Identify the four main technological forms
Tool
Craft
Machine
System
What is a tool &example
A physical item that can be used to achieve a goal
Ex. Stone axe
What is a craft and example
Profession that requires particular skills and knowledge
Ex. Basket weaving
What is a machine & example
An apparatus made up of interrelated parts with separate functions, used in the performance of some kind of work
Ex. Wheel, pulley
What is a system & example
a related set of components connected by a network or structure
Ex. Railroads, telephone network, internet
Ethos of tools
Instrumentality
-ex. purposeful human control; moral indifference of instrument
Ethos of crafts
Artisanal knowledge
-ex. informal knowledge, acquired through direct experience and tradition
Ethos of machines
Efficiency (energy conversion)
- ex. the smooth interaction of parts in order to produce the maximum amount (power) per input
- the effectiveness can be quantified
Ethos of Systems
Interoperability
- the key to functioning of any LTS is:
- the ability of its components to interact effectively with one another over space
- Technical standards form the backbone of any large system
Identify the four main types of technological change
Type I - incremental innovations
Type II - radical innovations
Type III - changes in technological systems
Type IV - changes in techno-economic paradigms
Type 1 technological change
Incremental innovations
-improvements to existing technologies; micro-inventions that are small scale
Ex. Newest iPhone
Type II Technological change
Radical innovations
Macroinventions that are sudden or discontinuous; fundamentally new technical designs
Ex. Digital camera
Type III Technological Change
Changes in technological systems
Combination of type 1 and 2, along with organizational innovations (General purpose technologies or GPTs)
Ex. Steam engine, railroads, printing
Type IV Technological change
Changes in techno economic paradigms
- large scale, revolutionary changes; “industrial revolutions”
- ex. 1st industrial revolution - convergence of coal, steam, and iron
Differentiate the four ideas types of societies with their rough time periods
Tool-using: 70,000 ya - 10,000 BCE
craft-making: 10,000 BCE - ca. 1800 CE
industrial-system based: ca. 1800CE - 2000CE
technological: ca. 2000CE - present
Differentiate the main characteristics of machines as a form of technology
-self-contained devices with mechanical, interconnected moving parts that share energy, motion, power, etc.
Give a detailed historical example of a machine as a form of technology.
Boulton-Watt engine combined the macro innovation of steam engine with the micro-improvements of the separate condenser and rotary gears,
which doubled the efficiency of the engine,
resulting in a GPT with wide-ranging economic and social impact
How do machines become systems?
Machines initially power industrialisation; large technological systems (LTS) later connect machines over large areas; proliferate to provide basic services: heating, lighting, communication, transportation, etc.
Differentiate the main characteristics of systems as a form of technology
large geographical size, complex organization (multiple types of components), “sociotechnological” (social components outweigh material ones)
Give a detailed historical example of a system as a form of technology
Railroad network (transportation) -railroads combined material components(rails, stations, locomotives); institutional changes(mode of transport); and practices(time tables and time zones)
Explain the technological form of an ideal-type industrial system-based society
Machines to systems
-machines initially power industrialization, later connected by large technological systems
Explain the energy and power of an ideal-type industrial system-based society
Mineral energy regime
-reliance on fossil fuels and hydrocarbons as dense energy stores
Machines replace human and animal muscle power
Explain the economy of an ideal-type industrial system-based society
first time in human history in continuous economic growth (that was not constrained by natural resources or population pressure)
Increasing priority of science-based innovation as the driver of economic growth
Advances in public health, food production, and living standards allowed escape from the “Malthusian trap” and facilitated historic population growth
Explain the social organization of an ideal-type industrial system-based society
Societies organized around manufacturing and industry as sources of wealth, power, and status; emergence of industrial capitalism; class system Mass society - industrialization coincides with major democratic revolutions
Explain the environment of an ideal-type industrial system-based society
Built environment increasingly displaced physical “nature” as a “second nature”
Urban environments proliferate to provide large scale factory workforce
Production of artificial environments
New places and spaces
Transportation
Communication
Explain the human values of an ideal-type industrial system-based society
Human values derive increasingly from science-based technology
Technological values predominate: efficiency, predictability, control, etc
What is an LTS & 3 characteristics
A related set of components connected by a network
- Geographically large
- Complex composition
- Socio-technological