"We Invented PC CAD Software" .....
Tony Tanzillo
reiterate the claim that Autodesk invented PC CAD.
This claim is totally untrue.
Who remembers what companies produced and
marketed PC CAD software before Autodesk?
Dennis Shinn
> Who remembers what companies produced and
> marketed PC CAD software before Autodesk?
I don't know who was first but I remember back about the time AutoCAD
was becoming "popular", VersaCAD was an erstwhile alternative. Most of
the others that I can recall, Rucaps, Medusa/Prime, .... were mini/main
frame systems.
Neil Moffat
with a 5 MB HDD and 4 Mb of RAM!!!!
"Tony Tanzillo" <tony.t...@caddzone.dot.com> wrote in message
news:4Dch8.16$J3...@nwrddc01.gnilink.net...
Happy
TRSCad for the TRS-80 from Radio Shack (still have it on floppy somewhere) .
Bausch & Lomb Producer was in use in 1985 when I was teaching cad at a local Tech school (went to Autocad on Smith-Corona clones).
There was one that was available for the Apple as well, but can't remember the name of it off hand.
Hard to believe it has been that long.
Happy :-) <==== Definitely feeling the age now.
Gary D'Arcy
There where quite a few!.
Versacad went toe to toe with Autodesk in the early days!
For the mac Pegasis and Mac draw!
Regards Gary.
"Tony Tanzillo" <tony.t...@caddzone.dot.com> wrote in message
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GeorgeB
had an associate using it (AutoCAD) on a Z80 CP/M system with an 8086
co-processor. This was version 1.4, I believe.
R.K. McSwain
40MB HDD, partitioned of course because IBM DOS 3.3 had max partition size
of 32MB)
:)
"Neil Moffat" <nmo...@ozemail.com.au> wrote in message
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Scott H.
TRSCad for the TRS-80 from Radio Shack (still have it on floppy somewhere) .
Bausch & Lomb Producer was in use in 1985 when I was teaching cad at a local
Tech school (went to Autocad on Smith-Corona clones).
There was one that was available for the Apple as well, but can't remember
the name of it off hand.
Hard to believe it has been that long.
Happy :-) <==== Definitely feeling the age now.
Was it `LisaDraw' or `AppleDraw' or something like that? I had a drafting
class at a local CC that had a computer with cad software. I definitely
remember that it was an Apple system. This would've been late 1984. When did
AutoCAD come out?
--
Scott
Eric Gray
we used. Before that there was something else we used at Douglas Aircraft
Co. (now Boeing) around 1981. Can't remember the name of that.
"Scott H." <shinkleD...@carolina.rr.com> wrote in message
news:p1qh8.345$3v.6...@ralph.vnet.net...
Shaan Hurley
Autodesk founders including John Walker had other applications such as one
with Mike Riddle on the Marinchip in the late seventies.
Cheers,
-Shaan
"Scott H." <shinkleD...@carolina.rr.com> wrote in message
news:p1qh8.345$3v.6...@ralph.vnet.net...
Pennells, Graham
think in the 1960's
Tony Tanzillo
AutoCAD was available on any microprocessor based PC.
"Shaan Hurley" <shaan....@autodesk.com> wrote in message
news:3c864464$1...@news.revit.com...
Tony Tanzillo
news:ogqh8.864$U26.72...@newssvr21.news.prodigy.com...
> Same here, late 1984 at the local CC it was some sort of Apple CAD program
> we used. Before that there was something else we used at Douglas Aircraft
> Co. (now Boeing) around 1981. Can't remember the name of that.
Might that be Anvil, from MCS ?
Shaan Hurley
different CAD products back then as the sources are limited but in any case
it is interesting to look back at what was going on and remember the old
ways. Autodesk founders had CAD applications in the late 70s on their own
developed PC fueled by their Marinchip. I fired up AutoCAD 2.18 on my
Windows XP in an emulated 20Mb DOS environment just to remember the pain.
