Austerity is a word much found on the lips of politicians and economists at the moment; but it is seldom heard from technologists. And although the idea that "less is more" has many adherents in architecture, design and fashion,rnthe technology industry has historically espoused the opposite view. Products should have as many features as possible; and next year's version should have even more. As prices fall, what starts off as a fancy new feature quickly becomes commonplace-try buying a phone without a camera, or a car without electric windows-prompting companies to add new features in an effort to outdo their rivals. Never mind if nobody uses most of these new features (this article is being typed into word-processing software from 1997, for instance, but it seems to work perfectly well). In an arms race, more is always more.
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