EEVblog #527 - Altium Entry Level PCB Tool Rant

[ElectroIrradiator]

I would suggest Altium has two main check points for whether this move to a lower entry cost will be successful. These are in addition to Dave's mention of a free starter edition.

The first hurdle will be what the price ladder will look like, once we move above the free starter edition. I have noticed many companies making this ladder way too steep. What this may mean to a one man start-up, is that to actually create a competitive design, he may end up needing the 'full' multi-kilobucks edition of the software.

We may debate exactly what these limits could be, but if the free+low cost versions of Altium only allows even experienced designers to make 'toy' boards, then Altium may as well not bother. One thing to keep in mind here, which was mentioned previously, is board size. For various reasons many start-ups cannot or will not use the smallest packages and components, thus equal designs may require different board sizes, depending on the size of the company behind them. Small, one man start-up => more likely to need more board area for a given design.

Similarly, the number of signal layers. If I cannot have at least 4 layers, and have the ability to knock holes in my ground and power layers, the latter in order to reduce parasitic capacitance on parts of a board, then this will put a serious limit to modern, mixed signal designs. More so again, if we consider the start-up is more likely to use older (Ie. larger) types of SMDs.

The second hurdle Altium has to pass, is no subscriptions! I genuinely hope free_electron is wrong about this one, as that will be a deal breaker to many people. The same reason this sounds great to the accounting department is the same reason why it is poison to hobbyists and small start-ups: The recurring costs, and the strings attached.

To a small company the idea that you have to pay 'rent' for critical parts of your tool chain will be very hard to swallow. By definition a start-up will have little idea about what next year will bring. If they have rented many of their tools, then it will be much harder to scale operations back for a while, if there is a quiet period. This is an all-or-nothing situation: You cannot promise just a hair of support and upgrades to last year's customers, if it takes X times average annual fee per software package in your tool chain to keep operations running. On the other hand if you have time unlimited access to the software, then you can just scale back as needed, do your old daytime job function for a while, and be ready to jump back into action at a moment's notice with no fees attached.

Secondly, the subscription model implies a requirement for a program package to 'call home' at regular intervals, and probably even to be online while using the program (for 'cloud access', of course... ). Otherwise there would be no way of enforcing a time limit.

However, the hobbyist and the small start-up are both likely to be using very economical DSL network connections, intended for domestic applications. No enterprise level network with enterprise level support. So having local network outages taking out your tool chain is a very real - and completely unnecessary - risk to accept. You will literally be one errand tree root from shutting down all your 'rented' software packages.

As for Adobe moving to a rental cloud service model: Seems the financial analysts doesn't believe too strongly in this one, long term, once people realize what being a rental customer actually entails.

[warp_foo]

I would suggest Altium has two main check points for whether this move to a lower entry cost will be successful. These are in addition to Dave's mention of a free starter edition.

The first hurdle will be what the price ladder will look like, once we move above the free starter edition. I have noticed many companies making this ladder way too steep. What this may mean to a one man start-up, is that to actually create a competitive design, he may end up needing the 'full' multi-kilobucks edition of the software.

We may debate exactly what these limits could be, but if the free+low cost versions of Altium only allows even experienced designers to make 'toy' boards, then Altium may as well not bother. One thing to keep in mind here, which was mentioned previously, is board size. For various reasons many start-ups cannot or will not use the smallest packages and components, thus equal designs may require different board sizes, depending on the size of the company behind them. Small, one man start-up => more likely to need more board area for a given design.

Similarly, the number of signal layers. If I cannot have at least 4 layers, and have the ability to knock holes in my ground and power layers, the latter in order to reduce parasitic capacitance on parts of a board, then this will put a serious limit to modern, mixed signal designs. More so again, if we consider the start-up is more likely to use older (Ie. larger) types of SMDs.

The second hurdle Altium has to pass, is no subscriptions! I genuinely hope free_electron is wrong about this one, as that will be a deal breaker to many people. The same reason this sounds great to the accounting department is the same reason why it is poison to hobbyists and small start-ups: The recurring costs, and the strings attached.

