Make the Call - Is the Old CAD Press Dead?

It's been painful couple of weeks monitoring the online space in the wake of the SolidWorks 2010 launch. It was bad enough that SolidWorks let the beta testers (almost all of them bloggers, it seems) scoop the CAD press but then it turned vicious as everyone wanted to pile on.

Examples:

• One popular blogger essentially called the CAD press a bunch of old, tired complainers used to being pampered by vendors but who do nothing but ask stupid questions and are loath to use the very software they are supposed to be covering.
• A SolidWorks blogger wholeheartedly extols the virtues of bloggers as the new media in contrast to traditional CAD
• Even a CAD journalist turned on his own, stating that the CAD press ought to stop whining. Become a beta tester or shut up.

There were a few weak peeps in response from the CAD press, most in the form of one line responses in the comment sections of the attacking blog posts or on Twitter. In the old days, such attacks would have been met with a barrage of withering prose.  A year ago a debate raged between bloggers and press in which one of the CAD press compared bloggers to less evolved beings. Bloggers were criticized as being barely able to dot their i's or spell, much less conform to "journalistic practices." I'm sure the bloggers were themselves puzzled at the lack of response. Like sadistic kids who are poking an old dog with sticks and wondering why it wasn't fighting back. Was everyone on vacation? Or worse?

Sadly, it appears the era of CAD press as we know it has expired. The SolidWorks press fiasco only puts a date stamp on it. There is no longer a functioning healthy body composed of members of CAD press. Many of the practicing CAD journalists have scattered, some wandering looking for work, abandoned by boarded up publishing houses. The last US CAD-dedicated magazine has stopped printing. I'm trying to think of who I know that makes a living writing only about CAD....

Meanwhile, the amount of information on the web is so great that the TenLinks organization can hardly keep up. Our list of bloggers is the biggest list we have -- and it's growing. Our editors find tons of articles every day -- as readers of our daily newsletter know -- and that's after we weed out stories of travel, what was for breakfast, etc. The number of articles from "traditional" sources is steadily shrinking.

So it's quite reasonable for a company like SolidWorks to court the "new media" and placing a higher value on them. They are SO much more productive (in terms of content generated). As bloggers themselves point out, they still have the passion for the product. They are eager -- not jaded. They are (mostly) not even cynical. They can definitely run circles around most any editor or journalist when using the software. Maybe they can't all form perfect sentences but I doubt if their audience even notices. We now have CAD experts talking directly to CAD users. The middlemen of publishing have been removed -- or at the very least, marginalized.

Will the CAD press be missed? The new media is good but are there things it's not good at? Is there no one out there who appreciates a well crafted, well written article? Who would pay to have it written? Would anyone pay to read it? Can the CAD press be revived? Should they be? If so, how can the members of the CAD press be useful to the community? Will the new media become the old media? Or is that already happening?

Comments

[Angelina]

"Personally I believe that content is king. Whether it is print, email, web or any other medium." I entirely agree on this!

[Wrong Island]

Hey Deelip, I totally agree with your point. The internet has no (or at least, a very limited) quality control and if bloggers are not as keen over the content of their blogs then they are guilty of propagating ignorance! Be responsible! Thanks for the post!

[Jonathan]

im wiv u windy, wear ever ye be!

Jonathan - ....hic :-)

[temet nosce]

content is king - thats what yer thinkin?

