Here are some statements from Autodesk about not having any plans to do some things. Things that the more paranoid among us suspected were always in the pipeline. Things that seemed to be just joining the dots along a predictable path Autodesk appeared to be taking. Things that later ended up happening. But nevertheless things that were, apparently, unplanned.
Simplified Upgrade Pricing FAQ, July 2009:
Autodesk does not currently have any plans to eliminate upgrades or cross-grades or make Autodesk Subscription* mandatory.
…we are still perpetual, plus Subscription* or maintenance. I don’t see that changing. It’s hard to predict 50 years into the future, but we have no plans for that.
Because we’re starting in a different place than Adobe, we don’t feel the need to force people, as they did, to go to these new license models and end perpetual licenses.
It is a matter of record that Autodesk subsequently eliminated upgrades and cross-grades, went to the new license model (rental only) and ended the sale of perpetual licenses.
It’s refreshing to see that Autodesk isn’t too big into that old-fashioned planning thing. It fills me with joy to see that there is still room for such spontaneity in executive decision-making.
* Subscription was the name then used for what is currently called maintenance.
When Carl Bass’s mentor, former Autodesk ceo-Carol Bartz, first introduced the idea of subscriptions (“maintenance,” now), she promised that Autodesk customers would always have a choice — always be able to buy permanent licenses.
From your quotes and others, we can surmise that anything Autodesk promises to do they will eventually break. So, the cloud is not forever, subscriptions will not be the only way forward, etc., etc.