13 Mar 2019

Form Landing

by: Alex Fitch

In 1939, renowned futurist and the one of the brains behind 2001: A Space Oddysey, Arthur C Clarke posited that, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

Perhaps the best example of the magic of IKE Analyze can be found in the process of pole loading analysis. If you are not familiar, pole load analysis is the process by which the ongoing strength of a pole is calculated for various conditions based on how much equipment is attached. Using traditional methods, the process takes a long time and looks something like this:

• Field crew collects necessary data at the pole | ~20 Min/pole
• Data are entered into excel spreadsheet | ~4 min/pole
• Pole is built manually in SpidaCalc from data in spreadsheet | ~20 min

Across all of science, it is hard to argue with Clarke. Of course, people saw some of these magic technologies coming. For example, automobiles and telephones were a long time coming, but if you take a look at a far longer list of the technologies that form the foundation of the modern world, you might find that every one of them appeared to the general public as magic. Take the lightbulb, or X rays, or the atomic bomb, and as Clarke demonstrates, you will find that each of them represented magic in its day.

I wont take the liberty here of trying to tell you to use IKE Analyze, that is someone else’s job. Instead I hope to have made a subtle point that magical technology is not only for the paradigm shifting surprises of science. It can be found even in the most obscure parts of society if you know where to look. If, by chance you are reading this as someone who works in the wonderful world of poles, let me offer nothing more than a brief introduction the the little slice of magic IKE offers our industry.

Across all of science, it is hard to argue with Clarke. Of course, people saw some of these magic technologies coming. For example, automobiles and telephones were a long time coming, but if you take a look at a far longer list of the technologies that form the foundation of the modern world, you might find that every one of them appeared to the general public as magic. Take the lightbulb, or X rays, or the atomic bomb, and as Clarke demonstrates, you will find that each of them represented magic in its day.

• Field crew collects necessary data at the pole | ~20 Min/pole
• Data are entered into excel spreadsheet | ~4 min/pole
• Pole is built manually in SpidaCalc from data in spreadsheet | ~20 min

I wont take the liberty here of trying to tell you to use IKE Analyze, that is someone else’s job. Instead I hope to have made a subtle point that magical technology is not only for the paradigm shifting surprises of science. It can be found even in the most obscure parts of society if you know where to look. If, by chance you are reading this as someone who works in the wonderful world of poles, let me offer nothing more than a brief introduction the the little slice of magic IKE offers our industry.

Perhaps the best example of the magic of IKE Analyze can be found in the process of pole loading analysis. If you are not familiar, pole load analysis is the process by which the ongoing strength of a pole is calculated for various conditions based on how much equipment is attached. Using traditional methods, the process takes a long time and looks something like this:

• Field crew collects necessary data at the pole | ~20 Min/pole
• Data are entered into excel spreadsheet | ~4 min/pole
• Pole is built manually in SpidaCalc from data in spreadsheet | ~20 min