Form and Function In Design Technology
Form and Function in Design Technology
FORM: m. I .The shape of something, its outward appearance 2. Its structure.
FUNCTION: it. .The special activity or purpose of a person or thing.
It has been argued that "Form follows Function" with reference o two similar products that you have studied discuss to what extent you believe this to be true.
Nothing epitomises modern life better than the computer. For better or for worse computers have infiltrated every aspect of our society. They are becoming increasingly a larger part of our life, we use them in our jobs, our homes, for work, for recreation and for communication. As they are so important in modem day living the look of the computer is essential, aesthetics is everything. Designers are becoming more and more ambitious in the design of the computer as the technological advances keep arriving. From the early Harvard-IBM Automatic-Sequence Controlled Calculator to the modem day IMAC, computers have advanced, and so has their design.
The evolution of the computer is split up into four stages, from the first generation to the forth.
First Generation Computers. (1945-1956)
With the onset of the Second World War, governments sought to develop computers to exploit their potential strategic importance. This increased funding for computer development projects hastened technical progress. By 1941 German engineer Konrad Zuse had developed a computer, the Z3, to design airplanes and missiles. The Allied forces, however, made greater
strides in developing powerful computers. In 1943, the British completed a secret code-breaking computer called Colossus to decode German messages.
At the same time, the americans were making broarder strides in the development of the computer. Howard H. Aiken (1900-1973), a Harvard engineer working with IBM, succeeded in producing an all-electronic calculator by 1944. The purpose of the computer was to create ballistic charts for the U.S. Navy. This computer was huge... it was about half as long as a football field and contained about 500 miles of wiring. The Harvard-IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator, or Mark I for short, was a electronic relay computer. It used electromagnetic signals to move mechanical parts. By todays standards the machine was incredibly slow taking approximatly 3-5 seconds per calculation, it was also inflexible in that sequences of calculations could not change; but it could perform basic arithmetic as well as more complex equations.
Another computer development spurred by the war was the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC), produced by a partnership between the U.S. government and the University of Pennsylvania. Consisting of 18,000 vacuum tubes, 70,000 resistors and 5 million soldered joints, the computer was such a massive piece of machinery that it consumed 160 kilowatts of electrical power, enough energy to dim the lights in an entire section of Philadelphia
First generation computers were characterized by the fact that operating instructions were made-to-order for the specific task for which the computer was to be used. Each computer had ...
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Another computer development spurred by the war was the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (ENIAC), produced by a partnership between the U.S. government and the University of Pennsylvania. Consisting of 18,000 vacuum tubes, 70,000 resistors and 5 million soldered joints, the computer was such a massive piece of machinery that it consumed 160 kilowatts of electrical power, enough energy to dim the lights in an entire section of Philadelphia
First generation computers were characterized by the fact that operating instructions were made-to-order for the specific task for which the computer was to be used. Each computer had a different binary-coded program called a machine language that told it how to operate. This made the computer difficult to program and limited its versatility and speed. Other distinctive features of first generation computers were the use of vacuum tubes (responsible for their breathtaking size) and magnetic drums for data storage
Second Generation Corn Ijuters (1956-1963)
By 1948, the invention of the transistor greatly changed the computer's development. The transistor replaced the large, cumbersome vacuum tube in televisions, radios and computers. As a result, the size of electronic machinery has been shrinking ever since. The transistor was at work in the computer by 1956. Coupled with early advances in magnetic-core memory, transistors led to second generation computers that were smaller, faster,
more reliable and more energy-efficient than their predecessors. The first large-scale machines to take advantage of this transistor technology were early supercomputers, Stretch by IBM and LARC by Sperry-Rand. These computers, both developed for atomic energy laboratories, could handle an enormous amount of data, a capability much in demand by atomic scientists.
Throughout the early 1960's, there were a number of commercially successful second generation computers used in business, universities, and government from companies such as Burroughs, Control Data, Honeywell, IBM, Sperry-Rand, and others. These second generation computers were also of solid state design, and contained transistors in place of vacuum tubes. They also contained all the components we associate with the modem day computer: printers, tape storage, disk storage, memory, operating systems, and stored programs. One important example was the IBM 1401, which was universally accepted throughout industry, and is considered by many to be the Model T of the computer industiy. By 19(5, most large business routinely processed financial information using second generation computers.
