Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Because “more” can refer to many qualities, we need to clarify
just what we mean by the question. The following list suggests some
meanings for “more” in the context of computers and computing:
More features: Software can have more and more capabilities.
Greater speed: Hardware components can move or process
data more quickly.
More graphics: Applications could make greater use of graphics,
and users could utilize more images in their work.
Greater accuracy: Answers, particularly numerical results,
could be computed with more significant digits.
We now consider each of these areas in some detail. Although
capabilities to support more users might also be on this list, I encour
age you to think about such possibilities in the discussion questions.
More Features: In order to be helpful, software must provide the
capabilities needed to perform the task. However, beyond a point, ad
ditional features may not be needed for the job at hand—and more
features almost always mean larger programs and more complexity.
For example, some modern wordprocessing packages automati
cally underline text that the software identifies as a location on the
World Wide Web. For example, if a user types
www.cs.grinnell.edu/
~walker/,
some wordprocessing packages underline the address—in
dependent of context. Of course, sometimes a user may want such un
derlining; however, other times such underlining is a nuisance at best.
If software does not have this feature, then the user could still accom
plish the same task by using any “underline” option that the word
processor offers. But if the software does have this capability (even if
the capability has been turned off), then the program must have special
code that analyzes each word or phrase that the user types, that code
must interact with various other program elements that affect font and
style, and program elements must coordinate these various elements.
Such features therefore contribute to program complexity; different
people will debate whether all such features are actually helpful.
