Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
After much discussion amongst Autodesk employees, Walker named this
new design software application “MicroCAD.” Today a low-cost, desktop-based
design software tool sounds like a viable product. Back then, it was a gamble
on an uncertain future. The reason that MicroCAD was a radical design tool
was not because it was design software, but because it could run on a desktop-
scale computer. Its primary market appeal was its cost, both in terms of the
price of the software and the fact that its user didn't have to invest in tens of
thousands of dollars in computing power.
Walker envisioned MicroCAD as a design tool that would offer the same
performance as its more expensive competitors but for a fraction of the cost.
Walker wrote that MicroCAD “[i]nstalled on a desktop computer coniguration
in the $10K to $15K range, [was] competitive in performance and features to
Computervision CAD systems in the $70K range.”
In the 1980s three-dimensional modeling was the domain of profes-
sional designers and engineers who used computer-based modeling pro-
gram mainly to stress test machine parts. Microcomputers were raw, new
technology, much like today's home 3D printing kits. Microcomputers were
puny compared to mainframes or early UNIX servers and lacked the power
needed to run complex industrial design projects.
During those heady and innocent days of the personal computing era, the
market for desktop computing was just getting off the ground. Today's billion-
aire titans—who would later make their fortunes selling software for personal
computing—weren't yet millionaires in those days and were largely unknown
outside of high tech circles. Microsoft and Apple were nowhere near cracking
into the Fortune 500. Bill Gates was still lying coach class.
At that time, Walker's ledgling software design company was a loose fed-
eration of part-time employees. Each employee was expected to put in at least
14 hours a week in exchange for an annual paycheck of $1 a year plus stock
options.
Walker's memo continued “There are no known competitive products on
microcomputers today (although there are some very simpleminded screen
drawing programs for the Apple, and we must be careful to explain how we
differ).”
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MicroCAD could handle two dimensions and was intended for the
creation of architectural loor plans or perhaps to automate the process of
drawing blueprints.
