A succotash of projections and insights
Marc Rettig · Communications of the ACM · 1992
ProjectionsInsights Our project here in the Academic Computing Department, with a This column deviates from the usual straightforward report of someone's experience or description of a proven technique.Instead, it addresses three different topics in short order: * "Planning for Future Computers" reports on a study of the growth in desktop computing power and draws conclusions that relate to planning long-term software development.• "Interface Specialists, Where Are You?" addresses a weakness in my January 1992 column, "Interface Design When You Don't Know How" It discusses the need for interface specialists on a software team, and points out difficulties in trying to use them.• "Design From a Dramatic Perspective" reports on readers' responses to my ponderings about Brenda Laurel's book, Computers as Theater IE o Planning for Future Computers z I never thought I would be forecasting in this column.But if you want to do a good job of planning, z it is hard to avoid projecting trends.a The pace of change is so fast, so .. easy to underestimate, that evolving z o existing software for new hardware 7-platforms will lead to a dead end.Every so often it is necessary to