Earlier this week, Autodesk announced that it had acquired Socialcam for $60 million. At first, I thought it was a CAM vendor I had never heard of. But I’ve heard of most of them and would certainly be aware of any that could command a $60 million price tag. A second look –and a read below the headline– l learned that Socialcam is a “Rapidly Growing Social Video Service”. Huh. A bit of digging, a download on my iPhone, some videography and here’s what I’ve learned:

• Socialcam created an eponymous app for the iPhone and Android markets that captures, edits and shares videos via cloud technology.
• The company is 18 months old and has 16 million followers, tweeting at one point that it had grown by 500,000 in one weekend.
• Autodesk’s Samir Hanna, VP of the Consumer Group, said that “video is an ideal medium for professionals and consumers alike to communicate and share their design ideas. Socialcam [will] join our growing portfolio of applications, services and communities for digital art, personal design and fabrication, home design and entertainment.”
• The press release also said that Autodesk plans to leverage acquired technology to make its professional film and video creation tools accessible to a broader audience.
• Socialcam is already integrated with Facebook (though the couple of people I spoke with have been trying to turn it off rather than get into using it).
• As a social platform, Socialcam clearly aimed at a large, young and mobile demographic.

And that, I think, is the point. Autodesk has grown far beyond its utility drafting tool roots and has been keen to establish itself as hipper than its competitors, with offerings in the i-universe and Android markets for consumers. From Pixlr for photo editing and sharing to Sketchbook to TinkerBox for kids, Autodesk is reaching out to audiences who don’t know that Autodesk used to be synonymous with AutoCAD. These audiences have a lot to teach us. How they interact with mobile devices, as extensions of their fingertips and without cumbersome menus, has huge implications for technical software vendors. With acquisitions like this, Autodesk gains significant first-hand expertise in creating applications that users want to use, rather than have to put up with in order to do their jobs. Too, apps like this or Force Effect, which are inexpensive and have specifically limited functionality, accustom users to buying their tech in small chunks. Right now, I can buy Autodesk Inventor Professional 2013 in the US online store for $7295. What if I only want to use a tiny fraction of its capabilities? Over the Web or on my tablet? I’d be willing to pay $20 or $100 or $500, depending on exactly what I need to do, for that single capability. It’ll be a nightmare for corporate IT and purchasing departments, but a goldmine for companies that can resolve the technical issues in creating small, targeted, inexpensive and easy to use apps. Did Autodesk buy Socialcam for its 16 million users? Maybe, for the fraction of that base that is really interested in making videos and not just in sharing experiences. Autodesk’s plan to develop a “more comprehensive set of tools for Socialcam users” seems to imply that some of its current products may find a home on the Socialcam platform — but whether for free or for a fee is unclear. I suppose it’s also possible that an even smaller fraction of that 16 million could become buyers of one Autodesk’s Media and Entertainment products. Going from free to $3,495 for a license of Smoke or Maya is a pretty steep hill to climb. Did Autodesk buy it for the ad dollars? Maybe, though I can’t imagine it’s all that much revenue. [If you haven’t tried it, when you first join Socialcam you are invited to follow existing users, many of whom seem to be consumer product companies like cat food manufacturers, makers of iced tea and toiletries.] My take is that Autodesk bought Socialcam for technology and eyeballs, but also to make a point: We’re much more than design software. We’re looking forward, to new technologies and new platforms. Designers, engineers and artists demand technology at work that is as engaging as what they use on their own time; we can best address this by completely understanding what they do when they’re not thinking about work. The transaction is expected to close by October 31.