Technologies are tools and part of human evolution
An essential part of human evolution has been our ability to adapt and invent, and to solve problems. “So the major trends in technology evolution actually are the same as in biological evolution” (Kelly, 2005). Inventing a solution to a problem can be termed technology. Technology is defined as “the science of craft” and comes from the Greek words meaning “art, skill, cunning of hand”.
Therefore technology is the tools and skills acquired from solving a problem and the transfer of those skills and knowledge into practical use. How we acquire and utilise technology and measure its impact is important economically. “Making complexity easier is the great craft of our era” (Lanier, 2014, p. 345). Advancements in computer technology are accelerating.
The information age is entering another stage of technological progress due to changes in computational power. “The performance and power of just about all forms of technology double every two years or so, yet prices stay the same or decline” (Nowak, 2015, p. 3). Many experts talk about Moore’s Law. This term is named after Gordon Moore, an American electrical engineer. The Law describes how the number of transistors on a micro processor chip will double every two years thus increasing a computers performance. As computers increase in power and decrease in size, a new class of machines has emerged roughly every ten years (Waldrop, 2016).
However the diminishing size of transistors is limited because the chips that house these components are increasingly getting hotter (Waldrop, 2016).
References:
Kelly, K. (2005, February). Transcript of “How technology evolves” Retrieved April 16, 2016, from https://www.ted.com/talks/kevin_kelly_on_how_technology_evolves/transcript?language=en
Lanier, J. (2014). Who owns the future?. London: Penguin Books.
Nowak, P. (2015). Humans 3.0: The upgrading of the species. Guilford, Connecticut: Lyons Press.
Waldrop, M., M. (2016, February 9). The chips are down for Moore’s law. Retrieved April 14, 2016, from https://www.nature.com/news/the-chips-are-down-for-moore-s-law-1.19338
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