I wont dishonor taras blog so im not tellin what just went down my belly but I have heard this xpression a long since.

content. digital content. digital content creation. dcc. oughta be more contradictious in itself than central intelligence. I done dcc long before the germs know what 4d is. einstein did.

is it the content *only* we care about to make or is it real... CONTENT like in "making sense"? tell whats it?

dont you see how youve been bought by the marketeers already?

peeps i beg ye! on y kneees if have to

watch for the WORD. the word is what press is made out of. mr newton knows what im talking bout hes the bible man. "there be lots who tell you Im it. Dont follow them."

always judge them by their fruit. jeez somany buttons this laptop hase would we be seen by medievals wed be burnt as witches

dont get lost. see into whats dcc. yer gonna find out theres a lot of rubbish. The piano was up bout 40 yrs in xistence before a polish composer named Fryderyc Chopin would discover its soul. the stratocaster would exist coupler years befor jimi hendrix would discoveri ts soul and rendering will be on current time longly before anyone discover its soul so dont barf at me bout dcc. ok? coz I mite well be the one to discover its soul.

yours every µsecond
wind
(geez this 54 rum strong)

[temet nosce]

content is king - thats what yer thinkin?

I wont dishonor taras blog so im not tellin what just went down my belly but I have heard this xpression a long since.

content. digital content. digital content creation. dcc. oughta be more contradictious in itself than central intelligence. I done dcc long before the germs know what 4d is. einstein did.

is it the content *only* we care about to make or is it real... CONTENT like in "making sense"? tell whats it?

dont you see how youve been bought by the marketeers already?

peeps i beg ye! on y kneees if have to

watch for the WORD. the word is what press is made out of. mr newton knows what im talking bout hes the bible man. "there be lots who tell you Im it. Dont follow them."

always judge them by their fruit. jeez somany buttons this laptop hase would we be seen by medievals wed be burnt as witches

dont get lost. see into whats dcc. yer gonna find out theres a lot of rubbish. The piano was up bout 40 yrs in xistence before a polish composer named Fryderyc Chopin would discover its soul. the stratocaster would exist coupler years befor jimi hendrix would discoveri ts soul and rendering will be on current time longly before anyone discover its soul so dont barf at me bout dcc. ok? coz I mite well be the one to discover its soul.

yours every µsecond
wind
(geez this 54 rum strong)

[Temet]

Yeah, the cad press is dead and may ye rest in hell. hav been bord long enough by ye!

Im grateful that you asked the question roopinder tara coz i always saw something mite special in your serious indish-like face and Im happy i was rite. luv you my man :)

(kinda drunk here cues the typis. had to be done allergy against bullshit)

some press brags about being "in touch" with the brass, and being the first ones a.s.o. love yourselves I barf you! I think this is the death bell ringing for every real PRESS! peeps. dont you have got any ... something?

how bout bein factual?

you shouldnt arrange, you shouldnt meddle you shouldnt take advantage of sth, coz this the way go south for serious press. let them invite you let them pay for your expenses let them dope honey round yer beards but always keep yer distance otherwise yer be in their pockets thats what you are (spoiler: they want you too bloggers cant you tell)

btw bloggers the difference between you and "professional press" the press is (or oughta be) thrivin on facts less feelings but this is blurrin too

so. hope to have cut eryones head of for good so you can start to live again.

poa: ye now the coyotes? Theyre real individuals but if need be theyll pack together. think about it!

Best to y'all
Wind

[www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=585207289]

The CAD press is dead, but long live the CAD press.

Bloggers are morphing into the “traditional” press because as Deelip observed and many seconded is "content is king." Any boob can start a blog, but few are really good at it. This writer, dear reader, is as Exhibit A on the latter.

Kenneth Wong is spot on. The people out there doing the leg work, thinking rather than emoting, and informing and entertaining readers by writing well have and will bubble up to the top. The audience will sort the wheat from the chaff just as audiences do with movies, fast food joints, pop music, politicians, and whatever. That's human nature.

Technologically, the hard copy press is caught between the past and the future. Paper, mailing costs, and lead-times are the killers in our instant-on, tell me now world. I'll spare you a diatribe on the web. Instead, I suggest that technologies like, say, Kindle are the medium for today's hard-copy providers to reassert themselves tomorrow because it's kind of like hard copy – a delivery mode more harmonious with their life's experience than this web thing.

