MOTS

[jhetley]

Still cold -- another subzero morning, although something like 10 degrees higher than yesterday. Not particularly windy. May consider a ski outing this afternoon, although the stuff out there has turned crusty. Maybe University Forest, where they groom trails?

Still no move on the computer front. I have this high level of inertia when it comes to spending money. Any money, especially large sums. And we have two functioning (sorta) computers already. Why do anything before we hit panic mode? (Yes, I never _did_ like bosses who put me into "Lack of planning on your part does not equal a crisis on my part" situations.)

OTOH, I received another business check in yesterday's mail, which brings the total awaiting deposit to very nearly the exact sum needed to buy an iMac 17" 2GHZ with 2GB of memory, modem, and associated software...

Or for half that I could get a functional Windows machine and LCD monitor.

Dither dither dither.

Comments

[ziactrice.livejournal.com]

The only reason I'm stuck in Windoze world is that AutoCAD (since release far back) isn't able to run on a Mac.

If you can find adequate drafting software for a Mac, or if your drafting is manually done, I don't see any reason not to change - and many reasons why it might be a good idea. Better archival and less viral menace being two big ones.

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

I don't do computer CAD -- I've used it in the past, AutoCAD and DataCAD, and find it doesn't speed up the kind of screwball renovation/restoration work I've made a specialty. All those odd angles and walls that aren't straight or the same thickness from one end to the other...

CAD output would give the illusion of accuracy where there is no reality.

[ziactrice.livejournal.com]

It can, but if one is attempting the three dimensional layout of pipe racks and valves, tanks and supporting structure, it can be useful. For P&IDs, the digital part is important for archiving information. Plus I'm hoping to eventually get so I can do my work on a layer in a drawing, not a highlighter on the hardcopy. It'd be nice to have the ability to reprint if a sheet is lost.

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

Well, we have a cultural divide. Engineers are supposed to be precise. Architects are supposed to be vague. That's why I transferred from engineering into architecture in college...

Actually, neat and precise CAD output _can_ be a problem. I've seen software to turn those plotter lines all squiggly on purpose -- if I hand a client a perfect CAD floor plan of a preliminary design, he/she is less likely to propose shoving this wall over there and making the windows larger and do we _really_ need that exit to the rear? A hand sketch shows an appropriate level of indecision for that stage of the design process.

[ziactrice.livejournal.com]

It can be. We used to joke that the stages of design were as follows:

1) hand-waving
2) napkin sketch
3) hand sketch
4) vendor's build drawing
5) final blueprint

.... and most projects never achieved final blueprints. :)