PTC aquires CoCreate Openspace Software

[pro_eek]

Very interesting, on the same day that I stumble across CoCreate's Openspace CAD modeling software via a newsletter, I find out that they have been bought by PTC last December.


I had a look at the CoCreate website, it looks very interesting. I'm downloading trial software now. Has anyone used this software? Their claim to fame seems to be that the modeling isnt as closely tied to a history tree, ie if something goes wrong the whole model doesn't fail.


A thought: has PTC bought CoCreate because they see it as a value add to Pro/Engineer, or to kill off a competitor that poses a serious threat?


Just a thought...

 

[prohammy]

Offically..... PTC claims that they have bought CoCreate as another feather to the PTC bow. They say that they will develop and support CoCreate, but as with all mergers only time will tell


Kev

 

[moriarty]

Not so sure the acqusiition is about CAD - ProE is only 20% of PTCs business. Harrison seems to be focused on achieving $1.5B revenues by 2010 - he will be heavily incentivised to achieve this - and buying up profitable companies seems to be the strategy.


Pity they couldnt spend some of this money on completing Wildfire - think the menu manager is still there in WF4 - someones butt needs kicking over this appalling state of affairs


Given Harrison is a BA in English Literature I dont think he will be too interested in fixing ProE !


Go and have a read of this interview


[url]http://www.cbronline.com/article_news.asp?guid=5A256D59-9EA5 -4B2B-94DE-69CDBF0D1186[/url]

 

[jeff4136]

Poor old "broken" Pro/E.

 

[tosh382]

One thing Pro/E is not ... and that is broken ...


One thing it is ... Lacking the professional development it deserves ... PTC does not deserve this product anymore.


PTC needs to hand it over to Microsoft and let them finish it up.


PTC only starts things and never finishes them.


For instance: MathCAD ... it had potential and now PTC has it ...


Never let anyone have something if they are not going to take care of it
Edited by: tosh382

 

[jeff4136]

That's a good one, too! P/MS

 

[moriarty]

"poor old and broken" ...isnt that us users! ... no, its pretty much the opposite, a big rich powerful and mostly robust toolset but with a messy interface.


I just wonder whatthe future willbring - WF is now 5yrs old ! As Harrison said ProE "got a bit old and needed a refresh" - I just dont think they've delivered on the interface refresh. It would be sad if we were still mucking around in Menu Manager in another 5yrs time- will thatbe our lot? Is that what we want as USERs ?


what do we want as users ?



Edited by: moriarty

 

[jeff4136]

Who's the 'we' that you are spokesperson for?
Which menu manager interface functions do you use multiple
times per day or even on a daily basis? We can start a
petition trying to get your preferences bumped to the top of
the list. In the mean time; it you intend to start holding
your breath until total extinction of the menu manager you
should make sure your affairs are in order. The big push
is long past by my reckoning.

 

[tosh382]

Ya ......... I have to agree with jeff4136 ...


I put in a SPR in 1998 for Family Table Instances, where we could assign different colors to them ...


Guess what ...


Since I have lost all of my hair ... plus the rest turned gray ...


I am not going for holding my breath either ...


PTC is only interested in one thing ... BOTTOM LINE ...


It will be a PARTY day when a new comer knocks their socks off !
Edited by: tosh382

 

[jeff4136]

1998? You've got to be kidding. Someone other than PTC
must be worried about bottom line to punish you like that
for so long. I'd be on the verge of going postal.

 

[mgnt8]

Looks like that CoCreate deal saved the day

 

[pro_eek]

Mmm, yes makes you think. The reality is that its the money that counts. I hope all these software giants have their clients at heart to the same extent as the shareholders. You need a good team to manage a software product's future development and deciding which features to further develop. Lets hope Pro/E keeps improving!


Will be interesting to see if buyers such as PTC (CoCreate),Autodesk (Alias) and Adobe(Macromedia) actually use the positive aspects of their aquisitions, or just use it to bloat their portfolio, which they then have to try and manage.


I may post this on the forum, what do you think?

 

[jbuckl]

Following is slightly Tongue in Cheek....


Imho Co Create was the wrong aquisition for ptc.....


The people who really knew about Pro-E and granite left PTC to do this:-


www.spaceclaim.com


PTC no longer really know the power and strength of Pro-E


They do know all about qtr results.


They should buy SAP toreally changethe way firms do business with software companies...SAP salesmen must be the worlds best if they can peddle that'product'


Only Space claim sold buy ex SAP sales teams would makean impact like Microsoft!

http://www.spaceclaim.com/Company/Executive-Team.aspx


But thats only my 2p!



Edited by: jbuckl

 

[mgnt8]

Maybe SAP will buy Spaceclaim. That seems to be their best bet. I don't know much about it, but it looks to me like they're chasing the long tail at least on the sales end. Do they want to commoditize CAD? If so, they need to get a lot bigger or get bought out.

 

[jbuckl]

mgnt8,


The question would be what wouldan expertsales crew do with a fresh interface on a kernel as good as Granite written by the original crew!

 

[design-engine]

right mouse button is customizable I hear in this software. I am baffled as to how long it has been dreamed about that Pro/E would allow above average intelligent people customize their own right mouse button.

I would like to sit with product line managers at the next Pro/E user conference and give them 10 minute crash course in Alias studio... Maya... just to aid their thinking or to offer suggestions on how the Pro/ENGINEER interface might mature. they should pay design-engine a 100 hour budget to make a document full of suggestions. Because if you give it to them free there is no value.

The two software manufactuers are to busy looking at each other and need to start looking at other programs.. PTC seams to take the step in the right direction by purchasing software like CDRS... evolved into ISDX.... I want to make a list of things that was left out if CDRS. Now they purchased co create and lets see what would be obvious for integration into proe.... and they leave out that simple one ... right mouse click customization. But maybe the user base is not smart enough to handle that?


Edited by: design-engine

 

[mgnt8]

Because if you give it to them free there is no value.

That's the real trick isn't it. Givingstuff away for free (or at least at a very low cost) & still make money. Howwell willthe guy used to selling a few cadillacs switch to selling many Tatas or even should he?If PTC bought a product & then thru 100% of its functionality into the next Pro/E release what would they do for next year?Keep buyingsomeone else? How about splitting it up & starting over. They can recycle Release 12 & call it CADeraptor XXXLT.

 

[design-engine]

Maybe i should start a blog called redbull rant. Because right after I drink a red bull in the morning and before class starts I am the most annoyed and often rant out about the world problems close to me. and ... like most of us on the fourm proe has consumed our lives like the surface in tweak replace.


Edited by: design-engine

 

[skraba]

Off topic:

design-engine, you should then switch to coffee or quit drinking red bull.

 

[mjcole_ptc]

Or you can Switch to SolidWorks 2009 where the ability to create negative and 0 dimensions is finally being added.

PTC should have started over with Wildfire and removed all the useless crap and failed functionality that they are still trying to integrate into their new product.

The Spaceclaim people definitely know their stuff and if they worked on their own CAD system instead of just modifying existing CAD data it would be a nice thing to see.

It seems that PTC tries to buy other softwares that have better functionality just to add it to their ever increasing Scrap Bin.

Michael