MEP EP# 383: Screaming into the Social Media Void

AutoDesk is dropping support and development for the dedicated Eagle EDA tool and moving efforts to the AutoDesk Fusion 360 Electronics. This has set the electronic enthusiast online communities ablaze with KiCad users and supporters frothing at this opportunity to take market share away from Eagle in the EDA space. Parker and Stephen discuss this and more on this week’s episode of the MacroFab Engineering Podcast!

Topics:

Parker was on The Coriolis Effect last Friday with Bill Herd and Ben Jordan! Check out the episode here. 

AutoDesk dropping dedicated Eagle Support.

• Effective June 7 2026. Autodesk will no longer sell Eagle
  • Fusion 360 Electronics is the “path forward” 
  • Supposedly Eagle files are fully compatible with Fusion 360 Electronics
• Hackaday’s take on this: “They used to be a big shot but now they are no more”
• Discussion points: 
  • What will happen to all of the historic Eagle materials out in the world?
  • What will happen to stand alone eagle? 
  • Is this a big deal because the hacker/maker community is loud?
  • The move of everything to subscription models, is it a good business move, or the death knell for these products?
    • Pros
      • Continuous improvement
      • Access to most or all tools even the expensive ones
      • Support
    • Cons
      • You don’t own your tool
      • Your designs feel like they are held hostage
  • Is KiCAD a good open source alternative to Eagle, and will it be competitive to Fusion? 
• Takeaways: 
  • What will the future look like for these types of products - will Fusion 360 be strong? 
  • Will subscription models continue to gain momentum? 
  • Hobby vs profit

Ex-Samsung executive alleged to have stolen tech to recreate chip plant in China

• What was this executive planning to transfer?
• Modern plants are highly integrated and specific with supporting equipment needed to drive those tools.
• Maybe it was Samsung’s secret sauce? Software packages and tooling guidelines? 

Unconventional fathers day gift ideas?

• What does an electrical engineer give his dad?
• Tools
• Steaks
• Just give him a call!