Second generation computers were the first to be cost effective and productive for business use. The stored program concept meant that instructions to run a computer for a specific function (known as a program) were held inside the computer's memory, and could quickly be replaced by a different set of instructions for a di fTerent function. A computer could print customer invoices andl minutes later design products or calculate paychecks.
Third Generation Computers (1964-1971)
Though transistors were clearly an improvement over the vacuum tube, they still generated a great deal of heat, which damaged the computer's sensitive internal parts. The quartz rock eliminated this problem. Jack Kilby, an engineer with Texas Instruments, dleveloped the integrated circuit (IC) in 1958. The IC combined three electronic components onto a small silicon disc, which was made from quartz. Scientists later managed to fit even more components on a single chip, called a semiconductor. As a result, computers became ever smaller as more components were squeezed onto the chip. Another third-generation dlevelopment included the use of an operating system that allowed machines to run many different programs at once with a central program that monitored and coordinated the computer's memory.
Fourth Generation Computers (1971 - present)
After the integrated circuits, the only place to go was down - in size, that is. Large scale integration could fit hundreds of components onto one chip this led to very large scale integration in the 1980's allowing thousands of components to be fitted onto a chip this again led to ultra large scale integration increasing the number of component on a chip to millions. The ability to fit so much onto an area about half the size of a U.S. dime helped diminish the size and price of computers. They became cheaper and more widespread and led to the creation of what are now household names in design and development such as Intel, commodore and Apple.
In 1981, IBM introduced its personal computer (PC) for use in the home, office and schools. The 1980's saw an expansion in computer use in all three arenas as clones of the iBM PC made the personal computer even more affordable. The nunTher of personal computers in use more than doubled from 2 million in 1981 to 5.5 million in 1982. Ten years later, 65 million PCs were being usei!. Computers continued their trend toward a smaller size, working their way down from desktop to laptop computers (which could fit inside a briefcase) to palmtop (able to fit inside a breast pocket). In direct competition with IBM's PC was Apple's Macintosh line, introduced in 1984. Notable for its user-friendly dlesign, the Macintosh offered an operating system that allowed users to move screen icons instead of typing instructions. Users controllcdl the screen cursor using a mouse, a device that mimicked the movement of one's hand on the computer screen. From its roots in government and military security system the computer had evolved and continues to do so, becoming increasingly faster and more affordable allowing everyone in on the technolonical revolution.
In 1998, Jonathan Ives, vice president of Apple Computer's Industrial Design Group headed the team of designers that created the futuristic, translucent aqua bub>le known as the iMac.
"what people recognise as a computer today is a beige box"
The personable british dcsigner joined Apple six years earlier following a career in designing evervhing from bathroom sinks and toilets to consumer electronic products 13/4r the Japanese market. He was charged with developing a design thr the iMac, Apple's new consumer Macintosh that would both bring Apple into the future, and tie it to its past.
Comparing his design to a toilet seat, the designer quoted,
"Just like a toilet, it was important that the function of the iMac as a PC be apparent from its form"
When the iMac was developed, what people recognised as a computer was a dull, mat finished beige box with harsh angles and flat sides, but this form has nothing to do with a computers function. With the iMac, Apple has redefined a computer's form, while making sure people could still recognise it as a computer.
From first impressions, the thing that will strike you most about the iMac is the all-in-one monitor and computer design, although this is not new. Infact, this is a hallmark design feature of Apple going back to the first Macintosh in 1984. In the creation of the iMac, ives took a historic form and brought it into the modern day.
The iMac is governed by what the consumers want, and that is perhaps why it becamee so successful. Firstly people wanted a smaller and more portable computer, especially in Europe and Asia where living spaces are smaller. The handle on the back of the machine invites people to pick it up and touch it and the few cables that connect to the machine make it easier to set up and avoid the need for complicated documentation. They have designed it in a simple and elegant way, this was to try and make people less afraid of computers, they wanted the iMac to be "approachable"
"The idea that the i2vlac comes in one box, has clear plastic that catches the light and shows its changing nature and has a shape that looks like it just arrived all contribute to the overall approachability and appeal of the machine.