To a small company the idea that you have to pay 'rent' for critical parts of your tool chain will be very hard to swallow. By definition a start-up will have little idea about what next year will bring. If they have rented many of their tools, then it will be much harder to scale operations back for a while, if there is a quiet period. This is an all-or-nothing situation: You cannot promise just a hair of support and upgrades to last year's customers, if it takes X times average annual fee per software package in your tool chain to keep operations running. On the other hand if you have time unlimited access to the software, then you can just scale back as needed, do your old daytime job function for a while, and be ready to jump back into action at a moment's notice with no fees attached.

Secondly, the subscription model implies a requirement for a program package to 'call home' at regular intervals, and probably even to be online while using the program (for 'cloud access', of course... ). Otherwise there would be no way of enforcing a time limit.

However, the hobbyist and the small start-up are both likely to be using very economical DSL network connections, intended for domestic applications. No enterprise level network with enterprise level support. So having local network outages taking out your tool chain is a very real - and completely unnecessary - risk to accept. You will literally be one errand tree root from shutting down all your 'rented' software packages.

As for Adobe moving to a rental cloud service model: Seems the financial analysts doesn't believe too strongly in this one, long term, once people realize what being a rental customer actually entails.

This. Subscriptions are the devil. I don't want to pay *forever* for a piece of software.

m

[free_electron]

So... you don't want to pay forever... how about updates ? how about mayor new versions.

when an application goes from 3.0 to 4.0 it is normal to pay upgrade fee.
with the sas system there is no upgrade fee. you are always up to date.
pick your poison : 250$ every few years for a major update or 10$ a month over 2 years and always up to date with new features release on a monthly basis ?
same price in the end. i'd rather not have to wait for 2 years before i get some new tool...

[FrankBuss]

What's the learning curve like for going from Eagle to Altium?

There is an article about this in this forum:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/altium/altium-about-to-cry!!-'(-'(-'(-'(-'(-'(/

pick your poison : 250$ every few years for a major update or 10$ a month over 2 years and always up to date with new features release on a monthly basis ?
same price in the end. i'd rather not have to wait for 2 years before i get some new tool...

I need an always changing program in the mid of a project like I need a hole in the head. Better wait some years until there are enough features that you might need, then buy the update or a new version, test it extensively, test if it can still open your old projects and then use it for the next some years.

[NickS]

I would rather have a tool be optimized and well tested on one platform than slow and buggy on multiple platforms

Please think before saying that silly. Writing cross platform code is not difficult nor does it introduce bugs. You may just need to have more experience.
Rubbish code however will definitely be bad on all platforms.

Just think about how many cross platform programs you have installed that work fine on all their platforms. Start with your browser and go from there.

So... you don't want to pay forever... how about updates ? how about mayor new versions.

I don't mind subscription options as long as they are options.

A major new version that doesn't offer anything new you need means you save money.
If you must have the latest and greatest then yes a subscription is better. (You probably also have a iPhone 5S)

[free_electron]

If you must have the latest and greatest then yes a subscription is better. (You probably also have a iPhone 5S)

no i don't. still lumbering along with my 4... i had a 3 before. that's it. no appeal to me. i have bought 4 or 5 apps ( navigation, a plane tracker and a couple of games ). that's it. a phone for me is  a tool to call with. its handy it doubles as camera for quick snapshot and navigator if im traveling. and i can read email and surf web when  needed. the rest ? i don't care. why no android ? because there weren't any nav programs for it when i bought my iphone. why now no android . because i will not pay again for a nav program.

[free_electron]

Now, i have another question for the general audience here.
Here is something i have a hard time understanding. Most likely it is because i think differently, because i'm socially awkward, because i have fun with electronics as a hobby (i also enjoy scuba diving , and the beach and traveling and good food and all kinds of other stuff , but electronics is my prime hobby, followed by scuba diving and all the rest)

I am purely speaking as a hobbyist now ( forget for a moment that i also do electronics as a job. i am talking -hobby- now. leisure time. not-paid-for time )
i can understand that for a student a 1000$ program is a lot of money. heck i was also bitching in my student years why everything i wanted was expensive in relation to the amount of cash i had in my pocket.