The Kindle's prohibitive unit cost is a problem and, frankly, current technology is at its ugly duckling stage. More importantly, however is that today's 3-year olds are not yet demographically a critical mass of 30-somethings naturally interacting with Kindle-like technology in the same way that flabby 50-something dinosaurs such as I happen to be with hard copy or a rotary phone.

These transitional states will pass. The traditional press that survives will re-engineer itself to leverage the flexibility of a Kindle-like mechanism. While evolution doeth its thing, an entire generation of bloggers are paying their dues and learning the craft of being a good content maker. Those bloggers surviving that natural selection process will be those who make king content. (Later they become dinosaurs, but that's another outburst.) The two will converge.

As for making money doing it today and in the future: Advertising abhors a vacuum. The Marketing market has begun its sort of the blogosphere. Witness the SolidWorks event mentioned earlier. I have a hunch that event was the Big Bang of the new CAD press universe.

[Brian Benton]

Is the CAD Press dead? In print? Yes, but it is unfortunate. The issue is that there are fewer CAD Professionals in the market than there used to be. There was a time when we were known as Drafters, then came CAD. People were called board or CAD Drafters. Soon there were only CAD Drafters, essentially. CAD became more powerful and more automated. It took less CAD operators to create construction drawings. This meant that Professionals could do more of the drawing themselves. Since there are fewer workers in an industry, there is a smaller need for print materials serving that market. Add to that the internet with instant information and blogging, and a recipe for instant content by users for users is created.
That content is created on the fly, at lunch time, on a break, or simply on a whim. There is no criteria to meet, no advertisers to cow-tow to, no editors or owners to keep happy. Bloggers simply write what they feel, when they feel it. This has created a breeding ground for large amounts of CAD content.
There is a need for Printed CAD Press. Books, training manuals, class handouts, and software manuals are still needed. Individual bloggers typically do not have the means to produce large data bases of information that users can glean from, where as magazines have the means to provide this type of service. That may change in the future if the day of the personal home server ever happens.
There is enough need for instruction in the software because it has become so widely used across the world and it has become so complex. Each release increases the complexity of CAD and its abilities. Instant blogs may be the only way for users to keep up with the ever growing technology.

[Nancy Johnson, Cadalyst]

There's no question that content is king, that every content provider needs a niche, or that there's room for everyone – or at least everyone who does content well. When one of us does something well, it challenges another to do it better. What's wrong with that?

There's also no question that traditional media has had to redefine itself to survive, and we'll continue to do so. But this is true in all facets of any market, whether you're talking about media or toothpaste, and it doesn't signal impending death. No doubt there will come a time when today's bloggers and tweeters will have to adapt to new technology as well.

Many SolidWorks bloggers do a great job of delivering expert, passionate content to other existing users. (This content can help SolidWorks sell copies of v2010 to users of v2009.) Cadalyst and other more traditional media usually take a broader approach. We provide information that serves 2D and 3D users -- or in the case of Develop3D, users of various 3D tools. (This content and the audience it attracts can help a company such as SolidWorks reach the 50% to 75% or more of the market that is still facing the decision to move to 3D and whether to choose Inventor, SolidWorks, TurboCAD, etc. -- or to convince an Inventor user to make the switch.) Is one approach inherently better than the other? No. Each is a niche with its own benefits and drawbacks for the reader and the vendor. Savvy readers and savvy marketers will determine who is successful because they will support those who deliver what they need.

So how about we all just pull on our big kid britches and stop writing eulogies and being offensive/defensive so we can get back to doing what we're here to do?

By the way, Kenneth Wong, you are always amazing in your insight and level-headedness, and Curt Moreno, you are nearly mesmerizing with your keen observations and – I would say – prose. The CAD community is richer for your contributions.

[Jeff Waters]

Yep, I love the fact that there are so many bloggers out there reporting their opinions passionately. I certainly allow plenty of leeway for poor writing skills if the passion and integrity is there.

There are issues of favoritism and payola (er, advertising) to take into account... but I'd argue that's the same for any form of traditional media.

