A camel, according to the famous cliché, is a horse designed by a committee.

It’s a terrific image, and makes the point so well. In fact it makes several points. Some people think the phrase is meant to illustrate what an ugly, ungainly animal can result when you start tinkering with a perfectly adequate concept – the horse. Others, however, claim that the camel has several useful enhancements providing additional functionality – and proving how valuable the ‘committee’ proved.

Yet others point out that lateral thinking, or minority views in the committee led to more variants of the camel, adding to the wonderful diversity of human life.