History of EDA (electronic design automation)?

[Al Kossow]

 >    I've seen two systems (not pure software, but integrated systems)
 > that really blew me away years ago.  My memories of both are very
 > fuzzy.  One was an ECAD workstation called Daisy; it was a schematic
 > capture system and may have done other things as well.  It was
 > gorgeous but I didn't see much of its capabilities.  I saw this
 > around 1985 or thereabouts.

Daisy was one of the first ECAD workstations. Started out as 8086 
Multibus up through 386. I never saw the earliest version of the OS. The 
later ones were unix-like. Last versions were Intel 386 PC based. Apple 
used them before switching to Valid or Mentor, depending on the project.

I saw parts of a Calay at a surplus place in the mid 90's. There was 
also Racal/Redac PCB layout systems. I think I still have the packs from 
one of these. It ran RSX11 on an SMS disc controller.

Most of the small stand-alone systems disappeared once IBM PC ECAD 
systems developed. There were one or two companies selling CAD tools 
into the Macintosh market, but they were pretty awful. There was one 
system that was popular for schematic capture on Macs that was used 
internally at Apple up through the late 90s.

DEC used a schematic capture system from Stanford through the 70's and 
early 80's (SUDS, Stanford University Drawing System). The MIT CADR was 
designed using this as well.