@ maxxxmodelz --

Yes, that's true. 3D is -- in and of itself -- a niche market. But that doesn't change the fact that low prices can sell more than steep ones can. Even within the confines of the niche.

The reason why Autodesk is as big as it is has to do with the fact that their flagship product - AutoCAD - has pretty much become the world standard for engineering & architectural applications. The process control systems that I work on, and the commercial/government building construction projects that I work on: all of them make extensive use of AutoCAD.

Autodesk is the Microsoft of the CAD industry.

However -- if you strip out AutoCAD's use in non-technical applications such as with 3D hobbyists -- I'd strongly suspect that e-frontier actually dominates that niche market over AutoCAD -- simply because the average 3D hobbyist isn't going to shell out $3500+ for any of the various 3D-capable AutoCAD packages. Not to mention the fact that they'd have to take the rather steep learning curve which goes along with 3D AutoCAD.

A few years ago, I heard about a survey which claimed that Poser was the most widely pirated software in the world. If that's true -- then who knows? Perhaps e-frontier's "real" market share is even greater.

;)

Something To Do At 3:00AM