, 2011 at 04:49 PM
Bill, the size doesn't have anything to do with it being read-only. 32GB in Autodesk's device could easily be fitted in using flash memory. Have a look at what's available today in flash drives; a 16 GB drive that looks like a coin, and a 32 GB drive that looks like a key.
There are other sound reasons for Autodesk making them read-only; I think that's fair enough. The CDs and DVDs are read-only, after all.
Posted by: Steve Johnson | Jun 07, 2011 at 07:34 PM
Months after my receipt of my AUD$0.01 Design Suite package, Autodesk's subscription department has just sent me an email brochure informing me my Inventor Suite is to be upgrade to Design Suite. Even emails, from Autodesk's legals, relating to the new EULA have outrun the subscription upgrade notification – truly of well focused company this one ;-)
Posted by: R. Paul Waddington | Jun 08, 2011 at 03:46 PM
Send it to someone at Anonymous, they'll make it reusable..
Posted by: Paul Jordan | Jun 15, 2011 at 03:28 PM
Here you go if you want to make the USB key as your own:
http://whatrevitwants.blogspot.com/2011/06/repurposing-autodesk-usb-media_20.html
Enjoy!
Posted by: Don Lee | Aug 04, 2011 at 02:30 PM
Hi Ralph, great article. Semi-related question. If I buy one of those usb drives from ebay (Building Design Suite for example), can I install the software and will it just run?
ie. Does the dongle act as a proof-of-purchase dongle, or do you need to type in a serial number and activate? Thank you, Fidel
Posted by: Fidel | Jul 06, 2020 at 06:30 AM
The serial number is on box which holds the USB drive.
Posted by: Ralph Grabowski | Jul 06, 2020 at 07:10 AM