Re: GNU cad/cam

On Date: Sat, 23 Feb 2002 10:15:35 -0600 (CST
"Terry L. Ridder" <terrylr@...>wrote

>i thought more about this late last night and again this
>morning. i have come to the conclusion that the reason it
>is so difficult to find helpers particularly good helpers
>is that cad/cam is perceived as not being 'glitzy' enough.
>it has no 'sex appeal'. it is perceived as being an "old"
>technology. when i explain it to potential helpers i would
>be willing to bet that they have visions of a dimly lighted
>dirty oily factory with people standing around battleship
>gray machines ...
>
>how do you present cad/cam has having glitz and sex appeal?
>that making thousands of non-descript widgets is actually fun
>and not boring.

Its a tough situation. But, it might help to emphasize the difference
between pretty pictures and physical reality. Making pretty pictures may be
fun and pay well at times, but we live in a physical world. Pictures only
have a limited effect on people's lives. If an artist really wants to change
the world, or feel like a bit of a god, how about doing something that
creates or machines a real, physical, 3D object. Not virtual reality, but
real reality. Get physical! Eye candy only gets you so far...

The goal is about putting the miracle of the industrial revolution back into
the hands of the artisans. Back into families, small shops, or home
operated businesses. CAM has the power to allow PEOPLE to compete with big
business. To create individulistic, artistic objects, that come almost
directly from peoples minds. Power to do it yourself! NOT to make
non-descript widgets for a non-descript corporation in a non-descript
community.

We are asking these programmers to program and make sacrafices with the goal
to make other peoples lives more creative, to eliminate mindless drudgery.
To give people the power to control machines. Rather than having the needs
of machines control peoples working lives, as was formerly the case. To
allow people to make make models that didn't come out of a box from a
corporation somewhere. To allow people to make toys or jewelry for loved
ones, or to make at home small objects for a niche market. To allow
individuals to invent and machine a prototype widget that can make the world
better.

Or maybe I'm just being idealistic. :-{)}

Gary M. Wheeler, AIA, architect
Modesto, California
Home page: http://g.wheeler.home.att.net