Module Objective

“Technology’s bells and whistles are seductive, but we are not fully aware of how they distance and distract us from our own lives. Few of us have stopped to ask what cell phones, electronic games, television, or cameras add to or detract from the quality of our human experience.”

[High Tech/High Touch: Technology and Our Search for Meaning,
by Nana Naisbitt, Douglas Philips, John Naisbitt, and Nicholas Brealey, 2001]

What is Technology?

In a course like this one of the obvious questions to be answered is “what is technology”? The word itself has a clear history. The root is the Greek word 'tekhne', meaning an art or craft. The actual word “technology” comes from the Greek 'tekhnologia' and the Latin 'technologia', both of which mean “a systematic treatment.”

In the early 18th century a common definition of technology was 'a description of arts, especially the Mechanical' (1706). It wasn’t until the mid-19^th century that technology came to mean the 'practical arts'; and it was also at this time that the word “technologist” appeared [OED -- Oxford English Dictionary: 'one versed in technology; one who studies or treats of arts and manufactures', first noted 1859].

This distinction led to our current differentiation of knowledge [meaning science] and technology [the practical application of science within a particular field].

As we use the term today “technology” exhibits several distinct characteristics. Canadian educator Michael Scott has defined these as:

Technology is about change

In times long ago, during the Agricultural Era, technological improvements were few and far between. Progress was slow, and might have taken generations to come about. During the Industrial Era, technology developed rapidly, vastly changing the way we lived. In our lifetimes, in what we call the Information Age, technology has turned change into a revolution, with changes occurring in an ever accelerating pace. Change affects everyone, and the way we live.

Technology is about the creative spirit

In order to develop ideas and to use the tools technology provides for us, we must learn to use our imaginations, to use our creative instincts. The great designers and engineers of our time were also great artists. They dreamed dreams of what did not exist, and then learned how to make it happen.

Technology is about teamwork

Technology is becoming increasingly complex, more complex than any one person can handle. Some people have great computer skills, some are good at building things, some are good at business, some at drawing, etc. The modern way of working requires teamwork, learning how to use each other's best skills to accomplish the goals of the project, whether it be fixing a car engine or designing a skyscraper.

Technology is the joy of discovery

There is a tremendous amount of satisfaction to be gained when you learn how things work, and then learn how to actually build or fix it yourself. Technology is hands on, technology is learning to put theory into practice. It is a never ending process, a new discovery to be made around every corner.

Technology is the pursuit of excellence

In order to be successful in any field of technology, one must learn to be professional, to always reach for excellence. There is a great amount of satisfaction and pride when you work extra hard to accomplish something, and to know you did your best work on it.

Technology is about innovation
Technology is the science of making do with less, of learning to be creative and make things happen. It's about dreaming of new concepts and ideas, then finding ways to accomplish them. It's about using your best strengths to accomplish your goals.

Technology is about caring
In order to develop the tools of technology, one must care about life, about community and about the planet. Technology is useless if it does not in some way improve life. And more important in today's world, it must also serve to help improve the chances of survival for all life on this planet.

Another way to answer the question, "what is technology" is to consider what "counts" as technology.

Technology as Objects: Tools, machines, instruments, weapons, appliances - the physical devices of technical performance
Technology as Knowledge: The know-how behind technological innovation
Technology as Activities: What people do - their skills, methods, procedures, routines
Technology as a Process: Begins with a need and ends with a solution
Technology as a Sociotechnical System: The manufacture and use of objects involving people and other objects in combination

Since the mid-18^th century we’ve gone through several “technological” revolutions -- the most famous being the Industrial Revolution. Each of these has resulted in major changes in the everyday life of people around the world, although clearly the level of change was different in different areas.

If you’re reading this web page from home get up and do a quick trip around your house or apartment. As you walk, think about how many different machines you see that depend on computers. Keep in mind that this includes devices like microwave ovens, programmable coffee makers, DVD players and maybe even your electric toothbrush. By the way, did you happen to walk past a combination laser/computer that weighs much less than a kilo? Think not -- what about your CD player?

