www.upfrontezine.com
"Everyone wants to be like Nike -- no
company, no factories. It's a brand."
- Jeremy Rifkin, author of "The Age of Access."
Do CAD Brands Matter Anymore?
The notion came to me some weeks ago when I heard on the radio
an interview with the author of a new book talking about the revolt
developing against brand names. During the call-in portion of
the interview, a caller asked if brand names matter any more.
In his example, he noted that the same factories in China make
all brands of running shoes -- the name Nike, Rebook, Adidas is
glued on, and the shoe is shipped to the rest of the world. If,
he asked, Nike no longer designs the shoe or makes the shoe, does
it matter if the name of the shoe is Nike? It seemed to him that
brand names no longer matter, because there was nothing behind
the name.
The same is happening in the CAD world. Less and less of the
software is written by programmers employed by the CAD vendor.
Instead, programming is farmed out to firms in India, Russia,
and other locations where brilliant programmers are willing to
work for lower-than-North-American wages. A single programming
house could conceivable provide code to many CAD packages.
upFront.eZine has run ads from Indian programming houses
that state, "Some of the major players in the CAD/CAM arena
are our clients. We are able to develop quality software at a
fraction of your own in-house development cost, using our India
setup." Remarks Martyn Day, "I had a prospective email
from Serbia yesterday, offering programmers at $25 per hour to
do pretty much anything. I think brands only matter when it comes
to translating data."
When people ask me which CAD package to buy, I say, "Buy
the CAD package your clients use." Compatibility of the drawing
files is more important than the brand name.
Rifkin says: "The key is to find the appropriate mechanism
to hold on to a consumer for life. Part of this is the leasing
culture. Another part is to create communities of interest."
In CAD, we see vendors now trying a variety of "subscription"
models, such as Bentley's SELECT (pay an annual fee and get a
CD-ROM mailed to you every so often) and Revit (pay a monthly
fee and get Internet updates). As for communities of interest
in the CAD world, these would be portals, both independent (such
as www.tenlinks.com) and vendor-sponsored (such as Autodesk's
Point A).
Re: Is CAD Dead?
"Spot on! I had been musing over the same things and,
after failing to make much sense out of the never-ending verbiage
about
Web-centricity from the big players, eventually decided that it
wasn't in fact, as I had been starting to fear, that I was a bit
thick, but just that it was truly all a lot of hot air and waffle.
"The recent PTC media blitz and seminars [here in Australia]
are an extreme example. There's enough obvious sense and relevance
in the basic ideas to make it seem like A Good Thing, but when
it's all boiled down and the froth floated off, there is rarely
anything worthwhile left to grab hold of."
- Geoffrey Harrod
"Don't forget, construction will always be about atoms,
not just the bits. And while we all get jazzed at the number of
VC [venture capital] dollars floating around, construction
is a breath takingly large industry, even on the VC scale of things.
"I still don't think the Amazon mindshare-at-any-cost model
will work in this space. But that is admitedly my two cents, and
I haven't founded a single dot.com, so I'm definately not all
that smart."
- Robert Schulz, CSU Chancellor's Office
"Yes, another day, another corporate re-branding. Although
we have not changed the A/E/C SYSTEMS name, everything else about
the show has changed. We are now almost completely transformed
into an Internet show for the AEC industry. Every major .com that
has targeted the design and construction market will be on the
exhibit floor. Almost half of our conference sessions pertain
to using the Internet more effectively. The other half cover traditional
A/E/C SYSTEMS session on design related issues and topics for
AEC professionals.
"We do not agree with your editorial that the Internet is
all smoke and mirrors. Those in our industry who implement the
new e-conomy correctly will reap enormous rewards."
Philip McKay, Penton Media Inc.
"It was good to let off steam like that. It should make
some marketing folks squirm a bit. Did you know that 25% of all
Internet IPO companies in the US are trading at under their initial
offering price? Last night, there was a program on F. Scott-Fitzgerald,
part of the program compared the 1920s Jazz age to that of today's
Internet bubble. Hunter S. Thompson commented 'When this boom
goes, and it will, it will be like the Titanic here in the US.
The question is, where's the iceberg?'
"Autodesk is now marketing the Internet, not intelligent
modeling or ObjectARX."
- Martyn Day, CADDesk magazine
Re: Autodesk's iDesign
"Last year I sat in on the unveiling of AutoCAD 2000.
While I was reasonably impressed with the bells and whistles,
the one thing that mostly sticks in my mind was a vignette from
some mid-management guy who with great pride announced that after
incorporating AutoCAD 2000 in his manufacturing biz, he increased
the company's profits by going straight from initial design to
the CNC machines. He did this by using the intuitive advances
in AutoCAD and bypassing the middle man -- the detailer.
"Grrrrr, I'm one of those detailers --a draftsman, a (I
shudder to say this!) CAD operator (I !!hate!! that term), so
you can image my general state of mind. Here my primary source
of income, the program I worked day in/day out with, the one bit
of coding that I have, a love/hate relationship with, was trying
to turf me out onto the street. Great! Now what do I do?"
