modularity

Sticking with todays topic of modularity, I wanted to talk about something that all of us use in our everyday life without even recognizing it. In fact, I had no idea that what I was doing was related to this strange five syllable word until today. We use modularity nearly every single day of our lives and don't even blink at the amount of innovation that has gone into it. 

An example of modularity that sparked my interest is the evolution of word processing documents. Sounds thrilling right? Wrong, it's not. However, what I found interesting is that we utilize a form of modularity every time we type up a two paged, double spaced wikepedia summary for one of our classes. Todays word processors are able to function completely independent of each other, yet through some magical process, seem to open and edit each other's documents with flawless ease. These programs are great examples of modularity in our lives. They operate completely independent of each other yet coupled with a minimal upgrade or built in convertor, they are able to work in cohesion between different computers and program versions. For example, no matter what version of Microsoft Office you happen to be using, you are able to open and edit your document with ease on a multitude of computers and operating systems. With the addition of the "x" on the end of the file name, some of the older versions may require an upgrade to open the newer documents. However once this "coupler" is installed, you will be able to open all versions of Office documents with ease. Mac has taken this a step further. Their new "office" package, iWork (Pages, Keynote, Numbers) is able to seamlessly open and edit all Microsoft documents, no matter the year or version. They have been able to build an advanced "coupling" system right into their software in order to maximize the ease of which we view and edit documents. If formats are not compatible (fonts, colors, etc.), the program will automatically convert into a compatible format and give the user a comprehensive list of things that were changed. No downloads or file conversions necessary. 

This is not particularly riveting stuff but its important to acknowledge the level of innovation that we are able to utilize on a day to day basis. This idea of modularity that once upon a time helped connect train cars together is now being used to easily integrate thousands of different world wide file formats into one easy user interface.