The technology which surrounds almost everyone in the modern society,
affects both work and leisure activities. Technology contains information that
many would rather it did not have. It influences minds in good and bad ways, and
it allows people to share information which they would otherwise not be able to
attain. Even if a person does not own a computer or have credit cards, there is
information on a computer somewhere about everyone. The technology which is just
now beginning to be manipulated and harnessed is affecting the minds of small
children and adolescents in ways that could be harmful. It is affecting our
immediate future. It also gives another form of communication and exchange of
information which was not available before, information that is both good and
bad. Technology is one of the principal driving forces of the future; it is
transforming our lives and shaping our future at rates unprecedented in history,
with profound implications which we can't even begin to see or understand. Many
different elements affect how satisfied we are with our lives. The impact of
technology on these elements can change how safe, healthy and happy people feel.
Throughout history, people have looked for better ways to meet their needs and
to satisfy their expectations. Technology has improved the way people feed,
clothe and shelter themselves. Technology has also changed other aspects of
everyday life, such as health care, education, job satisfaction, and leisure
time activities. People have used technology since they first chipped stone
blades to improve their hunting. Yet some people call the current age the
"Technological Age" because of society's dependence on technology. For
the first time in human history, almost all the goods and services people use
depend on technology. The products of technology are available to almost
everyone in society. The economy of a country influences how the people of the
county live. Technology is often considered the key to a nation's economic
growth. Most economists would say that it is one of the factors in economic
growth, but they would probably disagree about its importance. Many economists
think that if technology sparks growth in one sector of the economy in the form
of increased productivity, growth will also occur in other sectors of the
economy. Jobs may be lost in one industry, such as agriculture but new jobs may
emerge in other sectors of the economy. There may be more jobs or, in some case,
completely new kinds of jobs. Technology may also be used to solve urgent
problems. Our growing population is using up infinite supplies of natural
resources. Innovations in technology can allow for more efficient use of limited
or scarce resources. More products might be made from the same amount of raw
material using new techniques. Technology can increase productivity to help
countries compete with other countries in selling goods and services. Some say
that without technological improvements, the economy would grow slowly or not at
all. Society could remain the same for years, some what like the early Middle
Ages in Europe, in which there was little economic change for hundreds of years.
Ways to manufacture goods have changed continuously through history. Today,
several important new advances in technology are transforming. These
technologies create new products; most of them also change the way people in
society interact. These technologies have a tremendous impact on our monetary
resources. Some of the technologies which are having the greatest effect on the
economy are: robotics, automation and computerization. Robotics: Artificial
Intelligence Although robotics have a well-established position in the Japanese
industry, it has not, so far, turned out to be what many experts thought it
would. Businesses in the United States and Europe have not embraced industrial
robots at nearly the rate of the Japanese, and other more consumer oriented
versions are very much in the development phase. Even so, industry sources
believe that the use of robots to make clothes and other consumer goods will be
common by the turn of the century. This general trend (the use of robotics) is
likely to change, perhaps dramatically, in the next two decades. Robots are in
one sense collections of other more basic technologies: sensors, controlling and
analysis software, pattern recognition capabilities and so on. Most all of these
other technologies will make significant strides in capability, size, power
requirements, and other design characteristics and the integration of these
other advances should accrue directly to robotics. Robots are machines which
combine computer technology with industrial machines. The computers are
programmed to operated the machines. Robots come in many shapes and sizes and
can be programmed to perform a variety of tasks. Robots are gradually being
introduced on assembly lines in some industries. In automated factories, the
amount produced by each human worker increases tremendously, but robots are very
expensive for industries to buy. Only large industries such as the auto industry
currently develops, though, the cost of robots is dropping and improvements to
robots are making them more flexible so more manufacturers will find them
useful. The use of robotics effects our economy immensely. Robots are much more
durable, faster, efficient, ,reliable and cheaper "workers". The use
of robots in industries will rise because employers will see the advantages that
robots have over human employees. The utilization of robots in the workplace
will have a massive effect to the unemployment rate. Automation: Moving in a New
Direction A small number of decisions we make play a major role in shaping many
other areas of our lives. For example, when we decide what (and how) we will
consume, a huge system of farms, distributors, stores, manufactures, restaurants
etc these respond directly to those desires. One of the most important decisions
we make concerns the way we move ourselves and our commodities. Our system of
transportation greatly affects how we use energy, develop technology , affect
the economy and environment, and shape our social relationships. When Henry Ford
was starting out on his remarkable career in Detroit, a bustling town which gave
full vent to the creative energies of some amazing innovators, the economy of
was showing enormous cracks. But at the time, even the most prescient of
fortune-tellers would have had trouble forecasting what was about to happen.