Some interesting cached content from Google:
http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:AwfMWppwUZ4C:www.bozdoc.f2s.com/CAD1980
.htm
http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:biXXkjZ1x5wC:www.bozdoc.f2s.com/CAD1970
.htm
-Shaan
"Tony Tanzillo" <tony.t...@caddzone.dot.com> wrote in message
news:wewh8.2909$J3....@nwrddc01.gnilink.net...
Tony Tanzillo
Tony Tanzillo
or pseudo-16 bit (8088, PC/MS-DOS), Anvil ran on 8 and 16
bit machines, including PC-DOS.
If you're talking about who developed it first, Dr. Ivan
Sutherland had CAD when some Autodesk founders were still
in kindergarten, although that predated the PC. There were
also many CAD implementations running on PCs, that were not
released as products, which predated what Mike Riddle wrote
in PL/1, and which eventually became AutoCAD.
Hence, even when twisting the definition of "invented" to
suit, there is still little to no basis for the claim.
Shaan Hurley
I only mentioned 32bit as Anvil pages list it as the first 32bit CAD. You
are definitely entitled to your opinion and I certainly am just joining the
discussion to contribute not change your mind. Do you have any references
on who was first? I guess it all boils down to what is is, or what was the
first personal computer based CAD application available which is all based
on perspective.
http://www.fourmilab.ch/autofile/www/section2_7_5.html
-Shaan
"Tony Tanzillo" <tony.t...@caddzone.dot.com> wrote in message
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R.K. McSwain
"Pennells, Graham" <GJ-Pe...@bdp.co.uk> wrote in message
news:A4F1A0ED700CD411A4A...@l-gs-xch2.london.bdp.co.uk...
Bryan H. Ackler
early 1980's, as I used a later (non 1.0) fairly sophisticated version
in 1983-85.
Used a Apple IIe as the front end with a Motorola chip in the custom 20"
monitor box. they were individual stand alone stations using 180k single side
single density 5-1/4" floppy drives.
Markris
tony.t...@caddzone.dot.com says...
*> "Eric Gray" <eg...@willdan.com> wrote in message
*> news:ogqh8.864$U26.72...@newssvr21.news.prodigy.com...
*> > Same here, late 1984 at the local CC it was some sort of Apple CAD program
*> > we used. Before that there was something else we used at Douglas Aircraft
*> > Co. (now Boeing) around 1981. Can't remember the name of that.
Tony,
What happened to Anvil, that was a good CAD program in its day. I work
for Reed-Prentis in Stafford Spring CT an we ran Anvil on TRS (Radio
Shack) computers. I still have a copy on disk in storage.
--
C. Brown
------------------------------------------
Remove the 2 Q's to respond.
Alan James Wooldridge
mono screen, it had twin tape drives, later six months down the line
it had a 10Mbyte Hard disk which came in a box so big it was untrue...
Yes it also had a slot for the 8" floppy disks.
A genius of a man called Ken Barber created a CAD package in HP Basic.
A special room was constructed with fans etc. and how wonderous it was
to watch a plotter produce drawings.
Later there was Pink CAD, Pro Design, Pro Design II, Robo CAD, and
soooo many others.... including AutoCAD
Support for AutoCAD, IntelliCAD & Cadvance Users
Web Site http://www.cadalot.co.uk
TenLinks Site of the Week & Top Ten Listed
Tony Tanzillo
Anvil (and its maker MCS), but they seem to have just
fallen of the face of the planet.
"Markris" wrote in message > *> > Same here, late 1984 at the local CC it
Tony Tanzillo
The version I used was the original that was written
in UCSD P-code.
"Alan James Wooldridge" <al...@killspamcadalot.co.uk> wrote in message
news:3c870181...@news.compuserve.com...
Jim Patrick
>What happened to Anvil, that was a good CAD program in its day. I work
>for Reed-Prentis in Stafford Spring CT an we ran Anvil on TRS (Radio
>Shack) computers. I still have a copy on disk in storage.
Anvil got sold to a company that sold it to a company that....
You get the picture. Darn shame it happens to good software like that.
