software standardization
In recent years, I’ve observed BIM (building information modeling) take over the architectural industry by storm. It makes sense, the data extraction features are impressive and the laborious task of drafting has been reduced to one-time parametric modeling.
One of the pioneers of BIM has been Autodesk. I admire Revit (by Autodesk) as a software, but it troubles me to see the monopoly it presently exercises in the market. At the peak of 2D CAD, the native format (.dwg) was more important than the software itself. I saw multiple companies with their versions competing for the top spot. Autodesk was still probably the best. The more important aspect of that environment was competition.
Flexible pricing, faster innovation, and ownership options are just some of the benefits of a competitive market. Last year I bought a laptop with a ryzen microprocessor chip from AMD compared to an intel chip. 2 years back I wouldn’t have done that. The reasons are the same as above.
Revit is an expensive overhead for personal training and younger firms. I wish that the industry accepted a universal file format and allowed more participants in developing competitive software for the purpose of BIM.
What’s your opinion?
