I guess I could see where this would SOUND attractive, conceptually, to small companies due to the cost of such tools per seat. Consider me skeptical, though, because such tools take immense graphics and computing horsepower to be tolerable as dedicated, stand-alone apps.
I remember how frustrating it was to run (then Comdisco now Cadence) SPW via 10baseT. I can't imagine doing a several hundred thousand gate design (ORCA appears to be the only thing supported at present--which is interesting considering the Altera roots of the company) OVER THE INTERNET!
Maybe my perspective is wrong, and I haven't been in the same situation with the vendors as you have, so I can't see it with the same enthusiasm. You'd have to trade off time to market vs outright purchase vs frustration vs limitations (i.e. is it a "lite" version of the tool), bla, bla, bla. In any case I definitely don't see it as a sight-unseen, "must have." I would, however, like to try it out at some time, just to see where it stands performance-wise, regardless of price. If you or Stephen or anyone else that is an "uninterested party" can give a relative performance eval, at some point in the future, please do! |