I think one of the more important aspects of blogging that mainstream media needs to think about is 2 way communication. Every blog post (such as this one) invites open discussion. Participitory media is where it's at...

[Joe Aggie]

I don't want to read a lengthy article on what's new in SolidWorks 2010. I just want to watch a few videos on my IPOD showing me the exact sequence of commands and the results.
Hmmm, come to think of it. What exactly is new in the latest SolidWorks release anyways. What is it that I can do in the latest SolidWorks that I cannot do 2009 version.
When you have don't have anything new in your product, you hire new propagandists :)

[lgordon]

Hi Roopinder,

I posted a reply to this topic on Deelip's blog:

"Hi Deelip – your blog item did exactly what you intended: It generated a storm of controversy! Obviously, this is good for your following — not at all a bad thing — but perhaps a tiny bit disingenuous.

The point of much of the so-called B2B “traditional” technical media such as MACHINE DESIGN magazine is that, by and large, we are paid to take (usually) inscrutable, highly technical content and make it informative and interesting for our readers who, although highly educated, might not be as familiar with subjects such as, say, CFD, as everyday users.

True, I am not a CAD jockey, but with a MS in Information Architecture and Knowledge Management, I am quite capable of understanding technical concepts. And with a BA in English, I am quite capable of writing about them. Thus, I am part of the journalistic media that lots of the Web-media types seem to be continually bashing.

I have LOTS of passion about CAD, FEA, CFD, programming, databases, and other engineering-related software topics. Likewise, I love writing about topics such as friction-stir welding, micro-machining, and the electron beaming of engineered lattice structures. In fact, I have 18 years of on-the-floor manufacturing experience, a type of experience that I bet most bloggers lack. Do they know how to read a micrometer, or what an injection molding machine even looks like? Have they ever actually run a CNC machine tool? This kind of knowledge, as you know, is invaluable and garners a lot of respect among industry professionals.

I agree to an extent that content is king. Today, though, it seems that the bottom line is all about MONEY. Much online content is a bunch of smoke and mirrors, merely thinly disguised advertising. And what about audience? There are people who still enjoy reading well-crafted prose on technical topics. And there are those that would probably prefer to just grab some information from an online video. The upshot – there is room for us all."

Cheers! Leslie Gordon

[Martyn Day]

The more information the better. Information from a single source never gives a complete perspective. People who use these tools everyday have a voice and are creating networks. That's brilliant. Some of it is good, some of it is bad - just like some articles by journalists. There's just more to filter more opions to consider.
All this chat reminds me of history when only priests and vicars were acknowledged as being able to interpret or read the bible, being only written in Latin and the great unwashed not being educated to read it for themselves. Similarly, it's highly elitist ridiculous to think that anybody can't voice their opinion or be treated as a valued communicator of design knowledge. Democracy is not a bad thing.
Magazines like our Develop3D title, cover all the applications and the new technologies, the strategy, politics and most importantly how people and companies design, deploy and utilise technology. Add into that very bespoke knowledge and passion of all the bloggers and what's left of the CAD press and I think it's an exciting dynamic - never before has so much knowledge about design tools been generated and shared.

[Kenneth]

"Press," to me, is a collection of trusted outlets through which companies might disseminate product news. By this definition, I think we should acknowledge that some CAD bloggers rightfully belong in the CAD press -- specifically, those who exhibit an intimate knowledge of the software and act as software users' advocates. (There are many bloggers who don't fit that description, by the way.)

The line between bloggers and reporters is not that clear. I write for a few print pubs and Web sites (Desktop Engineering, Computer Graphics World, Cadalyst, Architecture Week) but I also blog on behalf of Desktop Engineering.

Some bloggers have written for what's considered traditional media. (Both Matt Lombard and Josh Mings have contributed print articles to Desktop Engineering.)

I think bloggers' arrival on the scene keeps CAD press honest. Press used to be able to get away with assembling superficial articles out of a few factoids and quotes culled from press releases. Today, articles produced in that fashion are bound to be challenged by the more thorough, direct, hands-on reports coming from blogs.

