Our Readers Write the Nicest Letters
Opinions by Ralph Grabowski and readers
From the Editor
Substack, on which this blog runs, lets you support me, but only through subscriptions that renew automatically, and start at US$35. If you want to make a smaller or a one-time donation to WorldCAD Access, then I’ve set up an account with https://buymeacoffee.com/grabowskif.
Speaking of support, thank you to Owen Wengerd for becoming a founding paid subscriber!
Recycling Computer stuff
When your readers have unique hardware, software, manuals, or artifacts, they should try to donate them to a computer museum, rather that send them to the landfill.
A few years ago, we donated some programming manuals to the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California. See https://computerhistory.org. There is a screening process, as they have to determine whether your items are missing from their collection.
What did we get out of it? A free one-day admission ticket, and a good feeling that we helped preserve something that would have been lost forever.
- Don Beaton
The editor replies: That’s a good idea, given that charities like Salvation Army don’t accept computers. (I can understand why; staff probably have no time to check them out.)
Re: Response to Yampolsky From an Architect (link to article)
Sharp observation on how over systematization in design creates friction. The apprenticeship model sidesteps a lot of the bureaucratic bloat that creeps into these abstract symbolic frameworks.
I worked with engineers who could solve complex CAD problems but struggled with basic constructability issues. That tension between needing standardized specs for regulatory compliance and preserving room for tacit knowledge transfer feels especially acute in habitable structures.
- Neural Foundry
The editor replies: The fundamental problem when drafting switched to computers is that students were primarily taught how to wrangle commands. Sure, CAD could automate some methods, like hatching and dimensioning, but now how to manufacture a house.
Wow! I did not expect that level of analysis, and the myriad angles trailing off into politics, philosophy, history and more. Refreshing! I was going to add a reflection to his introspection, but I’ll simply give this an applause. Well done!
- David Stein
For industrial design in the Netherlands, I see the trend is that teachers simply ask for results from students. A 3D model of a concept, construction documents, etc. This is instead of dictating which program to use.
It’s BYO [bring your own] anyway, as students have their own laptops and install whatever software they feel comfortable with. They just need to make sure they produce the result being asked for.
So the focus for teachers is back to technical requirements, more than teaching students a specific software tool. This is good news.
(Although for us software resellers, we no longer have a chance at bringing certain software titles into classrooms by having teachers endorse our titles.)
- Orlando Sardaro
The editor replies: With many CAD packages being pretty much the same as each other, teaching technique ought to again be the emphasis over how to use the UI.
Re: Drafting Tips From a 1970s Drafter (link to article)
The times when I was doing a tool design on my D-size sheet, had it all laid out with views, and then suddenly there was a need to put a tapped hole or something on the other side. I needed a projection view, but ran out of room. Boom! Bring out a new vellum, position it over the other vellum, but add a “Shift” in position to add the now-required view, then trace over it. Good times!
- Randy Mees
The editor replies: I learned drafting in high school, and then did it professionally as an engineer for three years. I never found hand drafting a problem, compared with the issues using computer software to make drawings. The only time I wished for CAD was in laying out parking stalls.
Re: Tiny Power Supplies (link to article)
GaN chargers feel like magic. My laptop, phone and tablet all powered from something smaller than a deck of cards! USB-C negotiation is the real wizardry, though.
- Lukas David via Twitter
You wrote, “Voltage is delivered by the charger, current is drawn by the phone. Voltage is like the number of lanes on a highway; more lanes = more volts. Current (amperes) is like the speed at which the cars are driving; faster speed = more current.” Finally, it makes sense. This from a mechanical engineer. What would you say about resistance? Cops or speed limits?
- Roopinder Tara
The editor replies: I was a civil engineer. Electricity class in high school proved to be one of the most useful for life, after typing and drafting. Resistors limit current, so it’s like changing the speed limit sign on the freeway from 100 to 60.
The number of lanes is more analogous to conductivity (1/resistance) in an electronic circuit. A better analogy for voltage could be the downhill slope of the road.
-Owen Wengerd
The editor replies: The analogy our Electricity teacher in high school told us was voltage is the diameter of a water hose, and amperage the water pressure. Never made any sense to me.