Technology is about enabling us to control and manipulate our environments and the materials in them. It’s an incredibly broad field that can include everything from the sophisticated engineering of building a spaceship to the simple artisanship of making cheese or woodworking. It’s also a powerful tool for businesses to use as they look to increase output while decreasing inputs such as time and effort.
When most people think of technology, they immediately picture a range of consumer products such as mobile phones, computers, TVs, HiFi’s and cars. In a business sense, technology is more often thought of in terms of what’s known as IT, Information Technology, which includes things such as networks, servers and software.
But the concept of technology is much broader than this, and it can be used in any sector or industry to help improve productivity and output. In fact, many companies look to upgrade their technology as a way to stand out from the competition and provide their customers and clients with something that’s not only new but also innovative.
In the broadest sense, technology can be seen as the’means to an end’, and it is this intervening power that makes it distinct from science and able to shape both the sublime – a planetary science project – and the mundane (a hammer, a pair of scissors or brushing teeth).
Technology is a vast and complex subject and it takes time to master all of its facets. For those looking to further their understanding of the topic, there are a number of books and online resources available that can help.
A lot of the current buzz about technology is focused around 5G, which promises to be a major game changer in how we live our lives. This next generation of cellular technology can handle far more data than previous versions and will enable services such as virtual reality and holographic projections to become widely accessible to the public, whilst allowing businesses to deliver improved connectivity to their staff and customers.
There are also a number of healthcare-related technologies that have been developed, including wearable devices which can monitor a range of things such as heart rates or quality of sleep and implants that allow more sophisticated monitoring of conditions such as diabetes and heart disease. GPS, or Global Positioning System, is another technology that allows us to see the location of various objects on our smartphones, smartwatches and even cars.
Technological progress is the backbone of modern economies and societies, but it’s also important to understand how it impacts upon different groups in society and how it can be used for both good and bad purposes. For example, it can improve health and wellbeing through better treatments or increased efficiency but it can also harm the environment and cause inequality in wealth. By ensuring that we are aware of how technology can affect these groups, we can prevent any unintended consequences and ensure that it is always used for the greater good.