Architosh Staff (info@architosh.com)

31 Aug 00 [editor's note: updated 9 sep 00]

Apple and Architecture: Downstream Upstream, pg 2

Downstream / Upstream: Apple's Commitment

In past years Apple was highly committed to the AEC market, with particular interest and success in selling to architects and related designers (interior designers, urban designers and landscape architects, to name a few). Apple used to have a Science & Technology web section where info on architecture and engineering could be found. That section was eliminated back in 97-98', with it disappearing off the Apple search engine's radar in 99'(ish).

Most recently, this year, Apple's 3D section also went bye-bye, but for reasons that don't entirely make sense since Apple has made many other moves that show just how interested they are in 3D on the Mac. The 3D Design & Graphics area is still present and reachable at Apple, just not easy to find.

Apple also featured architectural seminars in its business centers around the country. Those seminars were very popular until about 98-99'. Barry Isakson, AIA, and Jonathan Cohen, AIA led some of those seminars. Topics included Apple technologies and third-party products for the AEC field, as well as leveraging the Internet with Apple technologies.

Sadly, Apple had to focus down to survive their death spiral and that meant core markets only. Architecture, much less the whole AEC industry, was never a core market for Apple. For the record the core markets are clearly reflected in Apple.com's header tabs: Education and Creative...and to a lessor degree, SmallBiz.

In terms of Apple's site content—which reflects its present and 'known' energies very clearly—and its business center seminars and education, confidence in Architecture as a market had clearly waned in the years 97-00'.

Downstream / Upstream: Possible Futures

Although Architecture with a capitol 'A' has never been a core market for Apple it probably always should have been. The reasons are simple. Downstream / Upstream. "What?", you say.

Simply put the architecture market has more potential downstream and upstream users than probably any other market in the world. And for the record, the market we are talking about is the worldwide construction industry. According to information compiled for an Architosh article in November of 1999, the entire worldwide construction industry is worth $3.2 trillion dollars. And today this industry is going through a radical adjustment to the new Internet economy; and it stands to reason that since the construction (AEC) industry has always been about the intense exchange of massive amounts of information, it was a preeminent natural candidate for an Internet transformation.

Ironically, Apple stepped out of the market just when it should have stepped in. Even more ironic is that Apple had the key technology to be a major player in this AEC Internet transformation. The transformation isn't about CAD technology per se, its about Internet technology, and Apple's WebObjects has been at the forefront of the crop of technologies currently transforming the entire construction industry. WebObjects happens to be driving the data engine at one of the industry's leading AEC Extranet sites, called BidCom.

In the construction industry architects are most often the center of the entire team and are specifically trained to organize the various disciplines of consultant engineers and construction professionals. Today this includes orchestrating the digital data into construction CAD documents and specifications.

Today that data is all digital for the most part and requires thousands of hours of CAD drawing time represented sometimes in 20, 50 or 200 MB files. An intense amount of computer horse power is required in the AEC field and will only increase as it moves to an all 'virtual-building' CAD model where built information exist in virtual 3D space inperpetuum (or at least until the end of the life-cyle of the building).

Downstream

The architect has many downstream computer users. If the architect is at the head of the design/engineering process team her downstream users include the general contractor, structural engineer, civil engineer, mechanical HVAC engineer, and various other consultants.

Further downstream from the contractor are subcontractors and suppliers like steel, kitchen equipment and truss framing manufactures, and many others who are likely required to produce shop drawings on CAD for the architect's review and the construction.

Upstream

The architect today now has many more upstream users. These are the developers and clients who she serves. Universities, hospitals, governments and even private business or residential owners now demand CAD files for their facilities maintenance or records as part of the standard architectural services.

In the near future all architecture will be conducted over the Web utilizing extranets as data vehicles for the entire production of architecture. It has already begun to happen with extranets like BidCom and Buzzsaw.

Closing Thoughts

Steve Jobs said something very interesting when he introduced iTools at Macworld. He said Apple could take unfair advantage of the fact that they controlled both the operating system and the hardware it ran on. Not even Microsoft can say that.

However, Apple is also the only computer company in the world who control's both the operating system, the hardware it runs on AND one of the leading Web application tools in the world: WebObjects. A tool entirely and ideally suited to this task, as proved by BidCom's use of it.

All along (the whole last 2 1/2 years) Apple could have taken unfair advantage of this fact to provide Macintosh architects with a unique advantage to easily take control of the transformation of the AEC industry information to the Web. And in doing so help drive adoption of Macintosh both downstream and up to the architect's constituent members. Who would have thunk it?

The good news is that Apple is not entirely without a clue. Since Jobs has been back they clue-in real well. Apple really seems committed to listening, as Jobs mentioned at Seybold at the end of his keynote. For Apple to grow faster than the industry average, to gain market share, they must grow in new areas. Architecture is still a promising market for Apple. In the US alone there are well over 50,000 registered architects (not counting architect interns and CAD technicians. In architecture schools the number of students is approximately around 25,000+. Those are a lot of points in the stream, where architects can influence computer direction down and upstream.

With reinvigorated Mac CAD/3D use, new interest and support in Science, and a new powerful OS X with key graphics advantages, Apple could once again provide killer advantages in the AEC market...especially for architects.

To related: Apple and Science: New Barometers