Of course computers are not the only devices experiencing technological change. We can’t pick up a newspaper [assuming we even still use the print version] without reading about changes in biotechnology -- especially bioengineering.

For example, as you Marvel Comics devotees already know, when the Spiderman movie came out in 2002 they changed the spider that bites Peter Parker from the radioactive spider of the 60’s to the genetically altered spider of today.

Let’s go back in time a bit further: think of your parents’ lives 50 years ago. Television was mostly still an interesting exhibit at World’s Fairs. Many Canadians living outside cities didn't have electricity or running water in the house. Going back 80 years to your grandparents lives, radio was all the rage [if they had electricity -- and many didn’t] and lots of people didn't have cars.

Now go back even further to the early 19^th century. Interestingly, from this point on we begin to see a big change in the rate of technological change. In 1800 your forbearers lived lives that weren’t that much different in terms of daily activities than those of their ancestors a couple of thousand years earlier. Sort of lets us view our lives today in a whole new way, doesn’t it? Before we leap headlong into the technology of today let’s take a few minutes to take a look to the past.

Technology Connections & Drivers
One of the major themes here is the intimate relationship of technology and people. When I was going to elementary school we were taught that one of the things that distinguished man from all other animals is that only we use tools. Sounded good, but then some scientist out in the jungle saw chimpanzees using and modifying sticks to extract insects from tree trunks -- and since then similar behaviour has been observed in other animals. For example, here's a link to a short Quicktime movie from a August 2002 online Science Magazine article showing a female New Caledonian crow creating a hooked tool from a straight piece of wire so that she can retrieve food from a glass tube: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/vol297/issue5583/images/data/981/DC1/weirmovie.mov [this is a required external link].

So much for man being the only tool making species on the planet. However, so far as we know chimpanzees, birds and other “tool using” animals don’t keep the twig, take it home, and work on modifying it -- they just drop it and move on after the insects have been obtained. People, on the other hand, at some point did take that twig back home to the cave and spent the evening thinking about ways to make it work even better, thereby making it “more than the sum of its parts.” So technology is much more than a series of ideas, inventions and “weird and wonderful stuff.” Instead it is really the relationships between all of these things and people.

OK, so early man living in caves kept that twig. Now today most of us have no on-going need for that twig, but just the same many of the technologies we do use today are not exactly new. In fact, some of the oldest technologies known are also still very familiar today. For example:

Take a minute to think about this. In Connections, James Burke speaks about the invention of the chimney:

...Yet the alteration of life-style brought about by the chimney included year-round administration and increased intellectual activity, which in turn contributed to the general increase in the economic welfare of the community to a point where the increase in the construction of houses brought about a shortage of wood. The consequent need for alternative sources of energy spurred the development of a furnace which would operate efficiently on coal, and this led to the production of molten iron in large quantities, permitting the casting of cylinders (and pistons) which were huge early steam engines. Their use of air pressure led first to the investigation of gases and then petroleum as fuel for the modern automobile engine, without which, in turn, powered flight would have been impossible. [If you'd like to read the entire chapter go to: http://hackvan.com/pub/stig/etext/inventing-the-future.html - this is an optional link].

All from the invention of the chimney to get the smoke out of the house while keeping the inhabitants warm... But why then and not earlier or later? In Megatrends John Naisbitt wrote, “Change occurs when there is a confluence of both changing values and economic necessity, not before." Burke called these “technology drivers” and identified six of them: deliberate invention, accidents, spin-offs, war, religion, and the environment. I think it’s worth taking a little time to examine each of these.

Technological innovation sometimes occurs as a result of deliberate attempts to develop it. The incandescent bulb was developed in direct response to the inadequacies of the arc light. No new components [the vacuum pump, electric current, the filament, and the arc light] were required -- they all already existed

Another driver is when a technological advance results from the attempt to find something else. The classic example was Sir Alexander Fleming's 1928 discovery of penicillin.

A third technology driver is one in which unrelated spin-off developments have decisive effects upon the primary event. Consider how in medieval Europe the “textile revolution,” based upon the spinning wheel and the loom, in turn lowered the price of linen to the point where it became available in rag form - and helped to revolutionize the paper industry.

