Mobil BIM: Droids, iPods, iPads, Tablets: W(here)TF are the Apps???!!!

W(here)TF are the BIM Apps???
I ask that question since it seems obvious to me that some people in AEC & Software Development are still, seemingly in denial regarding BIM and our industries' future and present needs.

We (some people in AEC; not you of course) want our projects to be green, yet we leave the lights on... We want efficient processes, yet we fight BIM... don't even tell "those" people about IPD... their heads will explode and they will surely hide in their turtle shells and continue to hold AEC from an inevitable future (and for the rest of us "the present").

My point? BIM Apps are next to nonexistent. Go search Itunes for DJ apps. There's a ton... and most of the people who use them aren't DJ's, nor are there as many DJ's as there are AEC professionals who would flourish more if a host of apps designed for them (us) was available.

We REALLY have been lacking on the mobility front, except perhaps for dead (or dying I think) old Autocad, for which there is AutoCAD WS yet no BIM WS. I don't count drafting apps as BIM, since
A) They are not BIM
B) I view drafting as a dying art.

Now don't get me wrong: Let's look at painting portraits on canvas (you know: Art); it was said to be at death's door when the camera was invented and that wasn't exactly the case but look around your home: do you have original paintings of your family that you commissioned? Hell, how much original (not mass produced, or printed, etc.) Art do you have at all? Not wealthy=Not much (or any) original Art.

Not like it was in the 19th century!!! Painting may not be totally dead but it's mostly a luxury item now, not the only game in town and photography is arguably it's master for portraiture. -and I am an Artist that does still paint!!!

So while there may always need to be "widget" draftspeople we need only a few of them and only the most talented... What we need (read as NEED) is an assortment of tools built like my next major project: J'ZbimApp (name changed to protect the innocent).

It doesn't take a genius to understand that ADSK is working on their own but they'd better move fast since the competition already has the beginnings of an app that may be doing at least mobile model interaction.

Yes Sketchbook is a fantastic app but it's just a sketchbook afterall, though a fantastic one. We want (read as NEED) BIM Apps!!!

So until we have J'ZbimApp we can at least see our BIM models on our mobile devices right now! goBIM from Ian Keough of Buro Happold is an app That looks promising, though (IMO) it's a pain, since selecting model objects is required in order to export them (there are usually too many elements to be efficient even with moderately sized models, but a start I guess): a large model is yet really functional in my experience... although this app has it's possibilities it has so far fought me (and disallowed me) from loading my own models into it (it could be me though!!!???). I will hit the support pages and see if I can't get resolution but until then my iPad keeps just saying it is "writing" or "Unable to load file" :-(

BTW: Ian is speaking about "Tools" (the good kind!!!) February 17th in Los Angeles at the Los Angeles Design Technology Forum (no TLA for them!!!) So if you are in town do check this out!!!