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sounds like a homework deadline might be approaching, Are you sure its not procrastinating that you are really upset with? #beentheredonethat
Joking aside, i get your sentiment.
Compared to the ease and capability of 3D modelers AutoCAD does seem like an archaic throwback, but you cant compare AutoCAD to 3D modelers. Yes AutoCAD can do 3D models, but that's just a capability where 3D modelers were built with the intent of modeling. The reason Autodesk has both Inventor and AutoCAD is because the tools serve different purposes and needs.
As far as learning it, after about two and a half or maybe three days of working in it you could probably be on par with most other users out there. There is a learning curve but once you get a few rudimentary elements down the rest kinda falls in place. That's not saying AutoCAD is the most efficient way to design for all projects though.
One of the reasons we still have AutoCAD is that we have 30 years worth of drawings created in the platform. Some of those will need to be maintained and updated. If a company created a widget in the 80s that needs no further engineering to maintain profitability, they are not going to spend the time and money to update it to the fancy new 3D modeler just because. There are still tons of hand drawn drawings out there too and some of those are still actually updated by hand. If you wanna talk about obsolescence, hand drafting is extremely time consuming and expensive, but often its cheaper than shifting an entire engineered set of drawings to a new format.
One reason you might be learning it as well is that your professor might have a sweet spot for the program. As in they are comfortable using it over others. I would agree that this is a really bad reason to learn it, but academia doesn't always operate on the best interests of the students.
Another reason that this software is still relevant is that flat simple 2D diagrams are still really important in many applications. Im currently employed in the petrochemical industry. On a day to day basis the 4 most important drawings (P&ID, PFD, INSTRUMENT/Electrical, PLOT PLAN) are all simple 2D drawings. Just for the company im working for these drawings command millions of dollars worth of activity. When building the multi million dollar facilities which will make up significant portions of the US's GDP one of the first drawing produced is a block flow diagram (simple 2D), Next would be a Process Flow Diagram (simple 2D) and then a P&ID (simple 2D) at this stage in their design process it s an easy feet to have millions invested. This is just the petrochemical industry, i'm sure there are several other examples in other industries.
I get the frustration of seemingly inefficient tasks in AutoCAD, but thats because you are playing with some of the most basic building blocks. I get that you can create a model quicker in inventor, but the real value (as i believe was alluded earlier in this thread) is the capability of the AutoCAD platform for customization. Ont of the things i do is create things that turn 100 clicks into 1. These routines are often very specific for my companies goals. Its unfortunate but generally school level applications of AutoCAD will not be able to show you this feature. That said if you get your hands on an AutoCAD vertical like Architecture and see how long it takes to create a house plan. It can be done in a very short interval and that system is built on AutoCAD.
I get the frustration but that part of what schooling is. In calculus you have to learn the fundamental therom of calculus even though most people will only use the power rule after that. You may never need AutoCAD, but it can be a fundamental to design and is still very powerful.
CADnoob