here is the bit i'm having trouble with grasping:
an average student these days goes for a pint with his mates on Fridays , goes to the disco and spends money on hobbies. i see 18 and 19 year old kids that take off 3 weeks to party in Ibiza  ( if you are in Europe) or go on a 3 day spend oodles of cash spring break. Fine. I can understand that. They want to do that and are willing to spend money.

if you totalize the amount of cash spent on those leisures on a yearly basis you will end up well above the 1000$ cost of that program.
Now, if one of your leisure activities, things you derive enjoyment from, happens to be electronics. how come suddenly the program needs to be free. ?
I understand as a student you may have to juggle.
As an adult making money. there's people enjoying a good cigar. (in my view basically convert dollars into smoke ... but i don't judge. you enjoy it. no problem) or a good bottle of whiskey. (in my view converting cash into pee, but i don't judge, your leisure.) or going to the movie theaters. Paying 15$, or whatever it is these days, to watch something 1 time ( i'll wait until its on Netflix and watch it as many times i want).

That is all fine. Perfect, i have no issue with that. Those are leisure activities you enjoy and you are obviously willing to pay since you do it. You go golfing. There's the gear, the club fees, the green fees, people travel all over the world to play a certain range. Fine. no problem.

But, when it comes to this 1000$ piece of code you want for your hobby, that will be used for years and is cheaper in the long run than the other leisure activities ( total cost over the amount of time used ) oh no. it's gotta be free , or less than 100$...

Don't get me wrong. I go scuba diving 3 weeks a year and do 4 to 5  dives a day nonstop. At 20$ a dive... (boat fee, nitrox charge etc ). I don't groan and moan that is should be allowed to dive for 2$. If i go to buy a nice pair of brand name pants it's 80$... i don't groan it should be 8$ ... I like going to a good restaurant, spend a couple of hours of quality time with friends and shell out 40$ or more for a meal. I do that once a month. That's 500$ a year. I don't groan about that.

And i'm sure that plenty of other people here (non-students) do the same. It may not be scuba diving but it may be other activities that total a nice sum of money yearly. Some people spend it on a spoiler or a set of wheels for their car ( odd in my view, since a car comes with wheels... why do you need different ones ? should have bought a car with wheels you liked)

But when it comes to a piece of software for a leisure activity they happen to enjoy (electronics) . Oh no , that has to be free ...

I'm sure there's people here that would be moaning about 400$ , yet they will spend 1500$ on a new Apple laptop , or a gaming graphics card ... but the pcb program ? That has to be free..

Electronics as a hobby is a leisure activity as anything else. Look at what you spend on your other leisure acivities, decide what you like most and partition the amount of money you have for your hobbies. i'm sure the 400$ will be perfectly acceptable.

Or is my view so warped because i happen to really enjoy electronics as a hobby and don't have more than 3 or 4 other leisure activities ? i spend more on scuba diving a year (plane, hotel, boat and gas fees, gear that needs maintenance or repair. buy a decent scuba regulator and its 600 to 800$) than i spend on my altium subscription. I get to tinker with electronics every day. Scuba diving .. only 20 days a year , going to fancy restaurant , 10 times a year... as far as value for money , i'd say the Altium subscription is cheap...

So let's say Altium introduces an entry level tool 6 layers max , noncommercial usage, that is pcb and schematic only ( no access to their fpga / simulation and other stuff ). and it would cost 399$ for a perpetual licence with a 150$ upgrade cost if a new major update comes. Why would that be too much and why would you still want it 'free'. The restaurant doesn't come free, diving doesn't come free, golf doesn't come free, plane tickets aren't free. none of your other things you enjoy are free. Why should this ? Because it's intangible software ? Because  you'd like it too ? (i'd like planes and diving and food to be free as well , but it ain't gonna happen. it is unrealistic to expect that, just as it is unrealistic to expect a program like Altium to be free)

Help me out here. i really have a hard time wrapping my head around this. Most likely it will turn out it is because i am a hardcore nerd/geek/allround weirdo. but that's fine. i can live with that. i just need confirmation that it's me , and not the rest of the world that is weird.

