Why did we start?

In our past experience working in the AEC industry (Architecture, Engineering, and Construction) we found that organizations didn’t have the right computer solutions to tackle our performance and mobility needs. Often we’d receive underpowered or old hand-me-down laptops that couldn’t keep up with the programs we needed to run.

Trying to screen share with our teams would be a nightmare and sometimes the machines would take minutes to load even basic architectural drawings. This left us unproductive and frustrated. What we needed was high computing power to run our demanding programs but in a highly mobile form that allowed us to access it wherever we were or on any device.

Looking through the computing ecosystem we were unable to find something that met our specific needs. The current Desktop-as-a-service and virtual computing providers didn’t have the user-friendly experience we expected nor have the power anywhere close to a cost effective price. In fact, a now customer of Softdrive couldn’t find an appropriate remote work solution during covid and took all their desktops home to be productive. This is frankly, sad. We understood what we needed to do and sought out to build it through a new type of streamed virtual computer that feels like a local computer, wherever you are.

Datacenters offer a centralized source of high computing power, why not tap into them and stream powerful computers?

We like to look at streamed virtual computers and datacenters exactly how electricity and powerplants were in the 20th century. Before powerplants existed every company would have to run all their power from a local onsite generator. Firms would have to purchase, set up, and maintain the finicky machines, much like computer today. However, that was until the advent of a centralized power source or a powerplant that can deliver power as you need it. Now no one would think about getting a local generator. The same link can be drawn with computers and datacenters. Datacenters offer a centralized source of high computing power, why not tap into them and stream powerful computers?

It makes sense to also examine the evolution of personal computers and how they dramatically decreased in size while increasing in performance.  Starting with the Altair in 1974, it was a computer that took up your entire desk. However quickly the personal computer quickly evolved to a desktop that could fit under your monitor, then a laptop, and now a smartphone. The next step in the evolution is to eliminate the local computing power entirely, and instead have an unlimited amount of computational power streamed to you. The reality of streaming anywhere is now, with low orbit satellites providing internet worldwide.

Through research and iteration we’ve created what we’ve heard is the fastest, most cost effective computer solution on the market.