I've never found any CAD tool to be intuitive. It's all complex software to achieve complex goals and requires a time investment to use effectively. Those unwilling to make a time investment will inevitably fail and complain loudly about how hard it all is.
I've never found any CAD tool to be intuitive. It's all complex software to achieve complex goals and requires a time investment to use effectively. Those unwilling to make a time investment will inevitably fail and complain loudly about how hard it all is.
There was never an affordable electric vehicle... until there was.
But I find that some user interfaces/workflows click with me. Others don't. Unfortunately KiCAD is one that doesn't.
I've never found any CAD tool to be intuitive. It's all complex software to achieve complex goals and requires a time investment to use effectively. Those unwilling to make a time investment will inevitably fail and complain loudly about how hard it all is.
There was never an affordable electric vehicle... until there was.
Well, there still isn't, so..
You seem to confuse my point with "the software need not improve" - that's on you. Using tools is a skill, a skill one must learn and practice. This applies whether it's a CAD tool or a bloody hammer.
Not going to go on an on about this with you, but the fact that a tool has to be learned is not justification for a user interface that needs to be "improved". It is that simple in spite of your protestations.
just as your claim there are no affordable electric cars is wrong. Currently there are nearly 2 million EV owners in the US who say you are wrong.
I do find it interesting how many people are ready to jump on a bash Windows or Office when they change their interface in ways that aren't obvious, while the response in KiCAD's case is often to leap to their defense. I'm not a fan of MS changing the interface all the time, but given the huge user base it usually only takes a couple of minutes on Google to find the solution to your frustration. The much smaller user base of specialist software like KiCAD means that those resources are far more sparse. A little venting after hours or days fighting what seems like an impossible problem is not unexpected, and probably should be greeted with some tolerance.
just as your claim there are no affordable electric cars is wrong. Currently there are nearly 2 million EV owners in the US who say you are wrong.
just as your claim there are no affordable electric cars is wrong. Currently there are nearly 2 million EV owners in the US who say you are wrong.
Logical fallacy alert! You have no way of knowing whether those 2 million people agree or disagree with you just because they happen to own an EV. And as an EV owner, if you will allow me to read practicality into the concept of affordability, I would contend that for a very large majority of Americans (can't say elsewhere) an electric vehicle is not 'affordable', in the sense that they can't reasonably afford the extra expense of owning and operating an EV over a conventional gas car or hybrid. Especially the hybrid.
b/t/w, glad to read your honest renditions of your experience with Tesla. I know of people who have had repeated issues that more than qualify them for lemon-law protection but they won't even admit publicly that their cars have broken, let alone return them.
I'll ignore the issue of 2 million car owners thinking their cars are not affordable. The issue of the "extra" expense of an EV is a fallacy. EVs have lower operating costs including lower repair costs, lower maintenance costs and lower fuel costs making the total cost of ownership lower than an equivalent ICE. That's not me talking, that is many sources including government agencies that have them and track the costs as they wear them out including police.
On a more serious note: it looks like a lot of interface changes have occurred, I'll have to see how they feel in-person. I really hope eeschema's background colour hasn't changed to grey as the screenshots suggest.
I would assume it's configurable. The default in the older versions is blinding white, I always change it to black first thing after installing, I'd be shocked (and really annoyed) if they took away the ability to customize colors.
On a more serious note: it looks like a lot of interface changes have occurred, I'll have to see how they feel in-person. I really hope eeschema's background colour hasn't changed to grey as the screenshots suggest.
I would assume it's configurable. The default in the older versions is blinding white, I always change it to black first thing after installing, I'd be shocked (and really annoyed) if they took away the ability to customize colors.
I found a bug today in kicad in regards to keeping schematic layout when converting to a pcb.
At least on my version it just puts components along top of pcb to place.
I prefer components already placed where they were on schematic.
Associated components then stay next to each other which makes laying out better on medium to large sized pcb's.
