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Section 3 Creating Technology
Technology Explained
elegant solution: a product meeting a human need in the simplest,
most direct way.
Complex products and devices surround us. Many of these
products and devices have all kinds of frills and little add-ons
designers thought were necessary. Many of these add-ons, however,
complicate the designs and make the products hard to use.
The opposite of this is the product meeting a need in the
simplest and most effective way. Engineers call these elegant
solutions. These solutions should be the goal of every designer of
technological artifacts.
Think of an adhesive bandage, commonly known as the Band-
Aid® bandage. This bandage is designed to hold gauze over a small
cut or scratch. Can you think of a better solution? Over the years,
no one has thought of one. Therefore, the Band-Aid bandage is an
elegant solution.
Another commonplace product is the paper clip. See Figure A.
The paper clip temporarily holds sheets of paper together. Everyone
uses paper clips. No one has improved them. Again, this is an
elegant solution.
Think of a number of other devices that work so well that
improving them is a challenge. These devices include the zipper,
safety pin, stapler, ballpoint pen, pipe cleaner, and thong sandal.
Small details might change, such as the types of materials used. The
basic design, however, remains the same. Elegant solutions do not,
however, have to be simple products. There are many examples of
complex technological products that elegantly solve problems.
Consider the Apollo spacecraft. See Figure B. This spacecraft
carried three men into space and back with relative ease. The
spacecraft’s complex systems propelled and navigated the capsule.
The spacecraft provided heat, light, and fresh air for the three
astronauts inside. The capsule also protected the astronauts from
the outside environment.
Elegant solutions are everywhere. Have you ever tried to
read and record large volumes of numerical data? This is a time-
consuming process and one prone to error. A bar code reader, such
as the one shown in Figure C, makes this task quick and accurate.
The unit shown is the size of a handheld calculator. Despite its small
size, the device efficiently reads and processes the information
coded in the bars. Bar code readers are widely used to take
inventory in retail stores.
Figure 13-A. The paper clip is
an example of an elegant solution.
Figure 13-B. The Apollo
spacecraft is an example of an
elegant solution. Complex devices
can also be elegant solutions.
Figure 13-C. The bar code
reader is an elegant solution to a
modern problem.