CAD software

[John Delacour]

At 00:31 -0500 15/1/08, <pianoguru at cox.net> wrote:

>---- "StŽphane Collin" <collin.s at skynet.be> wrote:
>
>>  Frank, did you try this one ?  What do you think about ?  How does 
>>it compare with SolidWorks ?
>
>Sorry, I am not familiar with Alibre.  If you didn't pay more than 
>$4,000 USD, it's not "professional level" CAD software.Ê
>
>Responding to an earlier post that CAD is a waste of money, you 
>display only your own ignorance of it.  It is no longer "Computer 
>Assisted Design."  It is 3-D modeling, and it is the key to future 
>development of the art of piano building. IMHO.

That doesn't sound much like a humble opinion to me, Frank; it sounds 
like the ravings of someone who has bought an expensive ans 
completely redundant new toy, or had it bought for him, and wants 
everyone to agree that without such a toy it has been impossible for 
the past 150 years for anyone to design, build, market and sell good 
pianos.

Well let me express the humble opinion that the finest pianos I have 
seen were designed by one man without the aid even of a pocket 
calculator in probably one tenth of the time it takes an office full 
of quarter-trained draughtsman sitting in front of a lousy computer 
screen trying to get a jumpy mouse to behave as well as a pencil, to 
produce a mediocre regurgitation of the same old crap year after year 
without a scrap of true originality or advance. "the key to future 
development of the art of piano building", my foot!

JD