Of course, i'm all for lowering the price. For my hobby i don't need the fpga tools or sim. if the 499 version of altium will fit my requirements for hobby. i'll switch. i would be crazy to pay more...

Is maybe that it ? Maybe KiCad or Eagle do fit what people are doing as a hobby. So they don't need a tool like Altium, so they are not willing to pay for it. In that case Altium does not stand a chance. That would, and could, be one conclusion, as far as i can see in my warped point of view.
The other possibility would be that electronics is not a 'prime' hobby. It is the lowest in the list. That would be understandable too.

But then, why are people gunning for a metcal soldering station for their hobby when a hakko will do just fine ? or absolutely want that rlc meter they will use 1 time in their life ? Or want a 6 1/2 digit meter for their hobby ? or go nuts building 1 pp billion 10 volt reference diode circuits with super expensive parts ?
How do you decide where you spend your money ? I'd rather buy a good set of screwdrivers that will work well and last a lifetime than having to make-do with flimflam that bends on the first screw.. So i'd rather shell out a bit more money on a tool like Altium than go with glorified pen and paper. But again. I'm a weirdo ...

[MacAttak]

So... you don't want to pay forever... how about updates ? how about mayor new versions.

when an application goes from 3.0 to 4.0 it is normal to pay upgrade fee.
with the sas system there is no upgrade fee. you are always up to date.
pick your poison : 250$ every few years for a major update or 10$ a month over 2 years and always up to date with new features release on a monthly basis ?
same price in the end. i'd rather not have to wait for 2 years before i get some new tool...

The difference is that when you pay directly for updates the choice is in your hands. You can keep using the now obsolete version, or you can pony up and buy the upgrade if you need it. You can make a decision based on financial versus tooling concerns. But in both cases you aren't left holding an empty bag. With a subscription model, your only choice is to pay the fee every year or lose all access to the tool (and along with that, lose all access to your existing data files). This is called "vendor lock-in" and is a huge negative mark when comparing otherwise equivalent products.

For example there is one tool that I use about once or twice per year (it is a very specialized software debugging tool). It is only available on a subscription basis. But it seems like every time I need to use this tool, the subscription lapsed the week before. And the "renewals" aren't cheap - about 80% of the initial price. I am basically forced to repurchase this tool every year to use it only once before it expires. I cannot express how quickly I will abandon that vendor as soon as ANY competitor releases a comparable product that does a decent job on the one specific feature I rely on.

I agree with the other gentleman that subscription software is inherently evil.

[free_electron]

With a subscription model, your only choice is to pay the fee every year or lose all access to the tool (and along with that, lose all access to your existing data files).

Whoa. Hold it. that is NOT what Altium does!. If you stop paying subscription the software is frozen at that point in time. You get no more updates, no more access to the help desk and no access to the wiki , the library vaults.

The software DOES keep on working ! If you decide to pick it up again years later , you cough up the delta ... Sounds fair to me.

[c4757p]

On the topic of hobby/recreational expenditures, f_e, I totally agree with you. People want cheap software because they're used to cheap software, that's all. Lots of software is available for next to nothing, and that affects people's idea of what "expensive" is. I don't think it's about what they will get out of it, I think it's just about what they are used to paying for similar things.

[arvidj]

I find it intriguing why nobody screams for a free version of Orcad, Pads, Allegro , Boardstation , Zuken or any other hi end PCB  tool. Yet everyone screams for a free version of Altium ...  curious...

Ditto why nobody screams for cross platform of those tools...

Obviously you have much more experience on the board than I do but I do not see this thread as "screams for a free version" so much as recommendations to Altium on how to be successful if they are going to go thru the expense of offering a free\low cost version. Simply being "free\low cost" will not necessarily ensure a positive outcome for Altium ... or I assume any of the other vendors on your list which are not being discussed because they have not mentioned wanting to enter the market.

Not trying to be argumentative, simply offering my perspective.

[jeremy]

Now, i have another question for the general audience here.
Here is something i have a hard time understanding. Most likely it is because i think differently, because i'm socially awkward, because i have fun with electronics as a hobby (i also enjoy scuba diving , and the beach and traveling and good food and all kinds of other stuff )
...

