I just read the hackaday article as well, and they point to Garrett Mace's tweet;
https://twitter.com/macegr/status/821847340201848832There's some real gems in there
ADSK: New pricing includes access to the latest software and offers flexibility.
GM: It included a purchase of Eagle 5.6 PCB+Layout (I don't autoroute), and an upgrade to Eagle 7.
Exactly. Previously you had access to the latest software if you wanted to upgrade to it. If not, you had the flexibility of just skipping a version or two. The flexibility that the subscription offers is only ever the latest version ( I should know - per their licensing, I'm no longer allowed to use an older version of one of their products. A 4-digit-starts-with-a-3 product. Yes, that means I can no longer work on those files and save them with that version (meaning anybody sending me a file is forced to use latest version as well.) They actually e-mailed me and wanted to give me a call to work with me on making sure that I'm being compliant. No, not a joke. Yes, very sad. ), and at a higher cost unless it's highly incidental use. By which I mean, a maximum of four months.
GM: an you elaborate on the flexibility? I use Eagle for business, I will never downgrade/lapse my main tools.
ADSK: You are now able to access EAGLE anywhere by using an Autodesk account. No need for installing and licensing on new machines.
So, it
is a web tool now (like their "123D Circuits" - wait, where does that fit in with all this anyway?), or did ADSK goof up in that reply? Unless it's a web tool, you do need to download on new machines. At which point, licensing wasn't that much of a pain.
On top of that: I can already access Eagle anywhere - it's on my laptop. It's like this computer that I can just carry around with me anywhere - in the passenger seat, on a bus, on a plane or on a train, in America, in China, in Brazil and even in Spain. Are they even familiar with remote desktop tools? Even if I didn't have my laptop with me, I can connect to my laptop through e.g. TeamViewer. It's not like a twitchy first person shooter, and working across it is just fine. I can even use my mobile phone for the job if I wanted to torture myself (and I
have used it as such to retrieve an account number from an archived e-mail one time when prompted for it at a desk.)
ADSK: revious pricing does not reflect our current speed of development under Autodesk.
GM: The feeling is that higher speed of development comes at the cost of Obsolescence As A Service.
My feeling is that the higher speed of development and associated costs is to try and fund development of Eagle into a contender with professional EDA tools, thus eschewing the "hobbyist hacker" entirely. I never asked for a better autorouter, or BGA fanouts (not like it was impossible before - just tedious - but most hobbyist hackers would steer well clear of fine pitch BGA in the first place). To me, the writing is on the wall for Eagle as a "hobbyist hacker" tool if they continue not just the trend of the subscription model, but their apparent approach to the development of Eagle in general. In essence, those saying that Autodesk is about to lose nn% of their target audience: not really, because that nn% is apparently no longer their target audience.