CAD: Do Computers Aid the Design Process After All?

It is impossible to deny that technological innovations have made profound and miraculous contributions to our society. There are, however, consequences that come with implementing new and revolutionary tools in a dynamic culture. For example, because of e-mail, parents and grandparents fear that children today will not appreciate the experience of receiving old-fashioned, hand-written letters delivered in the mail as they grow up. Text messaging and instant messaging have created a new language of abbreviated words, worrying English teachers everywhere that the use of correct grammar and proper English will be difficult to nurture and preserve in their youngest students. To stop such technological phenomena from infiltrating our society is not a feasible goal. Still, we should not take their effect on society lightly. We need consider who has taken advantage of these technologies and how their relationship to these technologies has changed to better understand their impact. The relationship between the interface and its user is not one-sided. Many wrongly believe that technology has bombarded our society and forced its way into our daily lives. On the contrary; society has accepted it freely and allowed its role to grow for a reason. This dynamic relationship between technology and society is critical to an understanding of the broader implications of how cultural changes will affect technology and, conversely, how our culture will evolve with the technology. One technology that can be seen as an important innovation in this era is Computer-Aided Design (CAD). CAD has changed the face of the design industry and has influenced the lives of designers and engineers worldwide.