The adjective compact comes from the Latin compactus, in turn derived from compingĕre (which can be translated as “join”). Something compact is condensed, condensed, or tight, with no gaps or pores. It is also said compact to that of reduced dimensions or that is solid.
For example: “As of next week, the newspaper will begin to be published in a compact format “, “When I was eighteen years old, my father gave me a compact car”, “We have managed to form a compact, seamless team. “
A compact disc, also known by the English expression compact disc or the acronym CD, is an optical disc that is used for the storage of digital information, such as music, photographs and videos.
These compact discs have a thickness of 1.2 millimeters and a diameter of 12 centimeters. According to the type of data they contain, they can be reproduced on computers (computers), audio equipment, DVD players or other machines.
Compact discs reached their peak in the 1990’s, but their popularity gradually declined with the emergence of music in digital format. Initially, piracy threatened to destroy the industry, but over time new digital distribution options appeared that benefit artists and consumers, with affordable prices and satisfactory quality, although not as faithful to the source as that of CD (Note that the compact disc also sacrifices certain nuances of the recordings to store so many tracks).
On the other hand, the small car is called a compact car. In addition, it can be said that a car is compact when it has a Hatchback- type body (with a cabin for the passengers that includes the integrated trunk, accessible through a rear door) or when it belongs to the so-called C segment (with space for five adults) .
That which has a size or a format smaller than others in its class, finally, can also receive the qualification Compact: A camera compact a compact phone a compact city, etc. In general, compactness is associated with simplicity or comfort of use.
Taking the example of the compact camera we can point out other characteristics that sometimes emerge from products of this type. Although on the one hand it offers the advantage of being able to be carried in any bag or even in a pocket, of not having moving parts that can be lost or easily broken and of being very accessible to any user, with or without previous knowledge of photography, the The compact camera is far inferior to the SLR in terms of its performance, so it could not replace it in any situation.
On the other hand, the consumer must understand these differences before making a decision, since not everyone needs the complexity that a traditional or professional product offers. At present, photographic cameras do not have a bit of the popularity that they reached decades ago, due to the high quality of the cameras present in mobile phones (smartphones); here we have a peculiar example of an ultra compact product that outpaces a compact one, although it also loses performance in the process of reducing its dimensions.
In the field of graphic web design, the concept seems to have more advantages than disadvantages as it refers to a “clean” presentation, with few options in sight and an easy-to-understand user interface. For example, a compact design usually groups as many options as possible under the same section, which is accessed from a single button, and in the same way seeks to centralize all the functions in a single toolbar.
