I used it a lot since the first demo version came out on CDs of computer magazines of the era, and I wholeheartedly disagree with that.
The first release was definitely not feasible for professional use in the AEC market. It was just a easy to use 3D modelling tool for hobbyists and tinkerers who wanted to CAD or model something simple at home with the mouse, without the cost and steep learning curve of parametric pro tools like AutoCAD, 3DSMax or Maya.
It was the first 3D modelling tool I used that made 3d modelling simple and fun that a child could enjoy. But definitely not AEC levels, at least not the first release.
>Then Google bought it and essentially pivoted it to consumer offering.
When Google bought it, it was already popular in the consumer market. They bought it because they needed a simple tool that anyone could use to populate Google maps with 3D buildings of their neighbourhood via crowdsourcing, and nothing was simpler back then then sketchup.
>They retargeted the offering to professional engineering and architecture firms.
More correct would be they pivoted there because that's only userbase that will pay for SW. Unless you have the backing of someone like Google or Autodesk being you to finance such a loss-leader, then you're forced to move away from free SW for casual home users to paying pro-sumers to survive as a company.
The big problem for architects is it never got to be able to do architectural drawings while other software came in with easier 3d modelling and visualisation (revit which autodesk bought and built out fully for industry use, rhino etc. Even blender).
Google did very little with it and Trimble too. Google i can understand ignoring it after Google earth stopped being a focus. Trimble I dont really understand what they want it for
Also it was notable for being a major commercial success for the ruby programming language, outside ruby on rails.
Negative. This was part of Trimbles strategy in AEC software purchases. They bought Tekla for Tekla Structures on 2011 for example.
Ofc they want to make money but it’s not like they _first_ bought SketchUp randomly and then tried to find someone to pay for it.