Just stumbled onto these. They are really good. I started with Medusa in the 80s, PDMS in the late 80s. It was still similar, all keyboard input, then the 90s with the GUI and enhanced shaded graphics, things really took off. I wish I had screenshots from the past to create a visual timeline. Thanks for sharing these.
totally agree. don't know if I can say the same about the sale team. Inferior quality application seems to be getting a bigger market share these days.
Nice pics, we are lucky when compare to people who worked in 1970s
But we were coming off drawing-boards and use of pencils you needed a block of sandpaper to sharpen with. Being able to see multiple views even if they were green lines on a Tektronix was great. It also meant that as piping, equipment, steelwork etc were all in one database changes showed up on the screen and there was less need for the large pile of generally out-of-date prints from other disciplines or contractors on your desk. Although in my last year of drawing-broad design work the prints were replaced with boxes of punch cards and green-lined listings from Compaid.
Forgot to say that the computer was a lot more accurate at calculations, particularly trigonometry. I had a set of 5-figure log tables but most people used 4-figures. Slide rules were nowhere precise enough, but handy for a "sanity check". Calculators were available but too expensive for most draughtsmen. The Chief Draughtsman had a couple of 4-function electro-mechanical calculators that could be used, but they were no help in most situations. And yes, even in the 1970s we had computer games replacing the traditional drawing-office favourites -- chess (with the board in the bottom of a drawer) and three-card brag (similar to poker but cards scored differently).
I started with Medusa in the 80s, PDMS in the late 80s. It was still similar, all keyboard input, then the 90s with the GUI and enhanced shaded graphics, things really took off.
So that GUI front to Medusa that I worked hard to create in 1984 was an illusion? Or did you mean PDMS? :confused: