Pnambic

1 definition found

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  pnambic
       
          /p*-nam'bik/ (From the scene in the film, "The Wizard of Oz"
          in which the true nature of the wizard is first discovered:
          "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain"). A term
          coined by Daniel Klein  for a stage of


          development of a process or function that, owing to incomplete
          implementation or to the complexity of the system, requires
          human interaction to simulate or replace some or all of its
          actions, inputs or outputs.  The term may also be applied to a
          process or function whose apparent operations are wholly or
          partially falsified or one requiring {prestidigitization}.
       
          The ultimate pnambic product was "Dan Bricklin's Demo", a
          program which supported flashy user-interface design
          prototyping.
       
          There is a related maxim among hackers: "Any sufficiently
          advanced technology is indistinguishable from a rigged demo."
          See {magic} for illumination of this point.
       
          ["Open Channel", IEEE "Computer", November 1981].
       
          [{Jargon File}]
       
          (1994-11-01)