Clearly, these concerns have led to much slower adoption (and, frankly, far fewer available mobile design tool apps) within the engineering space compared to the consumer and general business segment. According to some reports, apps are fast becoming consumers' preferred mode of interaction, even surpassing time spent browsing the Web. A recent report by the mobile analytics provider Flurry revealed that the average consumer spends 9 percent more time using mobile apps than on the Internet, mostly partaking in games, social networking, news, and entertainment.
At the same time, other studies have found there is a relatively short shelf life for the average mobile app -- users typically engage in around 20 sessions with an app before abandoning it and moving on to something new. That statistic, experts say, points out the relatively short attention span for these tools and the perception -- whether warranted or not -- that most available apps are more of a novelty, as opposed to a substantive, business-related productivity enhancer.
Siemens PLM Software is positioning its Teamcenter Mobility app as a solution for securely delivering Teamcenter-managed product data to users, oftentimes in unconventional locations.
Taking their lead from these early indications, design tool vendors have been cautiously approaching the mobile app market, heartened by what they say is steady interest among engineers, if not yet widespread adoption. "Demand is absolutely growing across all industries," says Shanna Tellerman, product line manager for cloud products at Autodesk, one of the design tool vendors out in front with a mobile strategy. "Whether you're looking at the architecture, engineering, or manufacturing industry, there are people working with people who are on site in various locations, and everyone needs access to shared data."
With that picture in mind, Autodesk is steadily putting together a pretty robust cloud and mobile tool strategy. Autodesk Cloud, unveiled in October, is a collection of up to a dozen Web services that allow users to collaborate on models via Web browsers or mobile devices, in addition to offloading processor-intensive tasks like rendering and simulation to the cloud to take advantage of its scalability and high-performance benefits.
Good points Brad, but there is one other thing: Am I the only one out here who wants the ability to turn out the office light and go home at the end of the day without having the pressures of work having the ability to follow where ever I am?
You see mobile apps, I see a never ending work day. It is already bad enough that I find myself finishing designs in my head at 3 am, I really do not need the ability to feel obligated to actually, get up and go to work in my kitchen.
I completely agree with Alex about the user interface problem on mobile devices (as well as other devices). They all suck, as far as I'm concerned. Apple's Mac keyboards on their laptops, at least the older models, are actually pretty darn good, and their touchpads are superb, especially compared to those on Windows machines. But a keyboard's not always what's needed. You don't have to have lousy vision, fat fingers, or be older than 15 to hate texting or soft keyboards. I'm not fond of talking to machines--except for yelling at them when their software malfunctions--but Siri sounds promising.
I agree, Brad. Engineers are an exceptionally pragmatic bunch. There are exceptions, of course, but for the most part if they can't see a work advantage, they're not going to mess with the technology.
Good point, TJ. That's a concise way of viewing it. As far as I can see, operators are using the mobile apps to consume information and transfer it to a larger system. Grabbing data remotely and sending it to the main box seems a perfect use for mobile devices.
I think the real stumbling block is that no one has licked the data-input challenge with mobile devices. The soft keyboards stink, and portable, bluetooth-based keyboards just don't cut it. Perhaps Siri on the new iPhone is the first inkling of a possible solution--a speech recognition tool with a decent user interface. The only other challenge I see though is that CAD typically requires numerical entry. So you wouldn't be able to create drawings on mobile devices, but sharing and manipulation would be made a lot easier.
We're talking about consuming and producing information here. Tablets and phones by nature are terrific for consuming. No matter how fast your thumbs though, you're not going to create a 40 page specification in a timely manner on your phone.
Engineers use these tools when they make sense, to consume information (drawing viewers). Producing is much more difficult on them.
Size is another issue. One can easily use a regular clipboard and pad of paper propped on one arm and fist to make decent drawings or diagrams. For an android or ipad tablet to be USABLE as a producer of information, it's going to have to be about the same size.
Good points Brad. I'm hearing much the same thing you're saying. As I understand it, the mobile apps are being used for on-the-run checking and verification of plant equipment. The kind of thing operators have been using laptops for. To gather data, run some quick diagnostics. What I'm hearing is that the smartphone and the tablet are simply easier to handle on the run than a laptop balanced on the knee.
Beth, I think you are right that "Engineers, by natural, are a skeptical lot and don't necessarily want to play around with "toy" apps that don't really do anything substantial." Engineers are not immune to attraction to shiny objects and new tech, but more likely than the average consumer to examine functionality of technology, not just the glamour or sexiness of it. And in the design venue, where engineers frequently find the functionality of a standard pc to be underpowered and with insufficient display size, a mobile platform with even less power and smaller screen is not a substitute for the workstation.
That doesn't mean there is not a place for the mobile apps. But their place is more as an adjunct to the primary workplace hardware and software. They can excel in the field, providing portable access to documents, capturing photos, notes, and data in the field. Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words. Sometimes the fastest way to take notes is to snap a few photos of relevant data and measurements.
Likewise, mobile apps have much to offer for interacting with field instrumentation. Here, the field instrumentation interface has in the past been limited by cost and environmental limitations. The hardware cost of adding mobile device connectivity to field instrumentation can be minimal, comparable to just a couple of conventional controls. With appropriate software, the mobile app is capable of providing a much richer and more flexible interface to the instrumentation, going beyond what can easily be implemented via switches and knobs. And being mobile, the interface can be disconnected and travel with the operator, so doesn't have to be capable of extended operation/storage under temperature extremes, which pose cost, functionality and power consumption issues for fixed interfaces.
Interesting, this parallels what's going on in machine vision on the factory floor. There's something of a push for mobile apps there, at least on the part of vendors, but things aren't moving very quickly. Although this is partly due to the still-needed technology that's required, perhaps this has also been slowed because of resistance among older operators.
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