War and religion are the next drivers. While we might prefer not to dwell on it, the attempt to find more effective means of defense [or offense] has pretty much been around as long as we have. Astronomy is a good example. Ethiopian, Egyptian and pre-European Aztec religious beliefs all contributed to major innovations in engineering and architecture. The Islamic world developed highly advanced skills and knowledge of astronomy because of the need to pray, feast and fast at specified times. More recently the first major developments of modern computers were the direct results of the technology needed for World War II.

And least we forget, physical and climatic conditions have always been important technology drivers. In Europe the winters in the 12^th and 13^th century were much colder than in earlier times. The result was an urgent requirement for more efficient heating if everyone wasn’t going to freeze to death -- which brings us back to Burke’s description of the chimney. The chimney filled the need and had a profound effect on the cultural life of that continent, and eventually the entire world.

Interested in finding out about other major inventions? A great place to go is the “National Inventors Hall of Fame”: http://www.invent.org/index.asp. Click on “Invention Channels” under “Hall of Fame.” [This is an optional external link if you’re personally interested in finding out more about the topic].

It can also be interesting to think about how people in the past envisioned the future. The Lost Highways organization has a fascinating online exhibit titled "Raudebaugh: The Future We Were Promised". If you visit the site be sure and click on the "Closer Than We Think" ball [far right-hand side] and then the box second from the bottom on the left . The first image to appear shows an imagined "Electronic Home Library" from a mid 50's weekly comic strip created by Raudebaugh: http://www.palaceofculture.org/radebaugh.html. [This is an optional external link if you’re personally interested in finding out more about the topic]

Definition & Historical Development of Technology

Do you realize if it weren't for Edison we'd be watching TV by candlelight?

--Al Boliska

This course is aimed at helping you achieve a basic understanding of technology in general, and information technologies in particular. It also examines the way people interact with these technologies in order to allow you to develop the skills, knowledge, and experience required to take on the basic roles expected of information professionals today.

Information Technology, as relevant to us as future information professionals has two major streams. The first is concerned with the development of the devices and ideas that people use to deal with information. The second is our recognition that the applications of these devices and ideas have had, and will continue to have, major ramifications for the development and continued functioning of human activities and society.

When I was designing this course I asked myself, just how much detail on each of these two streams do the students need? My decision, and the decision of other instructors teaching similar courses in other programs, is that most of our time should be devoted to the second stream [the uses of the technology by society], but that we do need to consider the first stream [the development of the devices/technology itself]

While it is tempting to say, “I don’t really need to know what’s going on ‘inside the box’, because I’ll never have to build a computer or write computer programs from scratch, this would be a mistake. If we don’t have at least a basic knowledge of the historical stages of information technology development, and an understanding of how the things actually work, we’ll be very limited in our abilities to make a meaningful contribution to how they are used in our organizations and society in general.

OK, so just what do we mean by the term “information technology”? For the purposes of this course we will define it as any system designed to gather, process, or distribute information. At this point you probably expect me to launch into a whirlwind tour of computers with lots of flashing lights and other “teckie” bits. As you will discover by reading the text, How Computers Work, computers function by combining the capabilities of hardware and software.

“Everything that can be invented has already been invented.”

-- Charles Duell, Director of U.S. Patent Office, 1899
[There was a serious movement to close the U.S. Patent Office in the late 1890’s].

Early Technology

The abacus is our first link to modern information technology, as it constitutes one of humanity's first attempt to automate the process of counting things. The modern form of the abacus was developed by the Chinese about 800 years ago. Unlike modern calculators and computers it wasn’t really an automatic machine. Instead, it allowed users to remember their current stage in a series of calculations while also allowing them to perform more complex operations than were possible the previous “portable calculating device” -- the digits on their hands and feet. The abacus was the first true precursor to the adding machines and computers which would follow.

It can be hard for some folks to believe, but it’s possible to achieve relatively high calculation speeds using an abacus. This was demonstrated in Tokyo on November 12, 1946 when an American Army private competed against a Japanese expert to which could perform calculations faster. The Nippon Times reported:

Civilization, on the threshold of the atomic age, tottered Monday afternoon as the 2,000-year-old abacus beat the electric calculating machine in adding, subtracting, dividing and a problem including all three with multiplication thrown in, according to UP. Only in multiplication alone did the machine triumph..."

