ScuzzBlog: Diaries August 2018
Entry 2nd August 2018: Post 01: Amiga Tablet
Amiga Tablet - Datel Electronics GT-906 Genitizer
The very wonderful Datel Electronics Genius Tablet GT-906 or
Genitizer complete with Genius Stylus. Untested and remains in
it box. Sadly I really have no use for this tablet as I kinda
had my fill with this kind of process back in my day of Intergraph
in 1987-90. In those days and for some years following the way
we got data from say AutoCAD and the like was using the tablet
and simply replicating the drawing process with a stylus, menu
and tablet. For any hardened drawing board jockey, trust me it
was way quicker to use the drawing board.
Took all the way to Release 13 of AutoCAD and Win95 to finally
make the interface a point and click from the mouse and make it
faster than using the drawing board. I guess from 1996 I rarely
used the drawing board again and by 1999 the drawing boards
were finally condemned to the rubbish tip.
So I really do see these kinda tools most archaic and could never
imagine a time nor reason when I would have ever wanted to use
one. The application is so alien to the thought processes needed
for fluid drawing usage.
I also have the Podscat which from the burn marks was probably
sitting on a window ledge in full sun for like years and had a
couple of items sitting on it. Or it was in a small fire. Looks
dreadful. Good thing though is they were always designed to have
a template on top, so covering it is no issue. I show a typical
AutoCAD Tablet template that came with the software, but seriously
like never used probably. It really isn't a fluid process and
when you are making money out of drawing it really could never
compete with Rapidograph pens and the skills of basic drawing.
Just as an aside and something forgotten these days but a drawing
before the computer age was a creation of the draftsman and its
accuracy was totally down to the ability of the person drawing
to use scale rules and drawing implements to create the work.
I have set out whole building sites of hundreds of houses based
simply on rule, pen and paper. So the accuracy is a skill and
not simply the use of a computer to accurately define, lengths,
arcs, areas and viewport settings. It is so easy to define and
interrogate a drawing in AutoCAD. And yet when a Contractor or
QS asked for the length of a drain on a tracing sheet hand drawn
drawing it would be the case that the Architect would pick up
his 6" or 12" scale rule and measure by hand. But we have built
more of the physical world that exists today in the real world
with traditional pen and paper on drawing boards than with the
computer. The 'blueprints' still exist in the major drawing
collections of the world for most of the listed buildings that
exist and 99% of them were created at a time without computers.
And yet their accuracy cannot be questioned.
Another art that has all but died.
Amiga Tablet - GT-906
A very discoloured Podscat.
AutoCAD template.
More from DATEL from the same box.
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