After a lot of to-ing and fro-ing they eventually accepted it was a bug.
Bug ticket number 5480 !!!!!!
A few hours later they came back with a statement saying that due to hierarchical sheets they couldn't find a way around it.
Well, there still isn't, so..
You seem to confuse my point with "the software need not improve" - that's on you. Using tools is a skill, a skill one must learn and practice. This applies whether it's a CAD tool or a bloody hammer.
That they did no such thing is a matter of public record.. in issue 7480, for those wondering what a five month old bug about multi-line comments has to do with component autoplacement.
I do find it interesting how many people are ready to jump on a bash Windows or Office when they change their interface in ways that aren't obvious, while the response in KiCAD's case is often to leap to their defense. I'm not a fan of MS changing the interface all the time, but given the huge user base it usually only takes a couple of minutes on Google to find the solution to your frustration. The much smaller user base of specialist software like KiCAD means that those resources are far more sparse. A little venting after hours or days fighting what seems like an impossible problem is not unexpected, and probably should be greeted with some tolerance.
See, the problems for both Kicad and Microsoft are that:
(i) some people don't like the interfaces and some people do, but the users get on with it and do the task at hand.
(ii) if the user interface is changed to appease the people who didn't like the old interface, the other users complain, even if the new interface is better.
(iii) users who a few years ago tried the program and found the interface lacking in whatever manner still use that obsolete experience to complain about the interface -- even if the interface has changed to what might be more their liking.
The problem with CAD software, whether for mechanical design or for electronics design, is that there really is no "best" way to do it. If there was, every program would follow the same paradigm.
gnuarm's assertion that "schematic capture and layout are inherently simple processes that were done for a very long time with pencil, paper and tape. That's how simple it is." is reductive. "Inherently" simple, perhaps, but the devil is in the details. Paper-based schematics and rubylith-based layouts were used when there was no other option, but for obvious reasons those processes have been abandoned. Can a paper-based schematic output a BOM for purchasing? Can you absolutely guarantee correspondence between all nets on the paper schematic and all traces on the rubylith layout? Can you manage the correspondence between a resistor symbol on your paper schematic and the footprint on the PCB and the part you order? The point here is that the tools have grown to manage that complexity, but of course that means that the tools themselves have gotten more complex.
I'll ignore the issue of 2 million car owners thinking their cars are not affordable. The issue of the "extra" expense of an EV is a fallacy. EVs have lower operating costs including lower repair costs, lower maintenance costs and lower fuel costs making the total cost of ownership lower than an equivalent ICE. That's not me talking, that is many sources including government agencies that have them and track the costs as they wear them out including police.
An EV to meet my needs would cost three to four times what my car cost, and would not in my current (excluding pandemic-induced changes) usage pattern recoup this in the next 10 years. This is not 'affordable', this is 'waste of money'. My needs are not your needs, my means are not your means. Your truth is not the only truth.
Wouldn't be possible to have a single thread in this forum where EVs are not mentioned?
On a more serious note: it looks like a lot of interface changes have occurred, I'll have to see how they feel in-person. I really hope eeschema's background colour hasn't changed to grey as the screenshots suggest.
I would assume it's configurable. The default in the older versions is blinding white, I always change it to black first thing after installing, I'd be shocked (and really annoyed) if they took away the ability to customize colors.
I found a bug today in kicad in regards to keeping schematic layout when converting to a pcb.
At least on my version it just puts components along top of pcb to place.
I prefer components already placed where they were on schematic.
Associated components then stay next to each other which makes laying out better on medium to large sized pcb's.
After a lot of to-ing and fro-ing they eventually accepted it was a bug.
Bug ticket number 5480 !!!!!!
A few hours later they came back with a statement saying that due to hierarchical sheets they couldn't find a way around it.
In any case, you're still selecting and moving parts, so whether you do it as a group and fiddle, or whether you do it one by one and fiddle, there's not much time difference in the end.