A collection of notes, ideas, and pictures
I recently traveled to Strasbourg (France) for the first classes of my Social Media Marketing course at the University of Strasbourg. On that occasion, my students at the CAWEB and TCloc Masters interviewed me to create a post for the Master Classes social media pages. In the short video, I talk about the importance of social media marketing and my... Continue Reading →
Articolo apparso nel marzo 2023 sulla rivista online BitMap Franco Folini, Digital Marketing Instructor, Consultant e Public Speaker, ci spiega cos’è e come funziona l’IA, quali vantaggi porta, quali nuove sfide e qual è l’atteggiamento più corretto da tenere verso una delle tecnologie più dirompenti in questo momento storico. Se ne parla già da anni... Continue Reading →
You can listen to the podcast and watch the video recording of our conversation. I recently had the pleasure and the honor to be featured by my friend Kenneth Kinney in Episode 263 of his popular marketing podcast "A Shark's Perspective". It was a great conversation with Kenneth about the subscription-model for the foodbiz and... Continue Reading →
Rhino is a very flexible application and is gradually penetrating different professional areas, from industrial design to architecture, and jewelry design. Each specific domain can significantly benefit from Rhino's features but requires specific commands and libraries that are usually not provided by Robert McNeel and Associates. What McNeel delivers is a powerful software platform on top of... Continue Reading →
There is a CAD company that has been around for many years that makes a fully integrated CAD/CAM system offering a powerful combination of solid modeling and surface modeling few others can match, with a devoted following of loyal customers. Yet only a few users of CAD will mention this company's product in the list... Continue Reading →
Data translation is a critical technology and can be the source of many frustrations. As with many other essential technologies, the better it works, the less visible it becomes. When we move a file from an external CAD system to our favorite design system, we are asking a sophisticated algorithm to extract geometric data from... Continue Reading →
The AutoCAD users' community stands on a few pillars, one of which is the "AutoCAD Bible," published by Wiley and refreshed every year following the new version of the AutoDesk product. The author of this famous and popular book is Ellen Finkelstein, an AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT expert who also publishes a weekly viral newsletter. Ellen is a prolific... Continue Reading →
The recent decision by Alibre to drop the price of their entry-level product Alibre Design Standard (from $999 to only $99) generated a wave of reaction throughout the CAD world (see the blog posts by Deelip Menezes, Roopinder Tara, Matt Lombard, and Ralph Grabowski). The decision caught everyone by surprise. Even at a time when the recession is pushing most CAD manufacturers to substantially lower the price... Continue Reading →
Who is the face customers identify with a typical CAD company? Maybe the CEO whose smile appears on the cover of business magazines, or the tech support guy who handles the most challenging cases, or perhaps the well-dressed salesperson who convinces big customers to buy dozens of licenses? All of them or none of them,... Continue Reading →
Not all CAD companies play in the same arena. While most CAD companies stay busy talking to the press, explaining strategies to financial analysts, and placing expensive ads in magazines nobody reads anymore, some CAD companies invest their time and money in talking to customers. These companies are less likely to be on a stage... Continue Reading →
A few major trends are shaping the balance between classroom training and online/DVD self-training. The first trend is the gradual decrease of CAD system prices. It used to be normal to pay a few thousand dollars for a training class. It is now perceived as unfair to have to pay as much or even more... Continue Reading →
Articole published on June 9, 2009 on the NOVEDGE blog. One of my recurring complaints about surface modeling is the intrinsic complexity of existing modeling systems. Even if the level of user-friendliness of these systems has improved, sooner or later, every user needs to invest some time to understand how the underlying geometry works and... Continue Reading →
In the past, if someone asked me to come up with improbable or strange combinations of technologies I would have suggested things such as 3D animations and Twitter or CAD and podcasts. I have since learned that if something looks improbable or strange to me it doesn't mean it's impossible or even wrong. Tackling those... Continue Reading →
Lynn Allen is one the most popular bloggers in the CAD world (Lynn blog, Lynn on Pulse). She is also a sort of ambassador for AutoCAD, promoting this CAD system in every context. In a world of stodgy CAD executives and unexciting CAD geeks, she brings a sparkling touch, feminine charm, and a solid technical knowledge. Lynn... Continue Reading →
Let's be honest: the CAD world is boring. I read CAD blogs and news every single day (using Novedge Pulse), and I rarely find something really exciting. In this market, technological improvements are very gradual and real breakthroughs happen only once in a decade. Also, the adoption of new technologies in the design and manufacturing process is... Continue Reading →
Novedge recently added a section at the bottom of each page of its website providing a space where visitors and customers can leave comments sharing their opinions and experiences. The tools that allowed us to implement this service are provided by Disqus, a new startup located in San Francisco, just a few blocks from Novedge headquarters. Disqus has... Continue Reading →
When buying a CAD product most of us consider many factors, such as the list of features, the price, the platform, the level of integration between programs our clients and customers are already using, and so on. While we may not realize it, many times we are also looking for something that feels or looks... Continue Reading →
It is difficult for me to write an introduction for Al Dean. On one hand I have read several articles and blog posts by Al, but on the other hand I've never had the opportunity to meet him personally (this interview was done by e-mail). What I like the most about Al and what keeps... Continue Reading →
Direct-modeling is the new trend in CAD. No doubt about it! Some call it Synchronous Technology, some Interactive Solid Modeling, and some direct-editing. All of these approaches differ, but all are trying to overcome the limitations of existing parametric systems. If we were to identify one original source that started this trend, we would certainly have to recognize that SpaceClaim was... Continue Reading →
Siemens NX, with various names and affiliations, has been around for several years. Nobody would really expect a well establish CAD system to become the lead innovator of a new technology. Usually those kinds of CAD systems invest in maintaining their user base rather than trying to acquire new users and push technological limits. For these... Continue Reading →
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