Hi free_electron,

I am a phd student/startup owner/long time hobbyist. I completely agree with you. I don't really do all those "young people" things you mentioned, half because I think they are silly and half because I spend all my money on various engineering things. I have a weller soldering iron (WMRP) that cost me a full few weeks of pay at the time, and it was (and still is) totally worth it. I have an IDA license that cost me an arm and a leg, and it is a fantastic piece of software. I would totally go for a ~$500 altium license (minus the FPGA/compiler stuff please! I just want to make a damn pcb!). You get what you pay for.

Currently I am using diptrace because it is like altium but is a) less crashy, b) cross platform, c) cheaper and d) doesn't have a billion features that I don't need and just get in the way. Particularly c and d are important to me. I am heavily involved in teaching at my university, and I am trying quite hard to get rid of altium because students can't use it at home (I've never been able to work out how to get a cheap license for them) whereas with diptrace a limited copy is free for students. Students shouldn't have to resort to piracy to get their assignments done; it's insane!

I personally wouldn't like a pure subscription model a la adobe because my financial situation is rather unstable, so I can't necessarily always afford to pay a continuous subscription. However, if the subscription allows you to keep the software once you pay, I'd be more than happy with that. Support aint free. Just pay the difference when/if you want the updates.

I would also be interested in a cheaper subscription that includes no support, just libs.

[EEVblog]

Obviously you have much more experience on the board than I do but I do not see this thread as "screams for a free version" so much as recommendations to Altium on how to be successful if they are going to go thru the expense of offering a free\low cost version.

Yes, that's the crux of this matter. Altium have stated they are working on (and will hence release) a lower cost entry level version (they have not mentioned any free version of it BTW). So the question becomes how do they best do this, given by some reports (and it's obvious anyway) their intent is to compete head-on with Eagle. How do they best take on Eagle?
I posit that a free version in some form is absolutely essential, given that is what made Eagle the defacto standard.

[NickS]

But, when it comes to this 1000$ piece of code you want for your hobby, that will be used for years and is cheaper in the long run than the other leisure activities ( total cost over the amount of time used ) oh no. it's gotta be free , or less than 100$...

For me I'd rather spend $1,000 on LEDs (planning on doing that in the next 6 months) rather than spending it on software.
The electronics are my hobby, a PCB designer is just a tool.

I do not buy $1,000 hammers as a rule, I buy the cheapest hammer that does the job.
And if there is a $10 hammer and a $15 hammer, and both do the job then I'll buy the $10 one.
If someone gives me one for free then I won't buy anything.

I'd rather spend my money on components and actually making the boards than tools.
This is just purely as a hobbyist. I'm a programmer by trade.

[EEVblog]

So... you don't want to pay forever... how about updates ? how about mayor new versions.
when an application goes from 3.0 to 4.0 it is normal to pay upgrade fee.
with the sas system there is no upgrade fee. you are always up to date.
pick your poison : 250$ every few years for a major update or 10$ a month over 2 years and always up to date with new features release on a monthly basis ?
same price in the end. i'd rather not have to wait for 2 years before i get some new tool...

From a professional PCB designers point of view, constant updates are not necessarily a good thing. A known working and stable tool can easily trump any advantage of new features. I've found that the majority of professional full-time PCB designers (not just circuit designers who happen to do layout as well) prefer this option.
And Altium have a pretty horrible track record of releasing builds that are completely broken, or introduce new bugs that can waste oodles of your time.
Altium ditched the "bug updates" thing long again (not sure they are back on it?) where you got a big release, and then say a years worth of constant bug fixes but no new major features. So at the end of that release cycle you ended up with a pretty stable and known working tool. Then when the new version comes out with all the new wizz-bang features you try and see how it goes for you, and then the bug cycle patches started again. If you don't like it, you stick with your old known tool.

As always, YMMV.

[EEVblog]

If you decide to pick it up again years later , you cough up the delta ... Sounds fair to me.

I was of the understanding that it was significantly more than the delta. i.e. they stung you with a hefty penalty for doing that, so as to "encourage" you to stay on subscription forever.