Anvil --a DOS based CAD that could run from a single floppy-- was
viable until Autocad r14. As a local instructor likes to point out,
Anvil was what sent men to the moon.
Shaan
Also Anvil appears to still be around: http://www.anvil1000md.com/
Cheers,
-Shaan
"Alan James Wooldridge" <al...@killspamcadalot.co.uk> wrote in message
news:3c870181...@news.compuserve.com...
> In 1974 we purchased a HP 9845b Desktop computer with an additional
> mono screen, it had twin tape drives, later six months down the line
> it had a 10Mbyte Hard disk which came in a box so big it was untrue...
>
> Yes it also had a slot for the 8" floppy disks.
>
> A genius of a man called Ken Barber created a CAD package in HP Basic.
>
> A special room was constructed with fans etc. and how wonderous it was
> to watch a plotter produce drawings.
>
> Later there was Pink CAD, Pro Design, Pro Design II, Robo CAD, and
> soooo many others.... including AutoCAD
>
> On Wed, 6 Mar 2002 17:06:05 -0800, "Shaan Hurley"
> <shaan....@autodesk.com> wrote:
<snip>
Huckleberry Hoshimoto
"Tony Tanzillo" <tony.t...@caddzone.dot.com> wrote in message
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Tony Tanzillo
news:8A5i8.47998$vl.15...@twister.kc.rr.com...
> It doesn't take a hell of a lot to set you off, huh?
The cover of the last "A" magazine is really what did it.
Robert.M.
community that's for sure...
A claim to fame no doubt...
®
--
Every corporation is a cannibal, company a thief,
All lacking inspiration, just sing out the grief.
:
:
:
:
:
Scott Smith
Scott Smith
The Joel Orr's World of Technology
History of CADD
A participative work in progress
Of course it is presumptuous of me, a mere techno-dilettante and meme-sower, to undertake such a project. Well, don't just complain--contribute! I will gladly acknowledge contributions. (But this is my site, so I will write the commentary! :-))
Some general issues: It is silly to try to separate CADD developments from those of computers and computer graphics in general, especially in the early days. So with no apologies, milestones from these overlapping areas are also listed here.
I've always spelled "CADD" with two "D"'s, because design and drafting are different activities.
Without research, just from memory, here's a bunch of memory-jogging names and words to start us off. Please send me people names, company names, dates, stories, links, and especially corrections. Let's do this well.
1951 - EAI produces analog flatbed plotter.
Joe Gerber starts producing plotters--later, great mechanical CADD systems.
APT
1959 - CalComp founded.
1961 - Ivan Sutherland's brilliant Sketchpad PhD thesis at MIT. Ivan just about did it all for us. Read the thesis, or the paper he gave at the Spring Joint Computer Conference a couple of years later, and you will see he defined almost all possible graphical human interface issues.
Wang plotters.
Steve Coons, Coons Patch
Sylvan Chasen, FEA
John Swanson
IBM 2250 strokewriting display
Information Displays Inc. (IDI)
Vector Graphics
Adage
PDMS, Plant Design Management System from Michael Leesley
PDGS, Product Design Graphics System from Ford
CADD from McDonnell Douglass
Northrop NCAD (later sued by MD? Outcome?)
E&S graphics hardware, later CDRS software, acquired much later by PTC
1964 - Dr. Pat Hanratty, DAC (design augmented by computer) project, GM
1967 -- Dr. Jason R. Lemon founds SDRC in Cincinnati
1968 - Science Accessories Corporation (later SAC) releases sonic digitizer.
1969 - The Tektronix DVST (direct-view storage tube).
SYMAP, line-printer mapping from Harvard
DIME, US Census Bureau dual independent map encoding, for low-budget digitizing
All kinds of stuff in Cambridge, England, leading to Medusa, RUCAPS, GDS, LaserScan, and other amazing systems. I need a lot of help here.
Also in France: The birth of CATIA, Euclid, and Euklid (later Systrid).
Bendix digitizing table.