Development of Modern Computers

As electronic computers began to appear in the last half of the 20^th century, manual devices like the abacus soon slipped far behind. In fact, things have developed so fast over the last 50 years that keeping up with new developments in information technology can be exhausting. One of the best ways to understand how fast computer hardware technology has changed in the past few decades is to look at “Moore’s Law.” As Webopedia states:

The observation made in 1965 by Gordon Moore, co-founder of Intel, that the number of transistors per square inch on integrated circuits had doubled every year since the integrated circuit was invented. Moore predicted that this trend would continue for the foreseeable future. In subsequent years, the pace slowed down a bit, but data density has doubled approximately every 18 months, and this is the current definition of Moore's Law, which Moore himself has blessed. Most experts, including Moore himself, expect Moore's Law to hold for at least another two decades.

Even if you spend lots of time trying to keep up with new developments, just when you think you’ve got a handle on things, someone goes and invents a new device and moves the “bar” up a notch or two. For example, in the summer of 2000 IBM announced a new supercomputer able to process 12.3 trillion calculations per second. This computer was 30,000 times faster than the average personal computer, or about 96,000,000 times more powerful than ENIAC - the world's first production model electronic digital computer].

For the past couple of years the title of "world's fastest supercomputer" has been owned by NEC's Earth Simulator [located in Japan], which has been clocked at 35 trillion calculations per second, or "teraflops." In May of 2004 the US Department of Energy announced plans for a new supercomputer that would have a sustained capacity of 50 trillion calculations [teraflops] per second with a peack capacity of more than 250 trillion teraflops per second when completed in 2007.

While the Department made it clear that the new computer was needed for ongoing scientific research, there was also an acknowledgement that the US was determined to "win the "global computer race". One involved official stated that , "While the Japanese are to be congratulated for their accomplishment [Earth Simulator], the United States must make the commitment necessary to regain the clear-cut lead in supercomputing. This is exactly what we are going to do." You can draw your own conclusions about the "mine is bigger than your's" hubbub.

At the other end of the spectrum are very powerful computers that are relatively small in terms of their physical size. For example, in November 2003 IBM announced the development of a computer roughly the size of a 30-inch television was ranked as the 73rd most powerful supercomputer in the world. "Blue Gene/L" will have a top speed of 360 teraflops. It's easy to get caught up in all the hype for these new systems.If you'd like to read more about this "teraflop in a box" go to http://domino.research.ibm.com/comm/pr.nsf/pages/news.20031114_bluegene.html [This is an optional external link if you’re personally interested in finding out more about the topic].

What's a "teraflop"? We'll be taking a more in-depth look at this in Module 3, but for right now we'll just say a teraflop is 10 to the 12th power..

How in the world did we get from the abacus in 500 BCE to the supercomputers of today? To discover the answer I want you to explore a timeline on the "The Industrial Era: 1947-2000”: http://www.thocp.net/timeline/1947.htm. [This is a required link]. Where will we be going from here?

In April 2003 Wired Magazine produced a fanciful 2013 "wish list". Take a look and see if any of their "wishes" are the same as yours' might be: http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.04/fetishwish.html. One thing -- the last wish is for "Liquid Video" -- and it's really not all that fanciful.

OK, now that you’ve taken a quick look at how modern computer hardware and software developed you may ask yourself, “so what?.” All of this can seem a bit distant and removed from your everyday life, but it isn’t. As I mentioned before, tremendous technological changes have taken place while all of us have been alive. Want an example? Go to: the “Year Index” on The History of Computing Project [http://www.thocp.net/timeline/year_index.htm], and click on the year you were born.

One interesting thing about this site is that it also has links for years in which it's unlikely that folks born then are still walking around. For example, in 550 BCE, "Pythagoras is credited for a theorem known to the Chinese a thousand years earlier. When his student Hippasus rediscovered irrational numbers, Pythagoras, believing the universe to be strictly rational, had the student drowned for heresy.

Technology and Society