Autodesk, Inc. (ADSK)

lemma (94.88) Submitted: 2/27/08 2:01 PM : Start Price: $33.86 ADSK Score: 16.23

Try and work in engineering without using Autodesk software. Go ahead, try it.

Seriously, it's impossible. Even if the company didn't make great software products, engineers would still use them because they've learned to use, say, AutoCAD in school, and trained to use it in work applications -- it's all they know! It takes some time to master these applications, and there would have to be a very compelling reason for everyone in the field to switch over to using something else.

Think about it like the computer keyboard: the QWERTY layout is clearly not ideal, but to switch everyone to DVORAK is just too much trouble. There would be the initial equipment expenditures, reconfiguring all the computers, and retraining everyone to use the new system. I can't imagine a competitor having an impact here -- there's just too much inertia.

So, Autdodesk, you want to charge me $4,000 for each software package and $600 for a yearly update? Yeah, I'll pay that. What else am I going to do?

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