PLOT-10, the Tektronix graphics library
Houston Instrument
Hershey fonts
Pat Hanratty founds United Computing (later UniGraphics)
ALGOR, cheap FEA
MAGI founded; releases SynthaVision, first commercial solid modeler.
Ron Resch modifies Calcomp flatbed plotter to fabricate huge Pisanka, Ukrainian Easter egg commissioned by Canadian village near Edmonton to commemorate 150 years of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Dimensional Systems, Inc.
First edition of Newman & Sproull on computer graphcs
Princeton Electronic Products scan-converter storage tube.
1969 -- Dr. Russ Henke joins SDRC, launches SDRC Computer Software Business.
1970 - Scriptographics (later Summagraphics) founded.
MOVIE.BYU
Synercom founded.
MDSI
Auto-trol founded.
Calma founded.
M&S Computing (later Intergraph) founded.
Tektronix desktop computers.
ESRI founded.
Wang desktop computers.
Animation at NYIT
DEC graphics displays.
Houston Instrument.
Matrix Instruments.
Dunn.
Pierre Bezier
Xynetics plotter.
Computer-output microfilm plotters from Information International Inc. (III), Singer, Dicomed
Cliff Stewart's PDP-15 CADD system
1972 - Computervision and Applicon founded as spin-offs of MIT labs.
Data Technology builds Interact, combined interactive digitizer/plotter, for CV
SIGGRAPH founded
1973 - M&S sells first mapping system to Nashville
CADTrak--later XTrak--interactive PDMS workstation. Company patents "exclusive or" hardware function, required for, eg, non-destructive cursor. Shuts operations down & collects royalties.
1976 - Joel Orr founds Computer Graphics Newsletter; it is acquired in 1978 by Randy Stickrod, who turns it into Computer Graphics World
ESC minicomputer CAD from Louisiana
1977 - IBM contracts with Lockheed to market CADAM.
CG77 - One of first major computer graphics conferences held by Joel Orr's Jerusalem Systems in Milwaukee
Commander Richard Schulman convenes computer graphics experts under auspices of ANSI X3H3 committee
NCGA founded
1980 - IBM contracts with Dassault Systemes to market CATIA.
Stewart Maws founds CAD/CAM Alert, edited by Joel Orr
Steve Wolf founds CAD Report
Ken & BJ Anderson found The Anderson Report
Ed Forrest founds A-E-C Automation Newsletter
Tom Lazear founds T&W Systems and releases CADapple on the Apple IIe.
Foley & Van Dam
T&W Systems releases VersaCAD
Mike Riddle writes MicroCAD, later Interact, ultimately AutoCAD; asks John Walker to market it
1982 -- IBM announces PC-based drafting system with vector displays, developed in Denver (name? particulars?) Later converted to PC as IBMDraft
1983 -- Applicon introduces BRAVO!, first 32-bit VAX-based mechanical design/NC system (courtesy of Russ Henke's MEM team). FORTUNE Product of
the Year.
1984 - Autodesk founded by John Walker
CADPLAN
Graftek spins out of Auto-trol, promises integrated solids/surfaces/2d/CAM. Later acquired by Burroughs.
Unicad, spun out of Graftek--a CADD library for developers, which didn't survive.
Littleton Daniel founds company that releases a log cabin design system for the Tektronix desktop computer; later, ports to HP. Company bought by AM Bruning. Subsequently sold to Holguin Systems, which itself gets bought by Accugraph. Programmers funded by Swiss distributor to found what is today Visionael, in Tulsa.
Vulcan, Dave Albert
Jim Blinn
Alvy Ray Smith, Ed Catmull, who later found Pixar
ATP, Automation Technology Products, spun out of CALMA by Bob Bender--almost the first successful CIM story.
Apple
Peter Smith and Livingston Davies found Micro-Control Systems to build cheap 3D digitizers; shortly thereafter, release CADKEY, the first all-3D PC CAD product.
1986 - Keith Bentley founds Bentley Systems Inc.
