CompuServe Messages

Joe, We can't talk for all CAD companies here on the Autodesk forums. We can only tell you what Autodesk is trying to do to resolve some of the problems you perceive. Autodesk has always gone out of it's way to attempt to get the necessary tools into the hands of educators to facilitate the education of potential users. But since mass education is always more cost effective than individual education (tutors), the educational slant has been to get this stuff into the hands of the educators. It's their job to get it down to the individual student. Though the student discounts are available, there is not a lot of emphasis placed on it. The software is only part of the equation. CAD programs also require more than $3.95 in hardware, and the more sophisticated they get, the more esoteric the requirements are for the hardware. I've looked at a lot of hardware ads lately, and none of the machines offered will come close to running AutoCAD without major modifications. Guess you can say that if someone can afford the hardware to run the program, they should be able to afford the software too. I've missed the beginnings of this thread, but I'm assuming that you are looking for reduced pricing on CAD software. I don't know if you are willing to accept restrictions on the use of this software to be used in your training program, but Autodesk does offer what is know as the "SHOW" package. This is a full-blown version of AutoCAD with one minor restriction. It won't save a drawing. For the longest time, this package was the plotter station of choice with lots of firms, because for the price of $200 or so, they could put the software on a plotter station and produce the hardcopy output that is still necessary in this world. Most other software companies also offer demos of their products. And many of these are of this variety. However, these "SHOW" versions do have the same hardware requirements that the real programs have. One statement you made has me concerned. This statement was the before CAD, any draftsman could qualify for a specific position. I've found that this is true for only a very small segment of the drafting community. There are very few draftsmen that can draw anything well. Most draftsmen that I've met over the years are specialized in at least one field. They are machine, civil, mechanical, electric, electronic, architectural, nuclear, PC board or other some such draftsman and have devoted some years into learning their specialty. And it doesn't matter whether these people are on a drawing board or on a machine. If they don't have the experience in their particular field, it don't matter how well they can draw or what they can draw with. They can't qualify for the job unless it's an entry level job. Most employers are also smart enough to know that if you can make the required drawings for his particular purpose and to his needs, the tools you use are of secondary importance. If you can draw the world's best cam so that it can be machined, you can always learn how to do this on a CAD system with a little effort on your part, and a little patience on the part of your employer. Most people get all hung up on CAD as though it is the savior of the world. It ain't. It's merely a tool, just like a pencil or a scale. It just happens to be a little faster than the traditional pencil. BTW. I was also tickled by your example. If you have the necessary hardware to be able to run a CAD program now on a DOS machine, getting Minicad won't help a bit. It only runs on a MAC………..<grin>. If you are really, truely interested in learning "all" CAD programs, you can make a start on it here on CIS. As well as this forum, Autodesk has a forums specifically for Autodesk AutoCAD, GO ACAD. There is also the Autodesk Retail Products forum, GO ARETAIL for the now stagnated Generic CADD, the newly upgraded AutoSketch, the newly released ACAD LT and a coupla other programs. There is the Bentley Systems forum for Microstation, GO MICROSTATION for that program, and finally there is a forum for several other CAD programs (MiniCAD among them) on the CAD vendors forum, GO CADDVEN. Check 'em out.