'Impedance match' personal computers with engineers

Abstract

A framework to help judge the merits of personal computer applications is presented, and the idea of interface impedance between the engineer and the computer is discussed. It is argued that, just as in electrical circuits, the effective power transfer of personal computer usage is optimized when the impedance match is optimum. Different engineers have different impedances and different computer hardware/software configurations have different impedances. Some engineers want to do everything on a computer and some want to do nothing. Some tasks should and some should not be done on computers. This concept provides the software developer with guidance in development of useful programs by modeling end users as a spectrum of talent rather than users with assumed homogeneous talent.<>