Today's Top-Level Take-Away: Pennies From Heaven
Common estimates of the worldwide construction market range from US$3.4-trillion to $3.9-trillion per year. Split the difference at $3.65-trillion, which is conveniently divisible into US$10-billion of global construction every day. The global market for AEC design software is often pegged in the US$500-million range, of which the software vendors can afford to invest an aggregate of perhaps $100-million in "real" R&D—research and development that improves industry processes rather than just tweaking user interfaces.

Since $100-million is one percent of $10-billion, this translates to one penny per year on each dollar spent during each of 365 days in that year. So, for every $365.00 spent globally on designing and constructing the man-made environment, we invest only $0.01 in software development to make this effort easier, more cost-effective, sustainable, and intelligent. The world will live with the built results for twenty or fifty years or longer, yet we refuse to rub even two pennies together today for software that will help us build a better future. Shame on us.
JL