As if it wasn't enough that Apple's little white piece of heaven lets you rock out to your favorite tunes and watch television shows. Now, it can help your batting average. The Colorado Rockies now use iPod to master their swings. The Rockies moved beyond iPod's music, its most common clubhouse function, through creative intervention during spring training at the beginning of this year.

It began when Rockies assistant video coordinator Brian Jones was downloading video of hitters' swings and burning the data to a CD. In a sport where players wear sunglasses equipped with MP3 players, he figured there had to be a more practical application. So Mike Hamilton, the team's video coordinator, purchased a video iPod and the two began tinkering. They were looking to integrate information more seamlessly with the sport's contemporary lifestyle. They showed the finished product to veteran first baseman Todd Helton, who loved it. Infielder Jamey Carroll became the first lab rat, turning his iPod into a video library of his swings.

Baseball players analyzing video of their own performance or of opponents is nothing new. In the last few years, it's become quite popular, with players often carrying around a ton of video on laptops. Teams have invested heavily in tools to better archive videos and make them more searchable. However, it still involves players going in and watching the video on a computer or TV screen. With the use of the iPod, they can now watch it anywhere at any time. Of course, you could argue that Johan Santana from the Minnesota Twins has a leg up on the video iPod users. He's using a PSP, where he can not only watch video, but also prepare against opponents in a virtual baseball game.

Who says jocks can’t be geeky?

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It's been a long, long time since I've thought about or commented on the CAD world.

But, I'm back. And guess what, not much has changed. The CAD space is still bent in on itself like a galactic time warp. And people still try to parse earth-shattering meaning from every word Autodesk utters. In short, the "debate" about 3D is still going on (except for those companies taking sales of 3D to the bank…like…uh…ADSK).

So, what to make of what Roopinder Tara reports in this latest ADSK pronouncement? Simple: another legacy feature of the CAD world is its long memories. Someone in ADSK is still upset that Pro/E changed the way products are designed and can't stop themselves from taking a swipe, especially now that PTC is off the death-bed. (If you think ADSK doesn't harbor grudges, wait'll they catch wind of this post and its author.) 

But it couldn't be more misplaced. Through the eyes of our new client, I have seen the next move in 3D, at least for MCAD. (AEC still needs Revit, and badly.) And it's not about easing a CAD operator's interface with constraints. That's just more of the same: focusing on the internals that are so comfortable, so myopic to the CAD aficionados.

The real question about 3D is about leveraging all that 3D design information outside the walls of engineering and product development.

So, it's a pleasure to be back in the CAD world and to see the same white hats and black hats (and I love white Russians) on just about the same heads as in 2002. It's nice to see you all again. And, by the way, Autodesk should be grateful for those Russian guys, who helped make a market space for Autodesk just in time for 2D's demise.

Just like last time I was in this space, we're gonna change the debate. And, just like last time, it's gonna be fun and educational and no-holds-barred.

Bet I won't be getting any Autodesk t-shirts.

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I don't want to sound immodest, but I am still reflecting on the fact that yesterday we were able to make some (admittedly small) changes to a client's blog to line up some text. (We added a new class…not rocket science by any means.) 

I bring this up because it raises an important point people should consider when thinking about consultants' marketing capabilities: can an agency claim to be good at Internet-based marketing if it can't spell "CSS?"

When the tools of the trade were a phone and a pencil, anyone who could write or speak well could "communicate" as your advocate. But today, with advanced telephony (is your agency using Skype?), blogs, Wikis, podcasts, SEO and on and on, the agency you rely upon to disseminate your message had better be able to directly manipulate these technologies.

And I am not talking about outsourcing the work or having on staff some geeky staffers who double as the poor bastards who get the "it was in my email a minute ago" calls. I am talking about partner-level capabilities.

So, ask the guy who shows up once when the account is pitched, then once a quarter (if you are lucky) when the last time was that he or she posted on a blog, initiated a Skypecast or even listened to a technology-focused podcast.

Or don't. You know the answer already.

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