[IanB]

Help me out here. i really have a hard time wrapping my head around this.

I might spend $1000's on hobby and leisure activities, but it is spread over many things. Rarely would I buy one single item that costs that much purely for hobby or leisure purposes.

So no, it doesn't have to be free, but most single items I buy have a sweet spot where the price is about right. And typically that is in the three figure range, not the the four figure range.

Many times I might only want to use a piece of software for one or two jobs, and in that case spending lots of money for a couple of uses does not make sense. A free version may draw me in and convince me that I want to upgrade to a paid version because I didn't realize how good it was until I tried it. If I never got to try the free version, I might never know.

Remember that hardware has a certain unavoidable material cost. It could never be free.

On the other hand, software has a zero duplication and distribution cost. Letting people try it out for free is like offering a test drive of a car. it makes good marketing sense. You might win a sale, you might not. But unless you demonstrate the merchandise, you will make no sales at all.

[EEVblog]

if you totalize the amount of cash spent on those leisures on a yearly basis you will end up well above the 1000$ cost of that program.
Now, if one of your leisure activities, things you derive enjoyment from, happens to be electronics. how come suddenly the program needs to be free. ?

I don't think anyone is talking about a hugely functional free version.
As I mentioned in my video, there are 3 reason why they need some sort of limited free version.

a) The company they are going head-to-head with Eagle, and Eagle has a free version. And that is one one of the major reasons why Eagle is now the defacto standard low end tool in many areas.

b) There are so many (mostly limited) free options at the low end, that to capture any large part of the OSHW/Hobbyist/Maker market, you need a free version that does something useful so people can suck it and see on a real design. Or they can contribute to OSWH projects that fit within the free tool requirement without paying anything.

c) Content producers and bloggers will be unlikely to do tutorials and/or promote the use of a tool that doesn't have a free version.

So it's not really about people simply wanting/expecting everything for free.

Remember, it is Altium stated goal to dominate the low end PCB tool market, and get all those 10's thousand of new seats. Can they do this without some sort of free version?, I greatly doubt it.

[steves]

Thanks to all, but I'll be sticking with KiCad.

[free_electron]

if you totalize the amount of cash spent on those leisures on a yearly basis you will end up well above the 1000$ cost of that program.
Now, if one of your leisure activities, things you derive enjoyment from, happens to be electronics. how come suddenly the program needs to be free. ?

I don't think anyone is talking about a hugely functional free version.
As I mentioned in my video, there are 3 reason why they need some sort of limited free version.

a) The company they are going head-to-head with Eagle, and Eagle has a free version. And that is one one of the major reasons why Eagle is now the defacto standard low end tool in many areas.

b) There are so many (mostly limited) free options at the low end, that to capture any large part of the OSHW/Hobbyist/Maker market, you need a free version that does something useful so people can suck it and see on a real design. Or they can contribute to OSWH projects that fit within the free tool requirement without paying anything.

c) Content producers and bloggers will be unlikely to do tutorials and/or promote the use of a tool that doesn't have a free version.

So it's not really about people simply wanting/expecting everything for free.

ok . fair argument. that covers the free aspect.

How about the 'low cost'. is 100$ low cost enough ? can it be 300$ ? why not 1000$. A low cost rigol scope  is 500$. want a little notch up and its 1000$.
so why would a 1000$ piece of software ( assuming you use as-is) that lets you make the boards to your hearts content be problematic ?

I know people who have woodworking as a hobby. they spend lots of money on tools with wooden handles because 'the plastic handled ones are crap'. or they buy a very expensive miter saw. simply because it lets them do more things and be more creative and productive. the difficult thing suddenly becomes easier with the more pricier tool.

so why does this not work for software ? it's gotta do all but be free ... the economics don't work guys...
i can't wrap my mind around that one.

ok if all you do is 2 layers 5x2 cms boards with thru hole parts go for eagle. fine.
but if you do more , look at the cost of eagle. let's say altium releases their sch/pcb only version. max 20cm x 20cm 6 layer but no other restriction, and it's 499$
would you go for it ? ir would it be too much  and would you mess around something cheaper or free that does a half arsed job , is a pain to work with and takes 20 times longer to get the board done ?

i guess it all comes down to how prioritized electronics as a hobby is. if it is a casual once a year passtime. fair deal. go free. is it is a serious hobby ... why not ? the schematic /pcb tool is a piece of equipment just like a scope or multimeter. 399 or 499$ sounds acceptable to me

[free_electron]

If you decide to pick it up again years later , you cough up the delta ... Sounds fair to me.

