Where are new MCAD Users Coming From?

Mark French wrote: Hi Folks, I'm a professor at a large university (40,000 undergrad students and grad students).  I'm teaching a math review class for grad students and asked them to vote on what software they wanted me to use, Mathcad, Matlab, Mathematica or Maple.  I briefly described each and told them Mathcad was capable and the easiest to use.  The vote was unanimous for Matlab, so that's what we're using.

I wonder what the result would have been if they had the opportunity to do some coursework with each one for a week or so?  Out of curiosity, why did they choose Matlab? Familiarity? Commercial Use? Potential? Capability? ??

I can't help thinking that MCAD users are a small and shrinking group.  Do we have any numbers on the size of the MCAD community and where new users might come from?

I've had that same concern for a number of years.  Within my engineering group, there are a few long-term Mathcad users, all of whom extol the benefits of Mathcad and wish it were more widespread. I use Matlab, Mathematica and Mathcad, and much prefer working in Mathcad for its ease of use. However, the group has standardized on Matlab and Simulink.   I imagine that familiarity gained at University is part of the reason for adopting Matlab. Another aspect, as would be expected, is capability and Mathcad lacks a number of features (eg true multi-dimensional array support) that Matlab and other applications possess.   The limitations of Prime compared to Mathcad 15 can't help perception either (eg, working with images in Prime is a *major* pain).

I also think that PTC would be better served by having a Personal/Home licence fee in line with that of Mathematica, Matlab and Maple (~£230) rather than jumping straight in at over £1000.   Whilst I like the idea of Prime Express being free (obviously!), I can't help but think that PTC marketing would have been better served by including programming in Express - that way, Express would be more useful to people, hence making it more likely that people would recommend it for work (although a capability licencing structure, akin to Matlab's, making it reasonable for individuals to buy Programming or Image Processing may be as effective).

Stuart

Hi Folks,

I didn't mean to start a MCAD gripe session, though I certainly have my share of gripes.  I really do want to know where the new MCAD users are coming from.  For example, my son learned Mathematica in high school and many engineering schools (like the one here) teach classes on Matlab.  How are people introduced to MCAD?

Thanks a bunch,

Mark