From mboxrd@z Thu Jan  1 00:00:00 1970
X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me
X-Spam-Level: 
X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.9 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00 autolearn=ham
	autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4
X-Google-Thread: 103376,4feb499c05063194
X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public
X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit
Path: 
 g2news1.google.com!news2.google.com!fu-berlin.de!uni-berlin.de!not-for-mail
From: "Nick Roberts" <nick.roberts@acm.org>
Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada
Subject: Re: Artistically creative expression has no role in software design
Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2004 01:31:48 +0100
Message-ID: <opsbeufaj9p4pfvb@bram-2>
References: <2m2j9gFhf4cpU1@uni-berlin.de>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; delsp=yes; charset=iso-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
X-Trace: news.uni-berlin.de dnWxK4VeB6Oio31FuWfYvgO1KRW055MRD8Ql4Ku9FqOxMTH/w=
User-Agent: Opera M2/7.51 (Win32, build 3798)
Xref: g2news1.google.com comp.lang.ada:2259
Date: 2004-07-20T01:31:48+01:00
List-Id: <comp.lang.ada>

On Mon, 19 Jul 2004 13:46:58 -0500, Marc A. Criley <mcNOSPAM@mckae.com>  
wrote:

> One of the interesting conclusions of this paper is this:
>
> "Since the design of computer software is forever driven by its
> intended functionality and efficiency concerns, the room for
> artistically creative expression never arises. [...] It is more
> appropriate to consider the software objects of a computer
> program as analogous to the gears, pulleys, and levers of a
> mechanical invention, as by its very nature, the design of
> computer software is intended to optimize functionality by
> making a program run faster, use less memory, or be easier for
> the programmer to modify."

I would heartily agree with this synopsis -- particularly the
analogy with clockwork -- but I would suggest that the design of
the user interface of a computer program is often necessarily of
an artistic nature. After all, the design of clocks often has an
artistic element to it.

-- 
Nick Roberts