Technology is about using scientific knowledge to create new products and services. It has become one of the most important tools in people’s lives today. People would find life difficult without it. It has both positive and negative effects on people. It improves the quality of life but also disrupts existing social hierarchies, causes pollution, and can harm individuals or groups.
Information technology (IT) involves the design, development, and operation of computer hardware, software, and network infrastructure. It has evolved from the use of purpose-built machines designed for a specific scope of tasks to general-purpose computing devices that can be programmed to perform a variety of different functions.
Communication technology uses various means to transmit data or messages, including pictograms, petroglyphs, and ideograms. The first examples of this type of technology date back to about 30,000 BCE. Today, we use it every day with the aid of mobile phones and computers.
The world would not be able to function as it does today without the use of advanced technology. Agriculture has shaped the world’s population and economy; sanitation, preventive medicine, bows and arrows, gunpowder, and nuclear explosives have revolutionized warfare; and computer chips have transformed how we write, compute, bank, and operate businesses, among other things.
Arthur points out that most technologies are “combinatorial,” built from other technologies, like a jet engine that is made up of a compressor and turbine. As we combine these technologies into digitalland, they begin to express themselves in a universal language that allows them to be translated between domains. In doing so, they allow us to meet new needs that could not be met before.