Max and Maya are just a fraction of what Autodesk actually does. Most of Autodesk's software is in architecture and engineering. And yet they still manage to dominate the multimedia scene. Because their software is top notch. And because they've worked out contracts with schools and multimedia companies all over the world keeping their software in those schools and studios for the foreseeable future. Their annual revenue is over $2.5 billion and growing. Blender will never compete with that. No software that relies on donations will ever compete with that. There is nothing in Blender that wasn't in Autodesk software first. I don't see blender ever trying to compete. They serve a niche market and reverse engineer features that made other software popular in order to try to stay relevant and provide their users with tools similar to what they need, but they never do it as well or as thoroughly as the other software they reverse their tools from does it. I use Blender to learn it, but when I actually need to get something done I use Maya.

And any student with internet access has access to Maya and Max and a whole suite of other Autodesk software absolutely free for 3 years. And for the last couple of years Autodesk considers self teaching a viable school.