Ralph Grabowski, Editor of the upFront eZine and the WorldCAD blog, picked up on “The Future of 3D CAD Software Pricing” blog from last month in his article titled “Can Low-Cost CAD Benefit from These Spartan Times?” He also linked to an interesting article in the New York Times titled “ $200 Laptops Break a Business Model.” Then the Wall St. Journal quickly followed with an article called “The Economics of Giving it Away.”
While Ralph and I often don’t see eye-to-eye, I do appreciate his entrepreneurial spirit, and willingness to raise topics that are uncomfortable for the ExpensiveCAD vendors. Unlike most major US publications, you don’t find much “Separation of Church and State” between the editorial and the advertising departments at CAD publications, so it is rare to find a journalist like Ralph in the CAD business.
Reading these articles got me thinking about the concept of a next generation, but “low cost”, CAD platform. The history of the CAD software business, even more so than other software businesses is closely linked to specific computing platforms. Think CATIA / Mainframes, ComputerVision / Minicomputers, Pro/E / Unix Workstation, SolidWorks / Windows PC. The mainstream CAD product of a technology generation is the product best suited for the computing paradigm of that generation.
Historically, it has always been a struggle to get enough performance in a computing platform. In most generations the platforms have been underpowered, resulting in limitation in features and capacity of the design applications. Recently, mainstream computing platforms have caught up with and are now surpassing the performance needs of even high-end 3D CAD design.
Now, we have entered the realm of Netbooks and Freemium software that together define an emerging technology platform that is characterized by affordability, accessibility, and ease of use. As David Title says in “$200 Laptops Break a Business Model”, “We’ve reached one of those moments in tech history when there are low-priced and free alternatives that are both user-friendly and reliable enough to make the switch. Then there’s the extra bonus of saving some cash.”
Most current Netbooks are still a bit underpowered for 3D CAD, but are probably sufficient for 2D. Ralph Grabowski has been running AutoCAD 2D on his Netbook and describes his experience here. Netbook performance is advancing rapidly, but a $500 laptop is probably a better choice for 3D CAD today. Alibre has been purchasing $500 laptops for all of our employees, except for the software developers, who are still using desktops. However, we are only spending about $500 for each of those and we get faster processors, larger hard drives, and better graphics instead of paying a portability premium.
Low Cost Design Platform Components
It is actually quite surprising how much choice you have in low cost design platform components. Here is a brief summary by major component area:
Personal computers - PC Magazine recommends the MSI Wind and the Lenovo IdeaPad as two of the best Netbook choices and both of these come with Windows XP and cost less than $500. There are also a lot of full-size laptop choices in the $500 range. If portability is not a determining factor for you, then a desktop will give you more computing power for your money, and the extra oomph may be just what you need for more complex 3D modeling assignments. Plus you have a lot more choices in desktops, which powerful $500 computers available from Dell, HP, and Gateway. CNET.com has an extensive set of reviews of desktop computing choices.
Hard Disk / Local Data Storage – most of the Netbooks are severely limited in hard disk storage, but you can easily overcome this with the addition of high capacity USB storage drives. A 64GB USB drive can be had for between $130 and $200 each. Two of these together exceed the capacity of the most laptop hard drives.
3D Design software – there are 2 popular choices of 3D design software available with the Freemium business model, Alibre Design Xpress and Google SketchUp. Both offer a free starter package plus a premium companion product with professional features and capabilities for less than $1000. Each has its strengths, with Alibre Design Xpress the best choice for mechanical design since it offers true 3D parametric design, precision dimensioning, and manufacturability. Google SketchUp is great for non-manufacturing applications such as architectural, interior, landscape, and general visual graphics design.
Free 2D software – DoubleCAD is a new Freemium product from IMSI, the makers of TurboCAD. Solid Edge 2D Drafting, is a free product available from Siemens (formerly Unigraphics).
Rendering software – Free rendering software choices include Indigo, Kerkythea, Blender, and POVRAY.
Product data management – M-Files Express is available directly from Motive Systems. They also provide the technology underlying the Alibre Vault. M-Files Express organizes data on your hard drive and provides basic, check-in, checkout and version control capabilities. There are also several choices of free online storage that lets you map online storage as an external drive. These include tools like Gmail Drive and services like Box.net. Plus Google is expected to enter the market with Gdrive later this year.
Free 3D parts libraries – You can find extensive free and online mechanical oriented parts libraries in 3DContentCentral and TraceParts. 3DContentCentral has the broadest selection of vendors and products. Alibre includes the TraceParts part libraries in Alibre Design Professional and Expert and all Alibre products are compatible with 3DContentCentral. Google also offers Google 3D Warehouse as a storage location and source of 3D models that are compatible with SketchUp.
Pervasive broadband Internet – broadband Internet is now available to most US homes and is often included as a low cost option from cable TV, telephone, and mobile wireless providers. The ultimate in low-cost broadband is free Wi-Fi, which can be found in most US cities and is easily located through websites such as www.openwifispots.com and www.wififreespots.com.
Web-based productivity software – Google offers Google Apps, which includes word processor, spreadsheet, presentation graphics, email, and mapping programs. For small business and personal finance free products such as Quicken Online, Mint, and MySpendingPlan are available.
Bottom Line
I am not really trying to get you to run Alibre Design or other 3D CAD programs on a Netbook, although it is possible to do so. Most people that buy a Netbook, will do so because of their extreme portability combined with their very low cost. They are hard to beat for Internet browsing and watching downloaded videos on the road.
However, the Netbook phenomenon does illustrate how far we have come in affordable personal computing. You can rest assured that it won’t be long, perhaps another year or so, before you really can run high-end 3D CAD on a Netbook. Even then, most 3D designers will choose a large screen laptop or desktop with a flat screen monitor for the larger visual modeling and viewing area.
The point is that technology prices for CAD hardware and software continue to decline, except in the land of ExpensiveCAD where the CEO’s continue to brag of every increasing Average Selling Prices. Improving price performance means that 3D CAD platforms are more affordable, leading to increased utilization of 3D CAD by a broader set of more innovative companies and individuals. And that is a good thing.
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