Anthony Frausto-Robledo (afrausto@architosh.com)

22 Feb 2002

 

Special Editorial: Three Years In: Retrospective View

This month, February, marks the third birthday of the Architosh Web site. Three big years. It seems that in many ways it's been much longer than that. The battle to obtain promise, hope, and respect for the Macintosh platform in the technical CAD and 3D visualization markets has been hard fought. And the burden of that struggle -- for the most part -- has been solidly placed on the shoulders of the many Macintosh pros who believe in the platform in these markets. It's this absolute faith and determination that inspires me to continue with the efforts required to run this site. And this shared conviction -- that those among us believe that the Mac has undeniable strengths and promise as the premier platform for 3D and CAD -- is something I am personally proud to be associated with.

With that I wish to say, "thank you" for these three years of pushing and pushing the Mac platform forward. Readers, users -- the real 'movers and shakers' of the 3D world -- and those steady Mac developers who continue to support us as long as we reciprocate and support them...I am grateful to have so much energy associated around the Architosh site and to see its role in this mission as valuable. And as long as you continue, I continue.

Forward We Go

It is an undeniable fact that in the last few years the Macintosh platform has grown in achievement in the technical visualization markets. Today we not only have available the staple programs for Mac CAD and 3D from years ago, but a whole bunch of new and exciting programs added to the arsenal of tools to choose from. Some of these programs are quite new and have a distinctive Macintosh novelty to them. BOA from BOA Research comes to mind. And so does Maya for Mac OS X. Some decades old Macintosh-first programs continue to assert themselves in their respective markets as industry leaders, such as ArchiCAD and VectorWorks...in turn influencing users to adopt the Mac.

One of the 'death signs' for any platform is the drying up of applications. Several years ago this drying up was taking place in the Mac CAD/3D world. Today that is anything but the case. The Mac is clearly back!

Today we announce a milestone for our Autocad for Mac OS X Petition. It is plainly obvious from our collected data that the market demand for that application on our favorite platform is worth well over $50 million. And this may be incredibly conservative. Even more telling is what that data tells us about the respect for the Macintosh legacy and Apple's innovative talents. And bear in mind, that a tremendous amount of petitioners are currently PC users (perhaps in addition to Mac) or have used the Mac platform in the past. The respect for Mac OS X as a UNIX operating system is a major factor in the garnering of interest in Autocad on Mac OS X.

And we have other petitions and exciting apps coming our way real soon as well. The opportunity is really there for the Mac to assert itself in the visualization markets.

Future Directions

So in looking back, realizing the achievements, and thinking about what is currently happening, where is the Mac CAD/3D market really heading? More of the same, for certain. But perhaps a lot more and much sooner than we think.

Several weeks ago at Apple's Cupertino campus, Apple held an important event. It was called a "Studio Summit". It was for the most part a secret, or so our insiders tell us so. But what was this secret Studio Summit for?

According to our sources, Apple's Studio Summit was a gathering of industry leaders from the Hollywood and special effects studios. Everyone who is anyone was invited and reportedly they all came. Disney, Pixar, Industrial Light and Magic (ILM), Blue Sky Studios, Dreamworks...and the list goes on. This summit was for a purpose. And that purpose was for studios to share with Apple what they need in order to completely embrace Mac OS X as their primary OS across their mission critical pipelines. Apparently Apple wants their business in the future and is willing to work with them to understand what to do to get it.

In fact, one insider tells us that "Steve Jobs wants to own the Hollywood market". Or perhaps that's not the best way of putting it. Let's just say that their could be a marriage in the making and Apple apparently has what it takes to make that happen.

In Retrospect

It was revealed to us what Apple may have in mind (the subject of a future report for sure). However, what means the most right now is just to hear that Apple has the desire to really be there in those markets. Just the summit alone tells us something that many already know about Apple: that when Steve Jobs wants something he really goes after it...and usually delivers.

In retrospect, that alone is worth the cost of continuing to play in the Mac 3D/CAD market. For Architosh, our future is naturally tied to the support of you, our readers and members. And to the important developers and vendors who have chosen to support the site through Corporate Sponsorships. However, our sponsors cannot support this site's future alone, and so I ask of you, as readers and members of the site, to support us more fully by taking advantage of some of our important e-commerce partnerships -- like our landmark MacMall partnership, which will enable Mac 3D/CAD pros to fit out and obtain the best Mac workstations for the best price. By doing so you will help cement Architosh's future in a 'dot-com bust' environment that continues to plague every site, including this one.

I naturally want Architosh to succeed just as much as I want the Mac to succeed. And it will give me great pride to know that the efforts gone into this site were naturally tied to both achievements.

Best Regards,

Anthony Frausto-Robledo, B.Arch.

Founder & Editor

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