Chapter -1, “Technology”

Technology : Definition
• Technology comes from Greek words techne & [Link] means
art,skill,or the way ,manner, or means by which a thing is gained. Logos
means study. So, literally, technology means study about the way things are
gained.

• Technology is defined as the purposeful application of information in the

design, production ,utilization of goods & service and in the organization of
human activities.
 Characteristics of Technology
 Technology is knowledge based
 Technology is fundamental to survival
 Technology is accumulative
 Technology extends our capabilities
 Technology is future oriented
 Technology is irreversible
 Technology is useful servant but bad master
 Impacts of Technology in Society
Positive Impacts
• New Technology Based Employment Opportunities;
• Race amongst nations to provide the best technological advancement
• Increased Competition
• Increase Living standards of People

Negative Impacts
• New forms of crimes such as Intellectual Property Theft, Hacking, Cyber crime.
• Obesity ( getting fat) due to lack of physical exercise
• Over Dependence on Technology
• Less time for family
• Less Exercise
• New forms of health problems due to time spent in front of a computer , exposure to industrial
technology , radiation
• Exposure to radiation from cellular networks
• New forms of accidents, flight crashes, road accidents, industrial accidents
 Impacts of Technology in
Environment
• Increased Energy Consumption
• Increased Pollution
• Reduced fertility of soil as a result of dependence on fertilizers, insecticides
and pesticides.
• Increased Natural Resource Exploitation
• New forms of waste: toxic waste, radioactive waste and electronic waste.
• Long term effects such as global warming, climate change , ozone layer
depletion.
 Benefits of Technology
• Health Sectors
• Education Sectors
• Communication Sectors
• Business Sectors
• Agriculture Sectors
 Benefits of Technology
• Health Sectors
 Advancement technology Leads to end of many diseases and discoveries
of many medicine help to prevent new form of diseases.
 Medicine research has become advance.
 Personal records of patients are maintained that helps to treatment and
diagnosis of the diseases easier.
 Advanced technology , tools & equipments are invented in the medical
sector that helps in the easy of treatment process.
• Education Sectors
 E- learning and online education has made education simple &
systematic for an individual to receive knowledge and improve skill.
 The use of computers & technology in classroom has opened up, a whole
new method of teaching and effective learning.
 Immediate response to queries & tests has made the whole education
process a lot faster.
 Benefits of Technology
• Communication Sector
 The speed of talking to one another is instantaneous
 The clarity of communication has also improved with improvements in
audio & video quality.
 The world has become a smaller place since no one is out of reach
anymore.
 Information can be transferred from any part of the world quickly due to
development of social networking's, mobile networking etc.
• Business sector
 Quality Products are provided to the customers with competitive price.
 Companies have become more profitable with the help of various
advanced machines and equipments
 Mass production
 Global collaborations & partnerships are easier to start and maintain, this
will benefit to involved in any international business.
• Agriculture: Food Production has greatly improved. Farming has been fully
automated. A few farms can feed the whole country.
 Appropriate Technology
• Appropriate Technology is the technology designed to be suitable to the
needs and resources of a particular group of people.
• The goal of appropriate technology is to increase the standard of living for
the developing world with out environment damage.
Examples of successful appropriate technologies are :
1) Building Construction :use of Natural Ventilation instead of ACs
2) Agriculture: Use of compost manures
3) Water supply : Use of SODIS (Solar Water Disinfection) method
(treatment through sun light) ,rainwater harvesting
4) Energy sector : Bio-gas, Micro Hydropower
5) Transportation: Human powered Bicycle
6) Sanitation : Ecological Sanitation
 Characteristics of appropriate
technology
 Requirement of fewer resources
 Meets actual need of people
 Lower cost technology
 Use of renewable energy source
 Less impact on environment
 Labor intensive
 Environmentally sound
 Locally controlled
 Small scale technology
Other examples of appropriate
technology
• Solar Powered Light bulb
• Rocket Stove
• Lifestraw Water Filter

A very revolutionary portable water filter that has helped rural africa
decrease water borne diseases by upto 50% . The filter is so
effective that water of almost any quality can be used for drinking.
 Intermediate Technology
• Technology based on basic skills that are available in
developing countries and that require a simple, easily
learned and maintained technology.
• “ Although somewhat similar to Appropriate
Technology, Intermediate Technology is primitive in
nature whilst Appropriate Technology can be
sophisticated enough to meet the scenario.”
• Examples:
• a pedal-powered maize Sheller rather than a commercial
mill.
 Labor Based , Labor Intensive
Technology
• Labor Based Technology : The term labor-based technology is used
to describe a technology that applies a labor/equipment mix that
gives priority to labor, supplementing it with appropriate equipment
where necessary for reasons of quality or cost.

