reBang

Next Generation Product Development Tools, Part 17

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 10:19:10 -0400

Next Generation Product Development Tools, Part 17: In my previous post I made the assertion that besides monetary reward, everyday people would increasingly endeavor to acquire 3D modeling skills as a consequence of two non-monetary incentives:…

Next Generation Product Development Tools, Part 16

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 05:52:56 -0400

Next Generation Product Development Tools, Part 16: In Parts 7 and 8, I applied a “Web 2.0″ filter to software in general, and then CAD in particular. With that filter in place, I’ve been primarily focusing on tools. At this point it’s time to pan the…

Next Generation Product Development Tools, Part 15

Sun, 18 May 2008 20:10:05 -0400

Next Generation Product Development Tools, Part 15: In Part 10, I claimed “the future of CAD is cooperative”. This might seem obvious, but one look at current ongoing difficulties reveals the magnitude of the non-cooperative problem. It’s an…

Next Generation Product Development Tools, Part 14

Tue, 06 May 2008 19:36:35 -0400

Next Generation Product Development Tools, Part 14: This is probably a good time for a brief, updated review.
In Part 7, previous installments were reviewed and the impact of Web 2.0 thinking on digital tools was discussed; particularly usability and…

Next Generation Product Development Tools, Part 13

Mon, 05 May 2008 23:40:15 -0400

Next Generation Product Development Tools, Part 13: In my last entry I said I’d post some examples of recent developments in the CAD arena. So without further delay, here’s some items which caught my attention.
Dassault CATIA V6 What’s notable about…

Next Generation Product Development Tools, Part 12

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 11:48:45 -0400

Next Generation Product Development Tools, Part 12: I previously offered (reLink) that there were three issues of particular relevance to the future evolution of “next generation” 3D CAD applications:
Limited data portability
Proprietary, closed…

Next Generation Product Development Tools, Part 11

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 21:03:00 -0400

Next Generation Product Development Tools, Part 11: First let me confess to not having paid sufficient attention to the “direct modeling” wave that’s flooding the CAD market. While the technique isn’t new, it’s made substantial gains in recent years……

Next Generation Product Development Tools, Part 10

Sun, 09 Mar 2008 17:07:24 -0400

Next Generation Product Development Tools, Part 10: In my previous post I touched on the data portability issues which plague CAD applications, particularly those which employ parametric, feature-based history trees (a dynamic, rearrangeable record of…

Next Generation Product Development Tools, Part 9

Thu, 06 Mar 2008 05:30:52 -0500

Next Generation Product Development Tools, Part 9: One reason for the current level of relative application complexity is the segmented, proprietary CAD market and the gated communities which form around a particular application. As we saw with…

Next Generation Product Development Tools, Part 8

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 19:08:42 -0500

Next Generation Product Development Tools, Part 8: In my previous entry the migration of digital tools in general was discussed; in particular, advancements in both usability and collaborative capabilities. In this and a couple of brief follow-up entries, I want to focus on CAD applications.
The Inevitable Fall of the CAD Priesthood
With any difficult to master skill there usually arises a group of […]

Next Generation Product Development Tools, Part 7

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 01:00:37 -0500

Next Generation Product Development Tools, Part 7: To cover the gap between this installment and my last entry:
In parts 1 and 2, I covered the current low-end and hints of the future high-end potential for augmented reality.
In parts 3 and 4, I touched upon both current mass production methods and emerging rapid manufacturing technology.
In parts 5 and 6, I linked tangible to […]

Next Generation Product Development Tools, Part 6

Sun, 27 Jan 2008 23:01:22 -0500

Next Generation Product Development Tools, Part 6: In the previous installment I focused on tools that help designers create virtual models. In this entry I want to focus on other ways to generate virtual models (in all their glory).
The word “sampling” is probably most often associated with music, but it’s not at all limited to that application. Physical models are sometimes sculpted […]

Next Generation Product Development Tools, Part 5

Sat, 26 Jan 2008 04:01:49 -0500

Next Generation Product Development Tools, Part 5: As the previous two entries were very much about the meatspace side of the equation and there was basically no discussion regarding the digital in “direct digital manufacturing”, I want to address that now. In addition, I want to expand from the relatively limited idea of “manufacturing” (which has certain connotations) to the broader idea […]

Next Generation Product Development Tools, Part 4

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 04:13:33 -0500

Next Generation Product Development Tools, Part 4: Originally, in my prior post, I’d included the disclaimer that while using molds might be an old solution, the ability to do it well is both an art and a science. It’s no easy thing to properly balance all the different factors that go into molding quality plastic parts. But the same can be said […]

Next Generation Product Development Tools, Part 3

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 04:01:14 -0500

Next Generation Product Development Tools, Part 3: At this stage I just wanted to post a reminder of just how amazingly basic much of today’s manufacturing technology really is. To that end I surfed around for some visual media to help illustrate my point. The above video does a decent job providing an overview of the injection mold-based manufacturing process currently used in […]

Next Generation Product Development Tools, Part 1

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 21:00:43 -0500

Next Generation Product Development Tools, Part 1: In a previous entry I called out the lack of predictions (and thus, by default, discussion) for the future of the Industrial Design profession. For what it’s worth, that entry was the most recent of a few that have been sitting idle in the cue. And this one… or rather what remains of it… was […]

Admin Note: reThinking the Blog

Thu, 17 Jan 2008 03:39:54 -0500

Admin Note: reThinking the Blog: For those of you with a feed the slowdown and general lack of entries here has probably not gone unnoticed. There’s a relatively simple answer for the reason I’ve not been posting more regularly: I don’t feel compelled to do so. Now here are the reasons for that:
1) I’ve started “micro-blogging” quick snippets over on […]