Define Pnambic

Copyright © 1982, IEEE - Reprinted without Permission

I am writing to support pnambic* systems rightful place in system design methodology. While Klein seems to cast aspersions on pnambic systems, I (a pnambicphile) have put them to good use on several occasions. Once when defining a computerized process control system, I used a CRT with cassette tape recorder to compose and store all possible displays. To demonstrate man-machine interaction for various operational scenarios, a script was read and a new display was pulled from the tape at appropriate times. This pnambic system was portable, and allowed me to obtain the opinion of management and potential customers at low cost before system specifications were actually written.

In my current project, a computer driven color graphic pnambic system will be used to define man-machine interaction requirements for a real-time control system. I am inspired by Klein's letter to remove the drab "Man-Machine Interface Development Lab" and replace it with one reading "Laboratory for Applied Pnambic Science." We are indebted to Danial Klein for defining the term pnambics, and I believe it deserves a respected place in system design, perhaps as a branch of simulation.

*Pnambic (NAM-bic) adj. [Acronym for "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain."] defined by Daniel Klein in Open Channel, Computer, Vol. 14, No. 11, Nov. 1981, p. 112.