Technology is increasingly impacting our working and personal lives significantly, but what is technology? Technology refers to more than just tangible things such as computers as it will be explained later in the paper. Technology has different meanings depending on the viewpoint of a person and the context.
The present paper defines technology, identifies technological advancements that have impacted people, and determines how technology has impacted people.
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Technology can be considered broadly to be a combination of different processes and knowledge that people use to create new products and services that address existing problems (BP, 2014). These products can be tangible or intangible. Examples of tangible products include trains, airplanes, cars, electric iron, computers, smartphones, drugs, water-treatment plants, and cars. Intangible products include the processes and knowledge required to make and operate them. Examples include technical skills, manufacturing expertise, and engineering expertise. Technology can, therefore, be defined as a process through which people solve problems using scientific knowledge in a structured manner (BP, 2014). The need to examine beyond visual world led to the invention of the microscope. The microscope helped scientists to understand smaller organisms and led to the development of additional technologies such as drugs.
Different technological advancements have greatly impacted people by transforming the way they do things. Examples of these technological advancements include steam machines, cars, and airplanes. The early invention of the steam engine, for example, led to an exponential improvement in various sectors including manufacturing, agriculture, and transportation. The emergence of the steam engine including its underlying mechanism of transforming energy into motion led to later technological developments such as jet turbines and internal combustion engines that led to the invention of airplanes and cars (Its History, 2015). The invention of the car was also another notable technological advancement that enhanced transportation and influenced the development of other technologies (Its History, 2015). For instance, mass production methods emerged for car production, which spread to other products. Other industries in steelmaking, oil refinery, glass making, and paint production also emerged to support the car industry. The invention of the airplane also greatly impacted the transportation industry by allowing people to travel over long distances or between continents within a short time (Datacube, 2015). Cars could not move over oceans but airplanes could which greatly enhanced globalization. The airplane invention also laid the foundation for the current aeronautical engineering field that employs millions of people.
Society today relies significantly on technology for improved well-being. The impact of technology on people has been generally positive. For instance, the information technology world allows people to create, manipulate, distribute and store information. The internet technology allows humans to acquire education through various study materials including videos while engaging in their daily work. Electronic mail and other messaging technologies allow people to connect over a long distance, get updates of events across the globe, and share multimedia messages including pictures and videos. A person can now work on a job in another continent through the internet, which helps in addressing the issue of skill shortage in some regions. Leaders can attend business meetings without being physically present through video conferencing. Advances in the medical field have allowed doctors to manage serious illness such as cancer.
Technology has also influenced agriculture production positively through mechanization. Mechanization allows a few people to work on farms to produce vast food quantities within a short period using less input. The invention of tilling, planting, irrigation, and harvesting machines allows both small and medium-sized farmers to produce more food. Other agricultural inventions such as pest-resistant crops and artificial fertilizer have also boosted agricultural production. The transportation industry has also benefited from technology through various inventions such as cars, trains, airplanes, roads, railways, ships, and motorbikes. These techniques move both people and goods from one location to another within a short time.
Technology refers to the creation of new products and services to address specific problems in society by combining knowledge and various processes. Technologies such as the steam engine, cars, and airplanes greatly impacted human beings by enhancing transportation and influencing the development of other technologies. The impact of technology has been generally positive in which technology has been found to enhance communication over long distances or between continents in a short time, improve the movement of people and goods, and enhance agricultural production.
References
BP. (2014). How do you define technology? Retrieved January 10, 2020, from https://youtube.com/watch?v=0eqapoQBtLQ .
Datacube. (2015). 7 factors about airplanes: History of flying and future of aviation . Retrieved January 10, 2020, from https://youtu.be/u7VDAErwFJo
It’s History. (2015). The Steam machine changes the world [Video]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/cPIcoaWPcIg
It’s History. (2015). The invention of the car . Retrieved January 10, 2020, from https://youtu.be/6FrFlBUVDqU
