首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Austerity is a word often found on the lips of politicians and economists at the moment, but it is seldom heard from technologis
Austerity is a word often found on the lips of politicians and economists at the moment, but it is seldom heard from technologis
admin
2014-06-20
38
问题
Austerity is a word often found on the lips of politicians and economists at the moment, but it is seldom heard from technologists. And although the idea that "less is more" has many adherents in architecture, design and fashion, the technology industry has historically espoused the opposite view. Products should have as many features as possible: and next year’s version should have even more. As prices fall, what starts off as a fancy new feature quickly becomes commonplace—try buying a phone without a camera, or a car without electric windows—prompting companies to add new features in an effort to outdo their rivals. Never mind if nobody uses most of these new features. In an arms race, more is always more.
But now there are signs that technologists are waking up to the benefits of minimalism, thanks to two things: feature fatigue among consumers who simply want things to work, and strong demand from less affluent consumers in the developing world. It is telling that the market value of Apple, the company most closely associated with simple, elegant high-tech products, recently overtook that of Microsoft, the company with the most notorious case of new-features. True, Apple’s products contain lots of features under the hood, but the company has a knack for concealing such complexities by using elegant designs. Other companies have also prospered by providing easy-to-use products: think of the Nintendo Wii video-game console or the Flip video camera. Gadgets are no longer just tor geeks, and if technology is to appeal to a broad audience, simplicity trumps fancy specifications.
Another strand of techno-austerity can be found in software that keeps things simple in order to reduce distractions and ensure that computer-users remain focused and productive. Many word processors now have special full-screen modes, so that all unnecessary and distracting menus, palettes and so on are disabled or hidden: rather than fiddling with font sizes or checking e-mail, you are encouraged to get on with your writing. If the temptation to have a quick look at Facebook proves too much, there are programs that will disable access to particular websites at specified times of day: and if that is not draconian enough, there are even some programs that can block internet access altogether. A computer on which some features are not present, or have been deliberately disabled, may in fact be more useful if you are trying to get things done. There are no distracting hyperlinks on a typewriter. Then there is the phenomenon of "frugal" innovation. Low-cost laptops were inspired to be produced for children in poor countries, but have since proved popular with consumers around the world.
All this offers grounds for hope. If the feature-obsessed technology industry can change its tune, perhaps there is a chance that governments—which have also tended to be inveterate believers in the idea that more is more—might also come to appreciate the merits of minimalism.
What does "less is more" mean?
选项
A、The less expensive a product is, the more popular it will be.
B、The simpler a product is, the better the design is.
C、The less fancy a product looks, the more competitive it becomes.
D、The fewer features a product has, the more difficult to sell it.
答案
C
解析
推理题。题目问的是“‘less is more’的意思是什么?”。文章第一段提到“As prices fall,what starts off as a fancy new fea一ture quickly becomes commonplace—try buying a phone without acamera.or a car without electric windows—prompting companiesto add new features in an effort to outdo their rivals.”,司知,随看商品价格的下降,消费者更愿意去购买那些外观很简单的商品,而这种趋势无形中也增加了公司的竞争力。故选C。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/C8Xd777K
本试题收录于:
公共英语五级笔试题库公共英语(PETS)分类
0
公共英语五级笔试
公共英语(PETS)
相关试题推荐
Somepeoplesaythatsocialchangeoccursmorequicklyinheterogeneoussocieties(wherethereisamixtureofdifferentkindso
AnswerquestionsbyreferringtothecommentsinamagazinearticleonfourfamousHollywoodactors.A=GeorgeClooney
Ajobinterviewisyourchanceto(31)anemployerwhatheorshewillgetifyou’re(32).Thatiswhyitis(33)tobewellpre
Somepeoplesaythatsocialchangeoccursmorequicklyinheterogeneoussocieties(wherethereisamixtureofdifferentkindso
______hasadriverseatthatcanbeadjustedtofitmostpeople?______hasitshandbookcriticised?
______hasadriverseatthatcanbeadjustedtofitmostpeople?______wouldremainsilentintheeventoftheft?
Thepassageismainlyconcernedwith______.Therealcausefortherise,accordingtosomeeconomists,isthat______.
Accordingtosomedoctorsandpoliticians,theamountofsaltconsumed______.FromDr.Dustan’sstudywecaninferthat______
Iwasnotmorethanthirteenyearsoldatthetime,(31),butIrememberthemomentasifit(32)yesterday.Ihadjusttakenmy
随机试题
论述实验设计的基本方法。
口眼干燥综合征类风湿性关节炎
患者女性,60岁,送检组织为膀胱肿瘤标本,肉眼检查:肿瘤直径约3cm,呈乳头状,表面溃疡形成,切面灰白、质硬,侵及膀胱肌层。符合此肿瘤的诊断最大可能是
下列处理烃类废气措施中,属于回收法的有()。
导游员在接团前的心理准备主要有()这两个方面。
盘古开天、女娲补天、伏羲画卦、神农尝草、夸父追日、精卫填海、愚公移山等我国古代神话深刻反映了中国人民具有()
数据库性能优化是数据库应用系统上线后最常见的运行维护任务之一。下列有关数据库性能优化的说法,错误的是()
Lookatthequestionsforthispart.Youwillhearapassageabout"Migrationinthe19thCentury".Youwilllistentoitt
WhereCantheexpression“lameduck”beheard?
Whydon’tbirds(71)lostontheirlongflightsfromoneplacetoanother?Scientistshavepuzzledoverthis(72)formany
最新回复
(
0
)