History Of Technology
History of Technology
“As long as there have been people, there has been technology. Indeed, the technique has been a powerful force in the development of civilization, all the more so as its link with science has been forged. Technology – like language, ritual, values, commerce, and the arts – is an intrinsic part of a cultural system and it both shapes and reflects the systems value. In today’s world technology is a complex social enterprise that includes not only research, design, and crafts but also finance, manufacturing, management, labor, marketing and maintenance. “(Johnson, 2008)
The importance of technology is everywhere; from aviation, space travel, investments, computing and networking, biotechnology, energy education and most of our everyday personal as well as professional lives. The list is endless and involves just about everything imaginable. In many ways, the advances that have happened over the last few decades have laid the foundation for a much more profound change in the years ahead. “Today there are about a billion PC’s in use around the world”. (Network World, 2008) Computers are available everywhere, in the office and the home, in our cars, in stores and restaurants. We use this technology to help us mange our money, become more educated, keep in touch with our friends and family, preserve memories, or something as simple as ordering a pizza. It’s taken years to get to where we are in technology, dates going back to as early as 1943 when the first electrical computer was introduced. Howard Aiken and IBM developed the first fully automatic electro-mechanical machine capable of not only addition, but also multiplication and trig functions as well. “The machine was known as the Howard Mark 1”. (Moor, 1995) In December of that same year the computer was used to help the allied war effort decode the “Enigma” encrypted messages. To go alongside the computer the first printer...
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