Diehl Graphsoft releases MiniCAD for the Macintosh
Cericor releases first object-oriented CAD (for schematics); company later acquired by HP
Univac's foray into CADD, with Japanese system
Cadnetix, Daisy (combined, then later acquired by Intergraph)
VLSI
Mentor Graphics
CAMAX
SmartCAM
Data General markets EZCad, Australian product; later buys company
MasterCAM
IBM/SOM AES architectural CADD
ModaCAD
Skok Systems
CDI
octrees
Arieh Feldman leaves Gerber, returns to Israel with a Cromemco 16-bit Z80 computer to found Cimatron
Also in Israel, ACA founded, releases ARC for IBM mainframes (written in APL)--later ARC+ for PCs
CADVANCE blooms out of CADPLAN
Engineered Software releases PowerCAD for the Macintosh
Dassault acquires CADAM.
HumanCAD
MapInfo
American Small Business Computers releases DesignCAD
PTC founded.
Caddie, from South Africa
ICAD
Wisdom Systems
Spatial Technology founded; releases ACIS
Ashlar Vellum
Dave Weisberg founds Engineering Automation Report, later acquires Anderson Report & A-E-C Automation News
Daratech founded by Charles Foundyller
1987 -- First live "Graphical NC Verification" software from Russ Henke's ATP, using SGI & SUN workstations
199? - Autodesk acquires Engineer's Workbench.
199? - Autodesk acquires Generic CADD
IMSI releases TurboCAD
Brad Holtz publishes first CAD Rating Guide
Virtus WalkThrough
1993 - Autodesk acquires MicroEngineering Solutions
1994? - StereoLithography
Visual CADD
SolidWorks
Visio
Autodesk aquires Woodbourne with their parametric solid modeler - precursor of Mechanical Desktop
VRML as 3D-Internet file format goes public
1995 - TriSpectives
First OpenGL graphics cards for WindowsNT
1996 - Autodesk acquires SoftDesk.
Mike Seely founds CIMWorld on Web
Intergraph creates Solid Edge
AutoCAD 13 comes with object-oriented kernel for 2D and 3D and API
1997 - Dassault acquires SolidWorks.
Visio releases IntelliCAD, an inexpensive AutoCAD replacement
1998 - Instrument Design Works by Najmah Engineering Software
Bentley ProjectBank demonstrated
IronCAD
GSSL (CAMWorks, Pro-E to SolidWorks converter, FeatureWorks, The ACIS Healing Husk, numerous translators, etc.)
Rhino
DP Esprit 98
Unigraphics Solutions acquires Solid Edge division from Intergraph
1999 -- Autocad 2000
Calcomp fails
IronCAD announces dual support for ACIS and ParaSolid
Dassault acquires SmartSolutions
Tony Tanzillo
news:u8svuvt...@corp.supernews.com...
> I believe CATIA predates all mentioned that I am familiar with...
I think we're talking about PC CAD.
Scott Smith
two little letters.... ;o)
"Tony Tanzillo" <tony.t...@caddzone.dot.com> wrote in message
news:nvvj8.5050$dn2....@nwrddc02.gnilink.net...
pierl...@gmail.com
> I'm really sick and tired of hearing Carol Bartz
> reiterate the claim that Autodesk invented PC CAD.
>
> This claim is totally untrue.
>
> Who remembers what companies produced and
> marketed PC CAD software before Autodesk?
pierl...@gmail.com
> I'm really sick and tired of hearing Carol Bartz
> reiterate the claim that Autodesk invented PC CAD.
>
> This claim is totally untrue.
>
> Who remembers what companies produced and
> marketed PC CAD software before Autodesk?
bestjo...@gmail.com
> I'm really sick and tired of hearing Carol Bartz
> reiterate the claim that Autodesk invented PC CAD.
>
> This claim is totally untrue.
>
> Who remembers what companies produced and
> marketed PC CAD software before Autodesk?
Arplan and Drawbase - then came Caddie first version all were used for building trade( architects etc. )They were both from a company called Skok if i am correct. Based in JHB or cape Town South Africa at the time.
Robyn Badenhorst