1. What I thought technology was before
1.1. (Schlecksler, 2019) Innovation - Ideas that benefit society in many different ways. Some methods include making everyday tasks easier, or replacing tasks entirely.
1.1.1. (Top Gear, 2022) Automotive Industry
1.1.1.1. The automotive industry has always been innovative since its inception. It has helped people move further distances, shorten travel time, and enabled us to transport large amounts of materials from one area to another. The most recent innovation has been the push in production of electric vehicles.
1.1.2. (Dfornell, 2021) Medical Industry
1.1.2.1. The medical industry has been helping society conquer diseases and illnesses through many innovative breakthroughs. Most recently, many studies have been done in order to create COVID vaccines for planet Earth's most recent epidemic.
1.1.3. (Paine, 2017) Energy Industry
1.1.3.1. The energy industry has been delivering mass amounts of energy to homes all around the world 24/7 365 days of the year. This industry is constantly experimenting with different froms of energy harvesting. Much research has been done behind renewable energy resources, and how we can better harvest energy from them.
1.2. (Mukherjee, 2019) Research and Development (R&D) - performing experiments, trials and evaluations to further improve existing products.
1.3. (Dach, 2017) Electronics - The gadgets and devices we use every day, including but not limited to: computers, smart phones, smart watches, game consoles, Smart TVs, IoT devics etc.
2. What has changed about my thoughts on technology?
2.1. I thought technology was mostly about improving current physical things that help us. While improvement is a part of technology, essentially its about identifying existing problems/challenges and creating solutions to said problems and challenges.
2.2. While I did think that innovation is a part of technology, I did not realize that innovation comes from needing to find a solution to a problem. I thought innovations spawned from sometimes creating a problem that did not yet exist, and then providing the solution to said problem.
2.3. One thought that has not changed is the fact that technology would always be needed. The reason being is that there will always be new problems discovered that we will have to invent technologies for. As Kelly stated, "...Imagine a world without technology. If we were to eliminate every single bit of technology in the world today... we as a species would not live very long. We would die by the billions and very quickly..." (Kelly, 2010)
3. References Computer Hope. (2019, June 30). What is technology? What is Technology? Retrieved September 18, 2022, from https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/t/technology.htm Dach, K. (2017, February 20). Gagdets on wooden surface · Free Stock Photo - PEXELS. Pexels. Retrieved September 19, 2022, from https://www.pexels.com/photo/gagdets-on-wooden-surface-325153/ Dfornell. (2021, October 1). Top 5 predictions for the Global Healthcare Industry Post covid-19. DAIC. Retrieved September 18, 2022, from https://www.dicardiology.com/content/top-5-predictions-global-healthcare-industry-post-covid-19 Dyer, J. (2009, December 27). Defining the word "technology" ... four times. John Dyer. Retrieved September 18, 2022, from https://j.hn/defining-the-word-technology-four-times/ Kelly, K. (2010, February 22). Kevin Kelly tells Technology's epic story. YouTube. Retrieved September 18, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GS1xL1qcBa4 Mukherjee, S. (2019, September 30). How to get the most out of your R&D budget. plasticstoday.com. Retrieved September 18, 2022, from https://www.plasticstoday.com/packaging/how-get-most-out-your-rd-budget nusys. (2019, November 14). What is technology. YouTube. Retrieved September 18, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Px5z-dG531c&t=26s Paine, J. (2017, August 31). Disruption in the energy industry: 3 trends to know. Inc.com. Retrieved September 18, 2022, from https://www.inc.com/james-paine/disruption-in-the-energy-industry-3-trends-to-know.html Schleckser, J. (2019, October 29). Why product innovation may be the least important thing you can do. Inc.com. Retrieved September 18, 2022, from https://www.inc.com/jim-schleckser/why-product-innovation-may-be-least-important-thing-you-can-do.html Top Gear. (2022, February 10). Tesla Model S Review 2022. Top Gear. Retrieved September 18, 2022, from https://www.topgear.com/car-reviews/tesla/model-s Tuck, C. (2019, July 22). What is technology? YouTube. Retrieved September 18, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9CzjdrFgiY
4. What I think technology is now
4.1. "Technologies are things created by humans that can make our lives easier, or solve problems." (nusys, 2019)
4.1.1. The host of the video asks, "is a chair and a table a technology?" (nusys, 2019) Based on this definition of technology, My answer would be yes. The reason is, starting with the chair, it exists so that we wouldn't have to sit on the ground. The chair was made for us to sit elevated off the ground, and to be more comfotable. Furthermore, a table is also a technology because it helps us by elevating our working surface off of floor. Both the table and the chair exists to make our lives easier and to solve problems.
4.2. "Sometimes abbreviated as 'tech', technology is knowledge or a set of tools that helps make things easier or resolve a problem." (Computer Hope, 2019)
4.2.1. "Does that mean a pen, or a pencil, is technology?" (Tuck, 2019) Based on Computer Hope's definition, a pen or a pencil would be a technology. Without these writing tools, we would be using more primitive forms of writing to record information.
4.3. "My working definition of technology is 'anything useful that a human mind makes'. Its not just hammers and gadgets like laptops, but its also law, and, of course, cities are ways to make things more useful to us.... technology is basically an extension of life." (Kelly, 2010)
4.3.1. My takeaway from this statement is that technology is not just in the form of physical objects and materials, but it also exists in the form of concepts, constructs, theories etc. Technology also exists in our minds and thinking processes, sort of like how this mind map is being used to organize the information in my mind. This mind map is a technology.
4.4. "Our rules for driving are a kind of social technology imposed on top of the hardware of the car. The simultaneous actions of 45 people forming an orchestra are also a kind of technology that binds together instruments, people, and music... The way that you are reading this blog post (on a website, in a feed reader, etc.) and the idea that you might comment and I might reply are all social processes built on top of and intimately connected to the hardware, the underlying manufacturing, and even the technological knowledge of blogging." (Dyer, 2009)
4.4.1. Dyer's explanation of technological implementation in society is an interesting aspect as the rules that we adhere to every day is a technology. Whether it be the road rules, the rules at school, the rules at work etc. they exist to make everyone's lives easier. Without the rules, it would be very difficult to commute to school/work, get our jobs done, study at school etc.