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Issue #584 : : December 9, 2008 |
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In this issue: The Future of CAD is Not Windows
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The Future of CAD is Not Windows As most FOSS [free and open source software] sites keep telling us, Linux is free as in speech, not necessarily as in beer. Yes, it is common to get very good software gratis. But paying for software or services is not uncommon either. Let me see if I can pull my thoughts together on operating systems and CAD, with an emphasis on IntelliCAD:
1. Microsoft will eventually retire XP. Vista has so far failed to win the hearts and minds as a replacement. And first reports about Windows 7 point to the same direction. 2. Eric Raymond wrote a couple of years back, very convincingly, about the threshold between the 32-bit systems and the 64-bit ones, and how it can define the OS landscape for years to come. With Windows out of the picture, it seems OS X fills the desktop up-market niche and Linux the rest. 3. A survey by Novell on what software is most wanted for Linux had, as a very loud second place, AutoCAD. CAD is one rare software family that has absolutely no credible representation in Linux (even though rendering has Blender to offer). 4. Many central and local government agencies in Europe have lately decided in favor of Linux-based systems. Perhaps more importantly, agencies in the BRIC [Brazil, Russia, India, and China] countries seem to move in the same direction. 5. The OLPC-inspired [one laptop per child] netbooks created a very dynamic hardware section in the market, and it is reported that approximately 1 in 3 are sold with Linux. 6. Cast your mind back to what Arnold van der Weide said [at the IntelliCAD conference] in Athens: "Mobile devices." Everyone wants to get a foothold there. Apple has dropped 'Computer' from its title and pushes the handhelds perhaps more than MacBooks. Balmer has said the future of MS lies in advertisement and mobile devices. By all accounts, embedded Linux is well ahead in this segment. 7. If, or when, BIM [building information modeling] reaches its tipping point, all but the larger firms will need to shuffle their budget to make space for the added cost of BIM. IntelliCAD has a sporting chance in helping cut costs, but, for the reasons above, its chances will be greatly amplified if coupled with Linux.
So, I believe while ITC [IntelliCAD technical consortium] completes work on IntelliCAD 7, it should consider carefully the Linux option. If anything, it is a proactive option. I do remember Dave Lorenzo's remark that they won't consider it because members who invested in it reaped no reward. But it seems to me a strategic decision not to be decided by a lost skirmish or two: a coordinated effort by ITC and its members will have much better chances of success. - - - Links: support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/?LN=en-us&x=10&y=8&p1=3223 [Pandelis Iatroudakis is the owner of Iatroudakis Consulting, located in Athens Greece. www.iatroudakis.gr/cad/indexen.html ] Have You Really Tried BIM? I like reading editorials where people opine at length about how BIM will lose money for its users, is more effort and is just marketing balderdash being foisted on an unsuspecting public by software companies trying to keep their programmers off the unemployment lines. Mark Chaney's comments about BIM requiring more work make me pose the question, "Have you really tried it?" [c.f. upFront.eZine #581]. With several years' experience in consulting and teaching BIM (specifically Revit), I'm now using the software in a firm just down the highway from [the offices of upFront.eZine], and I have found that the problem is not the software; the problem is a lack of knowledge. Learning BIM is no small task. In CAD, you may simply draw 2D lines and curves; the toolset that you need to understand is small. With BIM you must have a more comprehensive understanding of the software, its tools, and the workflow. This is the real problem, and why people try BIM and fail. BIM is a judicious mix of 3D modeling and 2D drafting. I don't deny that there is more data in a BIM model than in a set of CAD drawings, but I would hotly debate that there is any additional total effort to create construction documents in BIM than in CAD. For our office, there is less. And the services and data that we can provide to our consultants, builders, and clients far exceeds any combination of 2D CAD / 3D visualization model that other firms might create. As the debate rages on by people who have yet to successfully complete a BIM project, our office has scores of projects under our belt, and our we enjoy higher morale and higher quality documents as a result. You're more than welcome to visit our office and see for yourself, because both interior design and architectural staff use BIM to complete the vast majority of our projects.
