What is technology

Technology is that the set of data , skills, experience and techniques through which humans change, transform and use our surroundings so as to make tools, machines, products and services that meet our needs and desires. Etymologically the word comes from the Greek tekne (technical, art, skill) and logos (knowledge)

The origin of the technology dates back to the Stone Age , when our ancestors discovered the existence in nature of a series of stone (silex, quartz, obsidian ....) extremely hard which could mold and sharpen it, this discovery with experience developed to sharpen allowed them to form the primary knives, axes and cutting tools which facilitated the work of hunting so as to make sure a daily food ration.

In the previous example we've seen humans transformed his surroundings selecting a stone and modifying it to make a tool by his skill and knowledge, allowing hunt animals more quickly and effectively.

All objects around us in our daily lives are products of various technological advances that have developed over the centuries of our existence, we've transformed natural resources to form tools and machines that make

our lives less difficult , satisfy our curiosity an desire to excel. Computers, tablets and smartphones, locomotives, cars and airplanes, the bulb and therefore the microchip, the primary man on the Moon and conquer of the space are milestones of our latest technology.

Technology classification

Technology not only provides objects or material goods like knives, computers or spacecraft, also includes all those methodologies and intangible goods which satisfy our needs and desires, so we will classify the technology into 2 groups:

Hard technologies - are people who give us tangible goods.

Soft technologies - are people who give us intangibles.

Organizational methods like lean manufacturing, developing and selling business strategies, financial accounting systems, creation and development of software, coaching ... are samples of soft technologies.

Usually the soft technologies are associated with economy, management and administration, sociology... while hard technologies are associated with the sector of physics and chemistry.

There are other ways to classify and identify existing technologies, classifications as:

Flexible Technology - encompasses the set of technologies which will be utilized in many application areas, the microchip is employed in multiple products like televisions, telephones, computers, machines ... and in multiple applications like medicine, space research ...

Fixed Technology - encompasses the entire of technology can only be used for a product or specific area, like fungicides are products that are only used for the removal of bacteria, fungi, virus and molds.22

Effects of technology

There is little question that technological advances have radically changed our way of thinking, being and living also because the surrounding environment. we've excavated large areas of land for searching and extraction of metals and minerals that allow us to manufacture machines and tools, we've cut numerous extensions of trees so as to get wood, we synthesized chemical compounds within the laboratory which have interacted and altered our surroundings , use combustion products that emit CO2 into our atmosphere, our daily activity generates tons of waste ... problems like deforestation, global climate change , acid and radioactive rain and therefore the hole within the ozonosphere surrounds our planet Earth has its origin within the various technologies developed and employed by humans.

Technology has changed the concept of war and therefore the battlefield allowing us to make machines and increasingly lethal weapons like bombs. Only between war I and II died quite three people than all the wars that occurred during the previous 2.000 years.

Therefore humans are developing technologies more clean and respectful of our surroundings and ourselves.

But all isn't bad but on the contrary, because of technology our hope and quality of life has greatly increased because of the technical and scientific advances we are ready to detect and cure diseases that previously were fatal, have created a society where a person has access to knowledge through internet, because of technology we generate, store and distribute any sort of food, clothing and products that improve our level and quality of life, technology has created machines that perform arduous, dangerous work and requiring an excellent effort for man, because of technology we will communicate with anyone within the world, have conquered the moon and shortly the space.