Carriage and buggy-whip makers were still turning handsome profits in a growing
market, and the few cars on the dusty, unpaved roads were little more than
fanciful toys for the adventurous rich. Some of the communications technologies
pioneered toward the end of the nineteenth century must have seemed just as
esoteric to the leading financiers and industrialists of the day, who were doing
fine bankrolling the traditional industries they knew so well. Yet, within a few
short years, Ford and others would shape consumer products out of the new
technologies that would set in motion an awesome economic transformation. Henry
Ford didn't invent the automobile. Nor did he invent mass production or the
assembly line. Ford is famous because he took these existing concepts and
incorporated them into a n efficient, large-scale system of manufacturing
inexpensive, reliable cars. "I'm going to democratize the automobile."
Ford said, "and when I'm through, everybody will have one." (Chase,
1997, 47) Cars have made a big difference in the way communities have been
designed. Street layout, the design of homes, and traffic laws have changed as
methods of transportation has changed throughout history. Automobiles are
responsible for more than half the airborne pollution in the western world. Many
plans are being developed to control air pollution. Burning cleaner fuel and
burning fuel more efficiently both help the environment. Pollution controls
devices for cars have also been developed. For example, catalytic systems were
installed in many car exhaust systems in the 1980s. These devices change
dangerous gases into harmless carbon dioxide and water. They also burn up much
of the exhaust with fresh air in a chamber near the exhaust pipe. The car of the
future will need new designs which make even better use of the fuel which powers
them. Cars influence the ways communities are developing. Since it is possible
to drive great distances rapidly, many people choose to live far away from where
they work. Many cities have a downtown core where people work and a suburban
area where they live. People may spend a great deal of time commuting through
rush hour traffic. In spite of many problems , it is hard to imagine a society
without cars. Cars and trucks have become so important that most people would
not want to do without them. They would prefer to see the design and
construction of cars changed to accommodate safety and environment concerns. The
car has helped created jobs, freedom, convenience and fun as well as pollution,
traffic jams and urban sprawl. The challenge facing the auto industry is to keep
pace with the changing values of society and to develop the technology to do so.
Computerization: Extraordinary Technology Computers are used in most
manufacturing industries today. Computers are used to automate processes in much
faster ways . These can be office procedures such as word processing or
bookkeeping, or production processes such as cutting and assembling clothes.
Computers are becoming an important part of industrial design. Computer-aided
design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) are new terms which describe
the important role computers have come to play in our industry. The wide use to
computers has stimulated companies which manufacture the many parts needed to
make and operate them. Some people, however feel that computer technology has
gone too far. It may create problems such as machine errors in people's records
and banks and governments may gain access to private financial information.
Computerization has made it easier for banks to keep track of individual baking
transactions so charges for these have increased. Branch-bank employees worry
that computers and automated tellers may replace people. While technological
change has been a priority for banks over the last years, they also recognize
the need to communicate in person with customers. Banks must manage money and
data effectively but they must also maintain personal relations. Bank personnel
may be assisted with computer and some services may work well when automated,
but banks will probably never lose their staffs to machines. A new,
information-technology-driven circle of growth has replaced the aging
manufacturing ring and scarcely not many have noticed. The statistics that told
us so much about the economy's health during the 1920s to the 1980s are still
treated with a reverence they no longer deserve. That's why the experts have so
much trouble explaining what's going on now. The prophets mumbled about the
severity of the recession in industry; rising unemployment; a weakening
currency. Now, statistics can be managed to produce all sorts of results. But no
matter how you shake or stir them, the numbers show plainly that a New Economy,
embodied and driven by technology, information and innovation, has emerged, with
little fanfare, in the past decade. And though it would be impossible to tell
from the general statistics, this New Economy is absolutely booming, with no
peak in sight. Now with the new wave of the Internet minds of not only small
children, but also adolescents and adults become influenced by this outside
information. As the mind develops, things such as pornography is no longer the
main concern. Now, because of the easy access to information, the fourteen years
old who has just discovered that she failed ninth grade can find out how to make
a bomb out of household detergents. As can the laid-off business man, the dumped
boyfriend, and the deranged psycho. My general sentiment about technology, and
the Internet are simple. In light of the history of mass communication, there is
nothing we can do to protect any media from the "sound byte" or any
other form of commercial poisoning. But, our country's public opinion doesn't
have to fall into a nose-dive of lies and corruption, because of it! Television
doesn't have to be a weapon against us, used to sway our opinions or to conform
to people who care about their own prosperity, not ours. With the power of a
critical thinking education, we can stop being motivated by the sound byte and,
instead we can laugh at it as a cheap attempt to persuade us and have a little
fun with it. Technology is not all bad. The whole point of this is that people
have to be sure that everyone is aware of all the good and bad aspects of
technology. I feel that the advance of technology is a good trend for our
society; however, it must be in conjunction with advances in education so that
society is able to master and understand technology. In the future we may see
many problems arising from this new wave of technology. Unemployment numbers
will most probably rise, crime will increase, and We can be the masters of
technology, and not let it be the masters of us.