I was of the understanding that it was significantly more than the delta. i.e. they stung you with a hefty penalty for doing that, so as to "encourage" you to stay on subscription forever.

its the delta + a year of subscription if i remember correctly. we turned on a couple of sleeping licences at work and that is what we paid. bridge the gap and pay for the upcoming year.

[NickS]

so why does this not work for software ? it's gotta do all but be free ... the economics don't work guys...
i can't wrap my mind around that one.

Depends how much use the tool gets. If your hobby involves making lots of boards then a good solid tool would be worthwhile.

If I just need to make a a pcb once every 6 months then a plastic handled tool will do the job.

[EEVblog]

How about the 'low cost'. is 100$ low cost enough ? can it be 300$ ? why not 1000$. A low cost rigol scope  is 500$. want a little notch up and its 1000$.
so why would a 1000$ piece of software ( assuming you use as-is) that lets you make the boards to your hearts content be problematic ?

It's not, provided their are enough tiers to keep most people happy.
But once again, it all comes down to to their chief rival, Eagle.
Do they charge more than Eagle for similar limitations because it's a better tool and has more features? They could have a case there of course, which means that we might expect the full "entry level" version to be in the order of US$1200 or more. In fact, I think that's quite likely.
But if that's all they offer (including an assumption of a free version as well), then I think they are making a big mistake.
There is much psychology that goes into product pricing, and a PCB tool isn't much of an exception. $300 is generally considered the "no brainer" price point in the consumer industry IIRC. And 4 figures really makes you stop and think twice. And really, I think the majority of customers in this space will be the midnight engineer or hobbyist paying with their own money, so I think the consumer pricing mentality is not unreasonable to expect.
That's why I suggest a range of $250-$500 as being the sweet spot. Now they could have a $1200+ version on top of that, but I think it's vital they have some offering in that sweet spot price range, like Eagle do.

Altium have the problem of being in a position where the full all-you-can-eat unrestricted version of Eagle is $1200, and Altium's is currently, what $6K-ish?
So I don't think they can't suddenly give an unrestricted (but high end feature limited) version of the tool for that sweet spot sub $500 price, otherwise they risk eroding their current market share of customers that very grudgingly pay $6K to do some basic boards that don't demand the high end features.
However, they could do that at the $1200+ price point and be pretty safe in that respect.

Then there is them matter of not just matching Eagle, but blowing them out of the market with some aggressive pricing. It depends on how bad they want the market.

If I had to bet, I'd say it will be 4 figures, with no 3 figure option, and that is why I did the video, because if that's the case, I think they will have goofed it up completely.

[free_electron]

long post

hmm. Tru.

I'm hoping we'll see this:

a size /layer limited sch/pcb only (all the other stuff removed). max 10x16 board , 4 or 6 layer. for 199...299 , noncommercial use. yearly upgrade : 99$
same thing in terms of restriction , but commercial use : 699$ ( hey , you're making money off it. that means you are business, tax deductible and amortizable) with 299$ yearly update service
double board size , commercial: 1299$ + 499 update service
unlimited : 3000$  (sch/pcb)

want fpga,ip cores and compilers? add 2K
want diff routing and really advanced shit ? 300$ per 'module'

i think in those brackets it should be a no brainer to switch... no ?
a free version will be out of the question.

they could do a trial with max 3 times gerber output for example. that would let the occasional user design a board and have it made somewhere... you can do 2 respins if required. As you grow in your hobby the 199 to 299 bracket is there waiting ...

[PeteInTexas]

Considering all the system on a chip and the like out there, how crippled are we talking about?  Should the free version, for example, do something like the RaspberryPi?  Or is it going to be limited to blinking lights and maybe a linear power supply?