• Labor-Intensive Technology: Technology in which a large amount of

labor is used. For example, window-cleaning or brick-laying are
labor-intensive jobs.
 Characteristics of Information
Society
• Information is used as an economic resource.
• Organizations make greater use of information to:
 increase their efficiency, to stimulate innovation
 to increase their effectiveness and competitive position, often through
improvements in the quality of the goods and services that they produce.
• Greater use of information among the general public.
 People use information more intensively in their activities.
 To inform their choices between different products to explore their
entitlements to public ser-vices, and to take greater control over their own
lives.
• Development of an information sector within the economy.
 The function of the information sector is to satisfy the general demand for
information facilities and services. A significant part of the sector is
concerned with the technological infrastructure: the networks of
telecommunications and computers.
 Role of Technology to Unmask old
social Problems
• Unmasking of cast discrimination & superstitions with the help of modern
technology.
• Unmasking of chronic social problems by regular advertisement and
awareness programmes using modern technology like television, internet
etc.
• Drastically exposing the cases of violence against women.
• With the help of mass media , social drama & awareness created by women
human right activists, the tradition concept has been slowly changing.
 Impacts of Technology on
Employment
• Creation of job due to technological advancement for data analyzer,
software engineer, computer engineer etc.
• Growth of industries lead to industrialization due to which many people
became workers in a very large numbers.
• Technology has impacts on worker’s lives, workers have to upgrade their
skills to keep pace with changes in work & computer based technologies.
• Quality of Product and Service.
• Many people have lost their jobs as a result.
• Most production processes now uses machines
which are faster , precise, very inexpensive
Shifts in Employment due to
and can work around the clock. Many people
have lost their jobs as a result.
Technological Advancement
• But new jobs opportunities have also been
created. The value of information has
increased. Information is valued more than a
physical product.
• New jobs for System Administrators, Data
Analyzers, Software Engineers , Computer
Engineers, Data entry personnel's etc have
emerged.
• Human Powered Ploughing has also been
replaced by tractors in agriculture.
 Agricultural Age
• Between the 18th and the 19th century , the
tools of farming basically stayed the same and
few advancements in technology were made.
• The agricultural revolution was a period of
agricultural development between the 18th
century and the end of the 19th century, which
saw a massive and rapid increase in
agricultural productivity and vast
improvements in farm technology.
 Key Developments in Agricultural
Age
• Plow & Moldboard : for digging
• Seed Drills : to sow seeds
• Machines that harvest : Sickles, reapers and harvesters
• Field system was invented which allowed a number of crops to be
harvested from the same field in the same year. This retained the fertility
and increased fertility
• Land is the main source of wealth.
 Industrial Age
• The Industrial Revolution was the Period of transition to new
manufacturing processes.
• This transition included
– going from hand production methods to machines,
– new chemical manufacturing and iron production processes,
– improved efficiency of hydro power,
– the increasing use of steam power and the development of
machine tools.
– It also included the change from wood and other bio-fuels to coal.
– Production is the main source of wealth.
 Information Age
• The Information Age (also known as the Computer Age, Digital Age, or
New Media Age) is a period in human history characterized by the shift
from traditional industry that the industrial revolution brought through
industrialization, to an economy based on information computerization.
• It is the age or society where creation, distribution ,uses, integration and
manipulation of information is carried out to develop society with respect
to economical, cultural & increase productivity with competitive way.
• This is the age or society in which majority of service worker are engaged
with the creation, Processing & distribution of information as Programmer,
engineers etc.
• During the information age, the phenomenon is that the digital industry
creates a knowledge-based society surrounded by a high-tech global
economy that spans over its influence on how the manufacturing
industries and the service sector operate in an efficient and convenient
way.
• Information /Knowledge is the main source of wealth.
 Impacts of Technology in
Tradition and social values
 Technology has had some positive as well as negative impacts in tradition &
Social values.
– It has helped to clear out superstitions that were prevalent mostly in
health practices.
– Although the major factor affecting tradition is the generation change.
But Technology has had a part in that. The new generation lived with
technology , they’ve had luxury all their lives and have had access to
information , education and their way of thinking is different. New
generations tend to divert away from traditions and norms.
– Technology also has had a part in inducing family conflicts as people
have very less time to spend with their families. People are unhappy as a
result.
– Religious Preachers have found new ways to preach religion like TV,
Social Media, Internet.
– Social Isolation: Addictive use of internet can lead to social Isolation,
increased depression etc.
– Ways of life & value has been changing in context of dress habit,
 Technology is Irreversible
• Technology is irreversible & it moves ahead
with time.
• Newer technologies are adopted; older are
discarded.
• The path has never been backwards.
• A few examples:
Speed of internet never going to decrease.
Pigeons will never deliver our mail again.
Cars will even get smarter.
Industries will continue to go autonomous.
 Information as Power &
Wealth
• Old economics law defines wealth in terms of land , products & capital
but new source of power is information.
• Information(knowledge) is not subjected to law of conservation. it is
synergetic or cumulative. (eg. of dollar and ideas)
• Information is the Currency of today’s world.
• Those who control information are the most powerful people in the
world.
• Amount of information lies higher in the hierarchy where power is
concentrated.
• Information Power gives the knowledge to fight & win in many
circumstances.