Modeling The Physical World
A computer model represents characteristics of some physical phenomenon, and attempts to reproduce or approximate their behavior and/or outputs in response to inputs
- Trivial example -- the Mac’s Audio CD Player, discussed as the “perfect GUI,” attempts to replicate a physical CD player to aid users in understanding its operation
- Complex example -- Boeing’s 777 was designed on-line; certain parts such as the wing used sophisticated techniques computational fluid dynamics to create an “optimal” design
The examples have dramatically different purposes