Technology is a knowledge of using tools and machines to do tasks more efficiently. We use technology to control the world we live in. Since the art of making fire and creating handcrafted tools, our civilization has come a long way.
Science and Technology are making advances at an astonishing rate. From telephones to the Internet, calculators to computers, cars to rockets and satellites, we are part of a new world of discoveries and inventions made possible by Science. Fields like Medicine and communications have changed our cultures and our lifestyles. The technology that surrounds almost everyone in the modern society, affects both work and recreational activities. Technology is one of the principal driving forces of the future; it is transforming our lives and shaping our future at incomparable rates in history. Technology is constantly changing, and advancing.
Many different elements affect how satisfied we are with our lives. The impact of technology on these elements can change how safe, healthy and happy people feel. Throughout history, people have looked for better ways to meet their needs and to satisfy their expectations. Technology has improved the way people feed, clothe and shelter themselves. Technology has also changed other aspects of everyday life, such as health care, education, job satisfaction, and leisure time activities. People have used technology since they first chipped stone blades to improve their hunting.
Some people call this current age the “Technological Age” because of society’s dependence on technology. For the first time in human history, almost all the goods and services people use depend on technology. The products of technology are available to almost everyone in society. The economy of a country influences how the people of the county live. Technology is often considered the key to a nation’s economic growth.
Many economists think that if technology sparks growth in one division of the economy in the form of increased productivity, growth will also occur in other division of the economy. Jobs may be lost in one industry, such as agriculture but new jobs may emerge in other parts of the economy. There may be more jobs or, in some case, completely new kinds of jobs. Technology may also be used to solve urgent problems. Our growing population is using up infinite supplies of natural resources. Innovations in technology allow for more efficient uses of limited or scarce resources.
More products might be made from the same amount of raw material using new techniques. Technology can increase productivity to help countries compete with other countries in selling goods and services. Some say that without technological improvements, the economy would grow slowly or not at all. Society could remain the same for years.
Ways to manufacture goods have changed continuously through history. Today, several important new advances in technology are transforming. These technologies create new products; most of them also change the way people in society interact. These technologies have a tremendous impact on our financial resources.
Some of the technologies that are having the greatest effect on the economy are: robotics, automation and computerization. Everyday in society people are making improvements, and decisions that have an impact on their society and technology. One of the most important decisions we make concerns the way we move ourselves, and our possessions. Our system of transportation greatly affects how we use energy, develop technology, the economy and environment, and our relationships. When Henry Ford was starting out on his remarkable career in Detroit the economy was at an all time low and at the time no one could of forecasted what was about to happen.
Carriage and buggy-whip makers were still making good profits in a growing market, and there were few cars on the dusty roads. Yet, within a few short years, Ford and others would shape consumer products out of the new technologies that would set in motion a huge economic transformation. Henry Ford didn’t invent the automobile. Nor did he invent mass production or the assembly line. Ford is famous because he took these existing concepts and incorporated them into an efficient, large-scale system of manufacturing inexpensive, reliable cars. Cars have made a big difference in the way communities have been designed.
Street layout, the design of homes and traffic laws have changed as methods of transportation has changed throughout history. Automobiles are responsible for more than half the airborne pollution in the western world. Many plans are being developed to control air pollution. Pollution controls devices for cars have also been developed. For example, catalytic systems were installed in many car exhaust systems in the 1980s.
These devices change dangerous gases into harmless carbon dioxide and water. They also burn up much of the exhaust with fresh air in a chamber near the exhaust pipe. The car of the future will need new designs which make even better use of the fuel which powers them. Technology was pushed forward for the need to fix the problems of air pollution caused by the creation of the automobile. Advances are constantly being made to perfect different creations.
Cars influence the ways communities are developing. Since it is possible to drive great distances rapidly, many people choose to live far away, from where they work. Many cities have a downtown core where people work and a suburban area where they live. People may spend a great deal of time commuting through rush hour traffic. Because of all the advances, once again technology has changed our living styles.
In spite of many problems, it is hard to imagine a society without cars. Cars and trucks have become so important that most people would not want to do without them. They would prefer to see the design and construction of cars changed to accommodate safety and environment concerns. The car has helped create jobs, freedom, convenience and fun as well as pollution, traffic jams and urban collapse. The challenge facing the auto industry is to keep pace with the changing values of society and to develop the technology to do so, and so on goes the need for new technology. Computers are also a huge technological advance in todays society.
They were first invented as a big calculator, and now with the help of computers we can communicate with people all over the world with the touch of a button. Computers are used in most manufacturing industries today, and used to automate processes in much faster ways. These can be office procedures such as word processing or bookkeeping, or production processes such as cutting and assembling clothes. They are becoming an important part of industrial design. The wide use to computers has stimulated companies, which manufacture the many parts needed to make and operate them. Technology has helped increase the speed of communication and decrease its cost.
In earlier times, the major form of communication was for people to visit each other and go to public meeting places. One of the next major advances was the telephone. Due to the telephone, people no longer went to the public meeting places as often as they used to. As time goes on, new advances still allow people to contact and communicate with each other more easily. These advances such as faxes, beepers, and electronic mail, although seemingly making life easier.
The field of medicine, like the field communication, also had many advances, has also caused many difficulties. As scientists and doctors try to come up with cures for the many diseases we have today, they are also making new ones. For example, when scientists went to Africa in search of a cure for a disease, they came back with monkeys that were contaminated with the Emboli virus. Today in Russia, there are military bases where Russian scientists are creating thousands of germs and viruses to use in germ warfare. These germs and viruses are capable of killing thousands of people instantly. Technology can be used against us as well, and everyday doctors and military personnel try to come up with ways to cure or destroy human life.
As technology continues to advance and society moves “forward”, people continue to aspire for more. In conclusion, technology continues to advance at a rapid rate. This quest to understand the ways in which our surroundings work has led to many scientific discoveries and innovations. The more we learn and develop the faster the rate of technology is. With these advances come more technological problems that arouse a demand for more new scientific knowledge. Because of all the advances in technology that have already taken place in our past we can now explore and research new ideas, cures in medical fields, in communications, and new forms of transportation.
