[FRIAM] FYI: Google adds SketchUp to its toolbox

[Tom Johnson]

All:

"The modeling tool SketchUp has long been a favorite of designers,
architects, and hobbyists who have used the powerful program to render 3D
images of their ideas. In March, search-engine giant and emerging software
powerhouse Google acquired SketchUp developer @Last Software. Last week, Google
SketchUp<http://ct.download.com/clicks?t=2198460-b06f9bcf9fcfc13bd4b046b1f3cc7f67-bf&s=5&fs=0>was
quietly released to the public. The program has been made completely
free for personal use, and it includes tools for integrating your creations
with Google Earth<http://ct.download.com/clicks?t=2198461-b06f9bcf9fcfc13bd4b046b1f3cc7f67-bf&s=5&fs=0>or
uploading them to Google's 3D
Warehouse<http://ct.download.com/clicks?t=2198462-b06f9bcf9fcfc13bd4b046b1f3cc7f67-bf&s=5&fs=0>gallery.

Google is establishing a pattern of acquiring software companies and
releasing free versions of their programs. As with Keyhole (now Google
Earth<http://ct.download.com/clicks?t=2198463-b06f9bcf9fcfc13bd4b046b1f3cc7f67-bf&s=5&fs=0>)
and Picasa<http://ct.download.com/clicks?t=2198464-b06f9bcf9fcfc13bd4b046b1f3cc7f67-bf&s=5&fs=0>,
Google hopes to make SketchUp popular with its massive Web audience. We get
very cool free software, and Google gains new users, loyal customers, and a
potential avalanche of third-party content added to Google Earth.

It might appear at first that the free version of SketchUp has been watered
down, but you'll find most of its same functionality in an easier-to-use
interface. The creative possibilities are endless, and included video
tutorials will get you up and modeling in no time. Not only can Google
SketchUp create detailed structural models, it can also be used as a more
general conceptual visualization tool for everything from games and art
projects to work flows and engineering.

Take Google SketchUp for a spin, and let us know what you think. Then see
what others have to
say<http://ct.download.com/clicks?t=2198465-b06f9bcf9fcfc13bd4b046b1f3cc7f67-bf&s=5&fs=0>about
Google's latest software or add
a review of your
own<http://ct.download.com/clicks?t=2198466-b06f9bcf9fcfc13bd4b046b1f3cc7f67-bf&s=5&fs=0>.


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Voting ends this week.

Peter Butler
Senior Editor, CNET Download.com <http://download.com/>




--
==============================================
J. T. Johnson
Institute for Analytic Journalism
www.analyticjournalism.com
505.577.6482(c)                                 505.473.9646(h)
http://www.jtjohnson.com               tom at jtjohnson.com

"You never change things by fighting the existing reality.
To change something, build a new model that makes the
existing model obsolete."
                                                   -- Buckminster Fuller
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