- Richard Weiner
"The word 'IDESIGN' (independent of capitalization) is
trademarked at least a couple of times, and not by Autodesk. Yes,
it is difficult to find a good trade name these days. And, of
course, idesign.com is taken.
"In the interest of helping Autodesk, I have retained Joe-Bob's-Identities.com,
a highly sought after (his wife has been looking for him for years)
consultant in brand-name identities. After an extensive search
(for a pencil), and two pitchers of beer, Joe Bob recommends the
following candidates for names to replace iDesign:
eyeDesign (Especially good for optometry CAD software)
ayeDesign (A nice positive Scottish name.)
ayeayeDesign (Good for use on naval naval ships.)
ay-ay-ayDesign (For those frustrating designs.)
sighDesign (When you're giving up on design.)
whyDesign? (Good question.)
meDesign (Not grammatically correct, but is that really
a requirement?)
dieDesign (Could be for metal stampings?)
diediedieDesign (Sounds a little psycho.)
iiieeeeeDesign (Sounds painful.)
highDesign (I don't know what Joe-Bob was smoking when
he came up with this one.)
aeiouandsometimesyDesign (May as well tie up all the vowels.)
gr#zzl!ft@wap (Joe-Bob thought up with this one after
finishing the second pitcher of beer.)
"Joe-Bob told me that, if Autodesk wants to use any of these
names, they have to buy him at least a case of Hamms beer, and
one of those big bags of pork rinds. Seems like a good deal to
me."
- Name withheld by request.
Re: Datalogger
"With standard (i.e., non-survey grade) DGPS, horizontal
accuracy will likely be in the neighborhood of 1 to 5 meters,
with vertical accuracy about 1.5 times that. If you want to get
horizontal and vertical results in the centimeter range, you're
looking at $50,000 worth of RTK gear and a fair bit of training
to learn how to dependably produce that level of accuracy.
"Rather than investing in the product Mr. Bragstad references,
one might consider the use of existing mapping. Many USGS quad
sheets feature contour intervals of 20 feet or less, and are a
whole lot cheaper to obtain. They're available in digital form
from several sources. In surveying, as in most other pursuits,
you pretty much get what you pay for."
- Jim Frame, Frame Surveying & Mapping
Re: Alibre Design
"My understanding (and that of other professionals, including
many of your editorial peers) is that the Alibe Design system
is a standalone modeler and does not require Internet access nor
a server side application to work. I'm sure you're publishing
what they're saying, but be careful when talking about the technology.
Don't take offense, it is hard to understand the technology employed
by all the companies offering 'Web-based' products and services.
True Web-based systems have a desktop client, an application that
runs on a networked server, and a database for storage and management
of the data."
- Scott Cullins, CollabWare Corporation
Re: Vendor Blocks
"The majority of blocks available (and I'd venture that
is less than 1% of suppliers) will be in 2D and in DXF format.
I've not seen much in the way of 3D yet. But if you consider
that the number of suppliers that have gone from paper to digital
for their catalogs, product descriptions, etc. is still very small,
then it's little wonder that we're looking for needles in haystacks.
"Sometimes the supplier's name is but a subsidiary of some
larger company. Again the best bet is to check suppliers hard
copy catalogs for leads.
"The crux of the matter is accurate representation of the
component blocks. I know the frustration that he talks about but
I also know the 'raised eyebrows' of clients when they see a detailed
representation of a component. You see beauty, they see added
time and cost.
"The other negative thing about 'true representation' is
a highly detailed gear motor looks great when zoomed in on the
computer but is a black splotch of ink when plotted at any small
scale.
"Cost, cost, cost. Sure in the long run this could be of
benefit to the manufacturers but they have also sunk major sums
of money into paper catalogs. Not only that but I'm sure that
many are not Internet-ready, yet or ever will be. The consumer
costs for finding the info that he's looking for is fairly small
(the cost of connecting to an ISP to gain access) but the business
costs for translating all their info, setting up and maintaining
a Website are hefty, hefty, hefty.
- Richard Weiner
"I'm surprise at the report of Mr. Mick in upFront.eZine #195 when he was speaking about the blocks. Here in Brazil, the great majority of the manufacturers of materials for civil construction already have these blocks on their Websites. In addition to the blocks, they also provide small programs (mainly in AutoLISP or Visual Lisp) that manage the blocks. Check these sites as examples:
Deca, manufacturer
of sanitary devices
Celite,
manufacturer of sanitary devices
Tigre, manufacturer of
PVC pipes and fittings
- Ricardo Montes, upFront.eZine Portuguese edition
Re: IMSI Shares
"According to info published at the OTCBB site, IMSI (in
any form) was delisted on March 27th. If you want to buy their
stock, you have to drive over and ring the bell."
- Tom Brown, The Signal Group
The editor replies: "Thanks for the info. IMSI has changed its listing so many times over the last few months, it's hard to keep up!"
