Architosh.com Announces Mac OS X Software Design Competition Worth $20,000 in Free Advertising, Aggressive Promotions and Apple Hardware

Architosh.com announces software competition to demonstrate Mac OS X superiority in the AEC market.

PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island -- June 30, 2004 -- Architosh.com, the world's leading Web portal dedicated to Macintosh-based CAD/3D and AEC professionals, today announced a new software design competition focused on the architecture/engineering/construction (AEC) marketplace. The winner who best satisfies the key judging criteria will be awarded an advertising and promotional package worth an estimated $20,000US in addition to an Apple hardware award.

The Concept: Diminished Professional Capacity for non Mac OS X Users

The objective of the software competition is to design a Mac OS X application (or applications) that clearly provide a professional advantage for architectural professionals on the Mac OS X (Tiger) platform. The controlling criteria for judging the software is based on a concept of diminished professional capacity for users of non-Mac OS X (Tiger) platforms.

In essence, the winning software would provide such key advantages on Mac OS X "Tiger" �introduced this week by Apple CEO Steve Jobs at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference�that professionals in the AEC marketplace that did not utilize Mac OS X Tiger with the winning Mac OS X application would be professionally disadvantaged or operating under some diminished professional capacity.

"At first thought the idea of creating such software seems likely impossible�and that's a fitting and appropriate reaction�but there are serious software opportunities in the AEC market that have never been addressed or addressed in a manner which is satisfying to end users," says Architosh editor and founder, Anthony Frausto-Robledo. "After watching Steve introduce Tiger on Monday with its astounding new technologies I'm more convinced then ever before that it is possible to create professional software that clearly advantages OS X users because of the underlying technology in OS X."

"Architosh almost launched this contest exactly a year ago", says Frausto-Robledo, "but I didn't think Panther had everything in it to truly leap ahead of the OS competition." "What was missing in my mind was 64-bit OS support, grid/renderfarm technologies, and more advanced imaging technologies. These are things that were key in my mind for AEC professionals and Tiger truly delivers not just these but a whole bunch of other stuff, like Spotlight, that are incredibly useful to AEC pros."

A FrameWork For Success

In order to help Mac OS X Tiger software developers identify gaps in the professional offerings for the architectural market, Architosh will be publishing several white-papers based on five years of market research collected through Architosh.com. The white-papers detail the common information and knowledge management (KM) pipeline in the architectural and related industries market and the unidentified opportunities that exist to serve that market with new applications.

Additionally, the white papers delves into the market dynamics driving trends in the AEC industry, including the BIM (building information modeling) movement and its promises, the impact of de facto standard file formats on the AEC information pipeline, Web services scenarios in AEC, mobile and field computing and data synchronization needs, high end visualization in AEC and other topics related to architectural KM.

The Framework for Success on OS X white papers will be published in early September 2004.

Closing Remarks and Judging

The basic goal of the contest is to spur on the development of innovative technologies for the Mac OS X platform�a software environment Architosh strongly believes offers more natural and promising technologies for technical creative professionals such as architects, interior designers, landscape architects, visualization professionals, and AEC engineers.

Final judging will be conducted by a jury led by Architosh editor, Anthony Frausto-Robledo, several senior associate editors, and industry experts to be announced at a future date.

Rules and Contest Facts

There will be one guaranteed winner of the competition. If no contestant meets the threshold of unique platform innovation then the best contestant will receive an award for $5,000 worth of free advertising and promotional opportunities on Architosh.com. Second and third place winners will receive an advertising package at Architosh worth $5,000US. The hardware award will be announced at a future date.

Current software applications are acceptable candidates but to satisfy the requirements of the contest they must be upgraded with significant new technologies that are unique to the Mac OS X Tiger platform and are not available on any other OS system. Winners must promise to keep their innovative software on the Mac OS X platform exclusively for 24 months (or the approximate life time of their advertising and marketing award prizes from Architosh.). The remaining summary facts concerning this unique software contest are listed below:

• Competition Announcement June 30, 2004
• Competition Opens September 1, 2004 (PDF Application Available)
• White Papers Published, September time-frame
• Competition Entry Fee: $495.00 US
• Competition Closing: August 1, 2005
• Beta Judging Period Begins: September 1, 2005
• Final Judging Period Begins: December 1, 2005
• Final Award Announcement: Jan, 2006 (TBD)

About Architosh

BritasMedia's publishing mission with the Architosh Web site is to serve a worldwide audience of Macintosh-based CAD/3D and AEC professionals and students with market-leading information (IT) resources, news, reviews, and editorial products. Since 1999, Architosh has been the world's leading Mac CAD/3D/AEC portal now serving over 25,000 unique readers monthly in more than 70 countries around the globe.

Press Contact

Anthony Frausto-Robledo, B.Arch.

Founder and Editor-in-Chief

Architosh / Britasmedia

14 Creston Way, Providence, RI 02906

617-312-3305 (t)

[email protected]

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