{"id":529,"date":"2008-05-13T06:39:22","date_gmt":"2008-05-13T14:39:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.caddmanager.com\/CMB\/2008\/05\/who-drives-software-development\/"},"modified":"2008-05-14T09:58:59","modified_gmt":"2008-05-14T17:58:59","slug":"who-drives-software-development","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.caddmanager.com\/CMB\/2008\/05\/who-drives-software-development\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Drives Software Development?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Over the lengthy time I have spent being involved with CAD and now BIM, I have seen a lot of software development that has improved our processes. I have also seen development that did not work so well. Sometimes I ask myself “Who is really responsible for creating these things?” “Who’s idea was that? So over the next few posts, I will try to answer that question…<\/p>\n

But first, an intro…<\/p>\n

I think software development is an interative process. Sure there a some leaps in CAD technology, some that are astounding, but for the most part we just keep improving what we have. I have seen new releases of software introduce a tool and then take 2-3 or more releases to get it right. One case in point is the maturing of text tools inside CAD programs. Boy have these things changed. What started as just single lines of text have matured into complete word processing tools. And we still demand more.<\/p>\n

Sometimes software development is a flop. What appears to be a great idea, just does not translate well into a software product. It seems like it never lives up to the promise. I remember the fanfare of Autodesk Architectural Studio. What seemed like a great fledgling tool never caught on, never matured and was eventually abandoned. I also remember Autodesk Actrix. Another tool that had a short lifespan.<\/p>\n

We tend to think of software development the same way we think of other products. We expect perfection and maturity out of the gate. We tend to think that version 1.0 will work with distinction. We have found that most developers do not want to unveil 1.0 releases because they are so fragile. So owe have seen the rise of “beta” programs that last forever. How long was GMail considered “beta”?<\/p>\n

Here is a list of the Google tools that have been in public beta for extended times before they “hatched”from the Google Lab…<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Graduates of Labs<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"O\"<\/td>\n Google Transit<\/a><\/strong>
\nPlan trips using public transportation
\n<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"O\"<\/td>\nGOOG-411<\/a><\/strong>
\nSearch for local businesses using your voice, from any phone, for free.
\nDial 1-800-GOOG-411.<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"O\"<\/td>\nGoogle Reader<\/a><\/strong>
\nUse Google’s web-based feed reader to keep track of your favorite web sites<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"O\"<\/td>\nGoogle Notebook<\/a><\/strong>
\nClip and collect information as you browse the web<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"O\"<\/td>\n Google Docs & Spreadsheets<\/a><\/strong>
\nCreate, store and share documents and spreadsheets on the web<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"O\"<\/td>\nGoogle Video<\/a><\/strong>
\nSearch TV programs and videos<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"O\"<\/td>\nPersonalized Search<\/a><\/strong>
\nGet the search results most relevant to you<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"O\"<\/td>\niGoogle<\/a><\/strong>
\nAdd information you care about to your Google homepage <\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"O\"<\/td>\n Google Maps<\/a><\/strong>
\nView maps, get driving directions, and search for local businesses and services. <\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"O\"<\/td>\nGoogle Scholar<\/a><\/strong>
\nSearch through journal articles, abstracts and other scholarly literature <\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"O\"<\/td>\nGoogle SMS (US)<\/a><\/strong>
\nGet precise answers to specialized queries from your mobile phone or device<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"O\"<\/td>\nGoogle Desktop<\/strong><\/a>
\nFind all your information, whether it’s on the web or stored on your computer, from one convenient location<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"O\"<\/td>\nGoogle Groups 2<\/strong><\/a>
\nCreate and join searchable discussion groups and mailing lists<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"O\"<\/td>\nWeb Alerts<\/strong><\/a>
\nFind out about new web pages on a topic of interest<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"O\"<\/td>\nSearch by Location<\/strong><\/a>
\nRestrict your search to a particular geographic area<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"O\"<\/td>\nGoogle Glossary<\/strong><\/a>
\nFind definitions for words, phrases and acronyms<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"O\"<\/td>\nGoogle News Alerts<\/strong><\/a>
\nSpecify a topic and receive email updates when news breaks<\/font><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

Most of us have used some of these tools when they were beta.<\/p>\n

Now Autodesk has a Labs site<\/a> – some of the recent graduates were the “Seek” Search<\/a> and Impression<\/a> (back in 07). So even Autodesk is in the beta business.<\/p>\n

Looking into the process of software development may help clear the air about who does what and how, but it will not refine the creative process that provides leaps in technology.<\/p>\n

Arthur C. Clarke said “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” In other words – they will be astounding (think Apple iPhone). Can that happen in the CAD market? Can there still be an undiscovered tool in CAD? Is BIM the “magic” that people have been looking for? BIM believers think so. Do you?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over the lengthy time I have spent being involved with CAD and now BIM, I have seen a lot of software development that has improved our processes. I have also seen development that did not work so well. Sometimes I ask myself “Who is really responsible for creating these things?” “Who’s idea was that? So […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"series":[],"class_list":["post-529","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-software"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.caddmanager.com\/CMB\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.caddmanager.com\/CMB\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.caddmanager.com\/CMB\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.caddmanager.com\/CMB\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.caddmanager.com\/CMB\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=529"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.caddmanager.com\/CMB\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.caddmanager.com\/CMB\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.caddmanager.com\/CMB\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.caddmanager.com\/CMB\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=529"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.caddmanager.com\/CMB\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}