Re: Two Oceans in One Day
"The Revit social event was certainly interesting, BUT
what do you think about the product?
"I must question their direct sales model, even more than
the monthly subscription model. The Autodesk dealer channel owns
the customer base that Revit will be selling into. To take on
the strongest sales team in the world is a huge challenge. To
say that you do not need an in-field sales force and that the
Revit product can be sold 'directly' over the web ignores the
fact that decision makers will not make a new decision in this
3D modeling arena unless they can see and touch the new technology
-- demonstrated by an application engineer who knows how to demonstrate
the product using local seminars and on site presentations.
- Ed Russell, Devtron
The editor replies: "I can't really say. They only gave a demo up on the stage; there was no opportunity to try the software ourselves. As my Web site notes, all that was missing from this software launch was the software <g>. As for 'will this work?' that's the multi-million dollar question, isn't it?! It'll be fascinating to watch over the next year."
"Is Revit by any chance a reborn Reflex -- Parametric
Technology's abortive foray into the AEC world?
- Bill Le May, Eagle Point Software
The editor replies: "Good question! I asked Revit's pr firm about this, and they say that Revit is an all-new code base."
"Enjoyed the pics of your trip and don't worry about not
tipping the cabbie, Canadians are well known over here for their
short arms and deep pockets <g>. You're right about Mass.
looking better in green, but you should see Vermont. Next time
take a little jaunt up here and we'll show you some real New England
scenery.
"I'm curious about the pic
of the students crowded around the Macs. What were they doing
and when did they start admitting high school kids into college!?
Sheesh, they look younger every year!"
- Paul Freeman, TimberCAD
The editor replies: "The photo is even more interesting when you know that one floor below those 'children' and their lollipop-colored iMacs (all connected to the Internet) sits the original IBM computer -- Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator Mark I."
"About the picture named 'boston.jpg'
in your upFront.eZine NEWS #196: I think that you probably paid
attention to the unusual structures under the plane, as most of
Boston's guests do. But I wonder if you have an idea that even
in such unusual place you can find a longtime admirer of upFront.eZine.
Attached is our point of view on the same place as on your picture,
and if you want to know more about it, please visit: http://watertower.mwra.state.ma.us/index.html"
-Boris Lozovik
The editor replies: "The structure that Boris refers to is Boston's water purification plant. He included a half-dozen photographs of the unusually-shaped water storage towers."
"What a great travelogue! I enjoyed all the photos and
the chewy details. You should get out more often :-) Keep the
great stuff coming!"
- Joel Orr, Joel Orr Associates
The editor replies: "Next trip is in early May to NYC."
daratechPPM2000: PDM/EDM Meets e-Commerce conference is being held June 26-28 in Irving TX USA (outside Dallas). linda@daratech.com or http://www.daratech.com/ppm2000
15th ADCATS Conference on CAD-Based Tolerancing, on the BYU campus in Provo, Utah. It will be held on Thursday and Friday, June 15-16, 2000. http://adcats.et.byu.edu
According to the NY Post, there are no three-letter dot.com names left.
Microsoft last week posted a free "technology preview" [read: beta] of its long-delayed XML BizTalk Server 2000; it is due to ship late this year.
--Apr 12 --
HP
Adds New DesignJet Choices for Mac Users
Boston
VectorWorks UG Issues Mailing List Plea
Microsoft
Sponsors Engineering Software Conference
TenLinks.com
Expands Staff, Moves Office
E-Ring.com
Boosts Solid Edge Mechanical CAD
Spatial
Strikes Alliance with Prototyping Directory
Framework
Teams with SupplierMarket.com
Spatial
Creates Bits2Parts.com Web Service
CoCreate
Embraces SAP In e-Business Initiative
HP,
CoCreate Collaborate on Internet Initiative
CoCreate's
OneSpace 5.0 Interacts in Real Time
Autodesk
Delivers 'Downloadable' Product Extensions
Autodesk
Gains Texas DOI Deal with DLT Help
Indiana
DOT Licenses ESPS CoreDossier Software
Point
A Marks New Autodesk Design Information Focus
-- Apr 13 --
Micrografx
to Show ActiveCGM 7 at MRO Conference
Visual
Intelligence Launches Civil Recon System
CENIT
to Merge with L&H for Global Coverage
Unigraphics
Opens VPD Site in Korea
B2B
eCommerce Featured at COFES2000
Delcam's
Free PS-Exchange Offers Secure Data
-- Apr 14 --
SofTech
Forms CAD/CAM Vertical Portal Company
CADCOM-E.COM
Provides B2B Engineer Share Site
Bedcom
Breakfasts Important Meals for AEC Experts
Diehl
Graphsoft 3Q Revenues Down From Last Year
Spatial,
Materialise Form Alliance to Market Magics
CADJET
3D Marks New Generation of ENCAD Printers
-- Apr 17 --
think3,
Silnet, Zamba Design Customer Care System
Rensselaer
Picks SolidWorks as Standard CAD Platform
VDS
Launches Product, Changes Name to Alventive
