Two-year-old Robotechnic Ltd, London has vaporised prices for bottom end computer-aided design systems with Generic CADD 2.0 a software program that enjoys itself with an 8087 or 80287 maths co-processor, 640Kb and a hard disk, but which needs only a 384Kb Personal, two floppies and and an Extended or Colour Graphics Adaptor, and costs just UKP99. Claimed to be more comprehensive than Autodesk’s AutoCAD, it can use 256 colours and can be extended with AutoConvert which enables files to be exchanged with AutoCAD, and DotPlot, to turn a matrix printer into a simple pen-plotter, at UKP25 apiece. Robotechnic will sell both direct and via dealers. Launched in the US in July, CADD had sold 20,000 copies there by October. Robotechnic already has a Tokyo office and will open in France and Germany shortly.
