As the Bobby Braddock song, "Time Marches On," (sung by Tracey Lawrence) proclaims, only one thing is certain:
time marches on. Hairstyles change, politicians come and go, and we must adapt to the times. This, of course, means you will
end up at the back of the parade if you do not march on as well.
Consider the following arguments. I don't have time to learn to operate a computer (circa late 1970's).
Would I still be competitive today? Why get an E.D.M. when no one here knows how to work one (also late 1970's)? Could I bid
as low as that nearby competitor today? The DOS program I have used for ten years does everything I need to do (circa today).
Well, that's if I could just find a printer that works and some old DOS disks!
After almost two centuries of very limited change, our profession has exploded with new technology in the
last two decades. This requires us to move forward in leaps and bounds as well. A fellow who decided in 1970 that he would
be the best lead chainman in the whole country would be unemployed today. The 1980 draftsman who refused to learn a stupid
gimmick like computer assisted drafting now has a limited or nonexistent job market.
Had C&G refused to make software for any systems other than DOS, we would certainly be left at the back
of the software parade. No one would have even looked back for us. The impending demise of DOS as a viable operating platform
forced C&G to look at CAD engines operating within the Windows environment.
Microsoft owns the MS-DOS operating system. Starting with Windows 95, less and less DOS has been included
within Microsoft's systems. This chain of events is all part of Microsoft's plan to eliminate MS-DOS entirely by the release
of Windows 2000. Windows 2000 will for all practical purposes be Windows NT 5.0, which means no DOS whatsoever! Most printer
and plotter makers have already quit making DOS-able machines. As time marches on, less and less DOS compatible machines will
be made. Eventually none of them will be made.
As in the surveying field, it is imperative that you keep your surveying office up to date with computer
technology. This technology is after all what has fueled the changes in our own profession. While not myself a huge fan of
Mr. Gates or his prodigy, Microsoft, today and for the foreseeable future, they dominate the operating system market. The
ideal solution would be competition for Microsoft. In any business, a lack of competition means higher prices for the end
user.
The same holds true for AutoDesk and its all-pervasive drafting platforms. The merger of AutoCAD and
Softdesk has lead too much higher prices for the end users. Call today and price their latest products-talk about sticker
shock! The first plats I drew in the 1970's were all hand-drawn. I had no talent for hand-lettering or neatness. I still don't!
I could however do the ciphering, as we called it. As time marched on, I eventually became a party chief. Surveying then was
very hard work and I was very young. I decided to join the U.S. Navy and spent seven years as an Air Traffic Controller. Upon
leaving the Navy, I spent some years being a prison guard, an insurance agent and a bank manager. I was truly miserable and
always recalled fondly the best job I ever had-in surveying!
So I went back to it. I quickly noticed that surveying had changed a great deal since the mid 1970's.
However, I also knew I wanted to spend my working hours doing land surveying. Around 1989 I met a gentleman, Gilbert Smith,
who owned CG-SURVEY for DOS and put me back on the surveying path. Not only did he know his software, but also he was able
and willing to show me how to use it. With only two people drafting by hand, we could never have turned out the volume of
plats we could with C&G's software.
Then I went to an engineering company as a party chief. Here, AutoCAD was the drafting platform. I,
however, continued to use C&G for ciphering(some things never change). My next stint was back to home and the hills to try
my hand at being self-employed. It taught me that being a good surveyor did not make you a good business man. I did get to
enhance my C&G skills, so the time was highly educational, just not highly profitable.
This was followed by about a year in Akron, Ohio. I once more saw C&G being used as the main ciphering
tool with the final plat produced in AutoCAD. I of course always refused to use the AutoCAD, preferring C&G. However, it was
becoming harder and harder to ignore Windows or AutoCAD. Like everyone, we were booting in and out of Windows.
At this point (1997) I decided it was time to learn Windows 95. Yes, I have only been in Windows for two
years. I am not now nor have I ever been a"computer guy". I am a land surveyor who desires to understand his tools. I did
however realize this was an important part of my profession and becoming increasingly important. It was therefore time I understood
it.
It was also time I figured out AutoCAD. It was apparent I was going to have to march on if I meant to keep
up with my profession. I know how it feels to be told "I need it in .DXF with an ASCII file and be sure it's zipped," and
not really know what the person was talking about.
CG-SURVEY for DOS had a conversion routine, but I could not actually see it, or what happened with
my drawing once it arrived at elsewhere. I couldn't understand why drafters were having problems with my drawings. They looked
fine in CG-SURVEY for DOS. Barry Wilson, who is now my fellow tech supporter here at C&G, was the first to explain to me about
the text changing and the various problems that occurred with my contour lines in AutoCAD.
In July of 1998, I agreed to come to work for C&G. Ed, Dean and I had discussed my complete lack of
AutoCAD engine knowledge. I was, on the other hand, very comfortable in Windows by this time. I felt that I could learn the
AutoCAD engine, as well as IntelliCAD. So to Atlanta I moved, ready to learn! The key word here is learn. No one ever learned
a program he or she did not operate.
Keep in mind, I still had not ever sat down at a CAD type engine. Starting at C&G on August 17, I
was very frustrated by the IntelliCAD engine at first. I also quickly noted that AutoCAD was quite similar, and every bit
as frustrating to the novice. There were things IntelliCAD could do that AutoCAD could not and vice versa. Although, AutoCAD
was in no way ten times more valuable to my production-that is roughly the price difference between the two.
Both programs read .DXF and .DWG type files. Both interface with third-party applications for survey
needs. Both are more complex than the CG-SURVEY for DOS, and thus seemed much slower at first. It was quickly obvious that
both were graphically more powerful than CG-SURVEY for DOS.
Eventually, just like with Windows 95, I became faster and faster. As I learned how to get around in
the system, I became even more efficient and delighted in the things I could do here that I had never been able to do. I could
contour at the most amazing speed, I could make an almost instant enlargement or cross-section. Neither of the CAD engines
are faultless. Both AutoCAD and IntelliCAD crash, that's just the way it is. However, I developed a preference for IntelliCAD
for the following reasons:.
1. All aliases work in IntelliCAD, not just AutoCAD aliases. I like to type at the CAD command line, so
this means I can use a larger range of commands.
2. .I know I can afford IntelliCAD, but not AutoCAD. Compare $349 to $3800 for one seat. I do not buy name
items merely for prestige. I buy things that work.
3. I also realized that any competition given to the AutoCAD engine could only bring down prices for all
of us, the end users. Competition would also fuel improvements in both engines, as it already has.
4. IntelliCAD was a much newer engine (1998) than AutoCAD. It was only natural to assume that they (Visio)
would be fresher in their approach and more aggressive, as they have been.
