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
2020-03-28
68
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 for 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 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.”,可知,随着商品价格的下降,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/IaWd777K
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
Theauthorholdsthatengineeringandhumanitieshavetheleastincommon.Theotherstudentsdidn’tunderstandthelanguageof
LincolnUniversity,beginningasaschoolofagriculture,istheoldestinstitutioninthecommonwealth.
LincolnUniversity,beginningasaschoolofagriculture,istheoldestinstitutioninthecommonwealth.
AndrenaGravidaisthenameofawildbeedecliningintheUnitedKingdomandtheNetherlands.A(31)ofmonthsagotherecentd
Youhavereadanarticleinamagazinewhichiscarryingonadiscussionon"Howtosolvetheproblemoftrafficjamsinbigcit
Thediagnosisofthebrother’scancercaughtthefamilyoffguard.
Itwasamomentmostbusinessexecutiveswouldpausetosavor:latelastyear,GermansportinggoodspioneerAdidaslearnedthat
PauloncelecturedoncookingwithpracticaldemonstrationsinAustraliaandNewZealand.
______indicatesthatEcoiswellacclaimedacrosstheworld?betraysthenamesofthewritersthereviewerhimselfloves?
Tobeginwith,wearewitnessinga(31)explosionof"solos"—peoplewholive(32),outsideafamilyaltogether.Between1970and
随机试题
对医师的业务水平、工作成绩和职业道德状况,依法享有定期考核权的单位是
某高土石坝坝体施工项目,业主与施工总承包单位签订了施工总承包合同,并委托了工程监理单位实施监理。施工总承包完成桩基工程后,将深基坑支护工程的设计委托给了专业设计单位,并自行决定将基坑的支护和土方开挖工程分包给了一家专业分包单位施工,专业设计单位根据业
加强会计职业道德建设,是提高广大会计人员素质的一项基础性工作,因此是每个单位、每个部门的责任。()
基金管理人需至少()公告1次封闭式基金的资产净值和份额净值。
我国《会计法》第三条规定:“各单位必须依法设置会计账簿,并保证其真实、完整”。该法律规范属于()。
俗话说“情人眼里出西施”,按照社会心理学的理解,这句话说明了()。
不在教师资格认定程序之列的是()
简述认知差异的教育含义。
我国致力于促进普通高中发展的多样化和特色化.一方面是为了满足社会对人才的多元化需求,另一方面是为了适应高中学生发展的()。
下列广义积分发散的是().
最新回复
(
0
)