Posted by Kevin Scholl on 01/26/08 16:45

Neredbojias wrote:
> Well bust mah britches and call me cheeky, on Fri, 25 Jan 2008 20:35:34
> GMT dorayme scribed:
>
>>>>> To state there are 2 major qualities to a web page - design and
>>>>> engineering - and it takes both to make a good one
>>>> Well, if you think there is some distinction between two that is
>>>> not normally obvious, you need to explain it clearly. I can't see
>>>> that you have.
>>>
>>> Go back to the cup-with-a-handle thing. The shapes of the cup and
>>> handle are a design thing that includes utility and feasibility. Ie,
>>> can you fit your fingers in the handle without burning them, will the
>>> handle break, is drinking from such a cup easy for the drinker, etc.,
>>> etc. The designer must, indeed, know certain things about cup
>>> construction. However, exactly how these goals are achieved at the
>>> fundamental level (-is the ceramic strong enough and watertight and
>>> amenable to mass production precesses, etc.) is engineering.
>>
>> You have lost me, I am not kidding. It is not that I don't
>> understand the bits and pieces in your paragraph. It is trying to
>> understand themas a whole. The shape of a cup will influence
>> whether it leaks - it needs a bottom. Is this design or
>> engineering?
>
> Uh, let's try a car. A designer designs a car. It's to be a sports car
> and should be small and light but powerful. He determines the shape and
> can guage the size and appx weight. He decides the engine should be about
> 280 hp or more to overcome the necessary weight, wind resistance, etc., of
> the impending vehicle. However, there is a limited anount of room under
> the hood and no currently-produced engine fits the bill. Ergo, an engine
> must be _engineered_ to meet the requirements _if possible_ or the designer
> must be informed that a change in engine-compartment size is really
> necessary.

Perhaps not the best analogy for your argument.

Interestingly, I would say that the development of this new engine
requires design as well as engineering. Not from an aesthetic viewpoint,
no. But characteristics such as size and orientation (depending upon the
space into which it need be placed), as well as not-so-subtle elements
such as how its exhaust system integrates into the vehicle, are DESIGN
issues. Again, the engineering is in the actual building and
implementation of the engine. Both are inherently necessary to solve the
problem.

> Make sense now?

I dunno, does it? :)

--

Kevin Scholl
http://www.ksscholl.com/

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