Technological Change

Technological Change

• How has technology changed the way we live?

From communication and transport to healthcare and connectivity, technology has enhanced our lives for the better.

• Define

Invention

• Combining elements, materials or ideas to create something new
• May be an object (eg. computer) or a social invention (eg. capitalism)

Innovation

• Changing or improving upon existing technologies or ideas to create something new, but based on something invented (eg. the iPhone as an innovation on cell phones)
• May be an object or social innovation

Discovery

• Finding something new or discovering a new way of viewing reality
• Discoveries at the right time can start social change (timing is important in determining whether or not a society will embrace the discovery)

Diffusion

• The spread of a technology/idea from one place/culture to another
• Social acceptance is required by adopting society in order for change to take place

Technological Determinism

Technological determinism (TD), simply put, is the idea that technology has important effects on our lives. This idea figures prominently in the popular imagination and political rhetoric, for example in the idea that the Internet is revolutionizing economy and society.

Obsolesce forces change and cause displacement

• Older technologies become obsolete (outdated and useless) and are replaced
• Older technologies become obsolete (outdated and useless) and are replaced
• We must learn to use them or become obsolete ourselves –society must learn to live with and use new technology
• Older technologies become obsolete (outdated and useless) and are replaced
• We must learn to use them or become obsolete ourselves –society must learn to live with and use new technology
• Some technologies make humans obsolete entirely –humans are displaced from society and must find a new way to fit in (ex. an assembly worker replaced by a robot)