Posts by Ian Grant

netbook v windows 8

Very happy with my eeePC for use on the road. However the maximum screen resolution is insufficient to launch from 'Metro'; have to click through to the traditional desktop in order to run anything. Bit annoying.

Browser+Java

If this runs a proper browser with full Java support then it might actually be useful.

The iPad is just a toy.

Suitable for government use

Maybe government depts can use them for sending peoples personal details by snail-mail; at least they'd be able to stop looking for them after a couple of days...

design tools are needed

Of course you don't need them for piddly little programs of a few hundred lines or the odd web page. Any idiot can see that.

However, you sit down and start writing the code to control an Airbus, on your own, with no design. Not so easy is it? A good design methodology simply gives you the tools to express your ideas on paper in a manner that another engineer can understand. It is very difficult to carry the details of a large complex system in your head; it is impossible to discuss it sensibly with someone else because they will have a slightly different picture in their head.

Keeping the design up to date during the build can be difficult but is worthwhile. Some of the problems you encounter during build and testing will be design related; it is essential that these problems are resolved as a design issue, so you need an up-to-date design. That way you can make sure that when you resolve the "won't take off" problem you don't introduce a "crashes on landing" problem.

The original article is amusingly written and is a good lampoon. However, using design tools for the tasks depicted is a bit like using a JCB to bury a hamster,