Deelip's assessment is correct: "content is king." Those who do the legwork that reporters are expected to do -- that is, interview people, use the software, study the topic, fact check, and (yes) write well -- will always garner attention.

[Curt Moreno]

I tend to agree with Mr. Menezes. The adage of today's media savvy consumer is that content is king. There is nothing different in what has happened to the "traditional" CAD press than what has happened to every form "traditional" press.

Today's media consumer is inundated with a surplus of outlets providing information. These outlets don't deliver by the day, hour or minute. They deliver content by the second!

Blog posts, news, opinion, videos, audio and video podcasts, tutorials and demonstrations are all a click away. This is a stark contrast to monthly or even weekly publications. There is no end to the ways one can list the changes occurring in the technical press industry.

While I am the editor for a small blog I do not consider myself a member of the press. However the blog community has serious writers offering quality insight. These CAD professionals easily qualify under the term enthusiast press. While they may not have the masthead of a national publication backing them they do provide content that is in demand in a manner that is in high demand.

Until "traditional" press learns to streamline, democratize and transform themselves to match the demands of the new media consumer there are dark times ahead. By sheer numbers alone there is no way that a small group of elitist "professionals" can ever compete with the volume of "enthusiast" information streaming out to consumers minute by minute. Even in that content is largely repetitive and/or poorly worded.

All this is not to say that all hope is lost. There have been many notable "professionals" that have made the transition from print, radio or television personalities to very success new media presences. Leo Laporte and John C. Dvorak spring to mind immediately but there are many more.

Blogs and the enthusiast press did not kill the newspaper. If anything happened, they followed in the steps of other media. For generations the newspaper (and by extension magazines) were the predominant stream of information. Then came radio. Then came television. Each new iteration of the information stream supplanting the previous in agility and volume of delivery. Now the internet has democratized that process and opened the stream for anyone with an interest.

To harp on quality of sentence structure is the last gasps of a communication form that is in dire need of revitalzation. The assertion that many CAD professionals have been abandoned by their mastheads and sought other work is questionable at best. The same market of rapid delivery media is available to these displaced professionals.

It seems to me that professionals who had created a print following did nothing to transform that notoriety into a web presence. Where are the blogs written by the wordsmiths of yesterday's print? I don't ask out of sarcasm, I ask so that I can follow them and read the information they present. Or have they chosen to surrender under the deluge of a new media and the enthusiasts who herald it?

- Curt Moreno -
Kung Fu Drafter

[Matt Lombard]

When it comes down to it, bloggers need a little of what you guys have and you guys need a little of what we have. As long as real press keeps selling advertising, you will continue to exist. I think it's a little cheesy that aggregators make a lot of money from pulling together what other people have written for free. That grates on me.

[Jonathan Yeandle]

Hello Roopinder,
I've been an avid reader of CAD (paper) mags for maybe 20 years and I kind of agree with Deelip, Content is King.

The early mags were awaited with expectation and generally well filled with editorials having some useful CAD content.

Todays CAD mags contain single page glossy ads (from Autodesk and Solidworks) and the editorials are overly padded with large glossy photo-realistic renderings, of toy cars and teapots (easy and lazy). The real CAD content is ambiguous and has been tending towards zero for a good while now.

Bloggers write well enough to be understood and refreshingly are brave enough to voice an opinion which may be at odds with the CAD vendors. Their enthusiasm for the subject is evident and generates thought and discussion and importantly - feedback.

Kind regards,
Jonathan

[Deelip Menezes]

Personally I believe that content is king. Whether it is print, email, web or any other medium. In this internet age there is so much information that readers decide which writers they will read, as opposed to earlier when writers decided what the readers would read.

These days anyone capable of stringing a few words together (and willing to do so) is a writer. What matters is the value those words offer to the reader, not how and where they appear.