I think none of us is against this new technology - let's face it - everything needs to develop, to meet and set new standards and raise the bar to achieve better results. However the way it is going to be changed seems to be very unfair for us, Geo-modelers.
The idea that Jorge proposed would be a great compromise - new, great technology + our carefully made models. Everybody admit that the quality of the new 3D models won't be as nice as sketch-up models in some cases. So, why not to make an exception for buildings that needs special care like churches, stadiums? Personally I don't think that lowering the quality in GE is a good move. You should be guys proud and be even more important - lucky, that you have people who do this great work for you for free, who are passionate about it, make GE a better place to look at, and love it, like me and many, many others. I totally understand that wasn't an easy choice to get rid of our models to make space for new ones. In my humble opinion it was a wrong decision, because you want to be completely relying on self-generating program and completely destroying the human factor in creating models. A program can't make beautifully crafted details, focus on every aspect of the building, especially on the building that one admire. We were making GE a really special place and it seems that someone didn't really appreciate our work and commitment. I feel pretty devastated that one of my models that I've been working on it for 2,5 yrs (and probably one more till completion) -1WTC would eventually be replaced with a dull self-generated model.
That's a disgrace for the whole community and I really hope that there is still time and will(?) to make it work together. I try to stay optimistic :)
What about imagery? How often is going to be changing? 2-4 yrs? If so, we shouldn't be able to see any activity in a particular area for years! Let's say NYC - there are always numerous buildings being under construction and we won't be even able to add them since the imagery won't show them - that's ridiculous! :@
There really should be a re-think about the whole situation, because you're going to loose so many people that were trying to make GE a better program to use, at least in 3D.
Best,
Filip