[Wes Macaulay designs and documents buildings at Site Lines Architecture in Fort Langley BC Canada, and manages the office's implementation of BIM. www.sitelines.ca/projects.html ] CAD Systems Based on Hierarchical Data Schemes To read the entire complete article "CAD Systems Based on Hierarchical Data Schemes,' you can download a ZIP file containing the text and figures from www.upfrontezine.com/ebooks/hds4.zip
[Alexander A. Yampolsky is chief specialist at Stroyexpertiza of Tula, Russia] Icovia develops 2D and 3D interactive online room planning software. They're working with Furnish a Future, a free furniture bank for formerly homeless families and single adults. Icovia's software lets them "furnish” rooms based on apartment size, room configuration, elevator, and the furnishing's available in the FaF's warehouses. FaF is a program of The Partnership for the Homeless begun in 1982 as a single shelter in a Manhattan church basement. www.icovia.com - - - Ayam < ayam.sourceforge.net/ayam.html > updates its free 3D NURBS modeler that reads and writes RIB, DXF, 3DM, 3DMF, OBJ, and X3D, and runs on:
Animech Technologies launches aniDemo v1.5 for presenting 3D CAD models online, with animation and exploded views. Web browsers require the Shockwave Director plugin. www.animechtechnologies.com/products/anidemo CADalytic Media updates SpecifiCAD to provide the Sweets Network and Google's 3D Warehouse inside of AutoCAD and Architecture 2009. They say its the only drag'n drop solution of SketchUp components into AutoCAD. Software is also available for SketchUp. www.cadalytic.com/index.php?dir=downloads&subdir=SpecifiCAD Genometri of Singapore offers consumer-grade 3D printing at JuJups.com . Parts are printed in US and Denmark for regional deliveries. The press release notes that "The recent increases in print quality and the lower cost of printing is likely to set off a new range of consumer possibilities in 2009." www.JuJups.com CMS releases CMS IntelliCAD 6.6 PRO with a TraceParts plugin accesses 1+ million drawing parts in DWG, DWX. or SAT formats. intellicadms.com/site Planit updates Alphacam integrated CAD/CAM software to version 8 for engravers and sign-makers. www.world.alphacam.com CAD Schroer Group releases v3.1.1 of STHENO/PRO. It's drafting software that's integrated with Pro/ENGINEER, Pro/INTRALINK, and Windchill PDMLink. www.cad-schroer.com Dassault Systemes' SIMULIA division simulates realistic crush behavior of composites in CZone, an add-on to its Abaqus FEA software. www.simulia.com/products/czone.html A new no-charge plugin from solidThinking allows data exchange with SolidWorks. www.solidthinking.com Click a button in AutoCAD 2009 and get your 3D model made physical through ZPrints from Z Corp and Quick Parts. www.Quickparts.com SpaceClaim is now available with a floating license, allowing any n users to work with the software within a corporation. Purchase before December 19, and a 10-seat floating license is $19,500. www.spaceclaim.com - - - These news items were posted during the last week at the WorldCAD Access blog <worldcadaccess.typepad.com>:
Hardware News Stratasys offers SABIC’s ULTEM 9085 high-performance thermoplastic for rapid prototyping. It is a flame-retardant thermoplastic used in aircraft interiors. www.Stratasys.com
Seminars & Conferences Bentley's BE Conference 2009 is May 11-14 in Charlotte NC USA. www.bentley.com
People/Companies on the Move Autodesk plans to aquire iLogic rules-based software for Inventor from Canada's Cypher Systems Group at a secretive price. www.logimetrixinc.com/about.htm
Market News A significant drop in revenues during November makes Nemetschek AG adjust its FY2008 forecast. The European CAD vendor figures revenues will be flat with last year. To maintain profits, the company is cutting costs. www.financial.de/news/unternehmensnews/2008/12/04/dj-dgap-adhoc-nemetschek-ag-nemetschek-adjusts-forecast-for-2008/
New Books/eBooks "Tailoring AutoCAD 2009" (8th Ed.)
Letters to the Editor Re: CADsmart Tests Your Employees "I would not be surprised to learn that one of the biggest contributing factors to the decline in performance that CADsmart finds in their testing can be attributed to the constant state of change which Autodesk forces on its software products, and on the users. "They push to release a half-baked product annually, so it's hard for writers of textbooks to keep up, companies can't afford (and, more importantly, don't need) staff re-training every year, and classes at local community colleges are usually several versions behind the latest."
The editor replies: "I tell Autodesk executives every chance I get that the annual release cycle is murder on the profits of book authors and publishers. They need two years of sales to make a proper profit on the production of technical books. But our concerns fail to move them." - - - "Great to get your summaries."
Spin Doctor of the Moment "This cup traveled over 2000 kilometers from the forest to your lips."
Notable Quotable "It turns out that 'green' tends to mean mainly money."
Copyright 2008 by upFront.eZine Publishing, Ltd. All rights reserved worldwide Article reprint fee US$250.0 and up.
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