You have heard what life without technology was like from your elders, and you are experiencing how technology is influencing your life, but are you curious to know what the future of technology and its impact on future generations? I guess you all are looking forward to knowing about it. So let’s explore the evolution of technology in an interesting way. Technology is one of those few inventions that took very little time to become an important part of our lives, and now it seems that without technology most of us cannot even imagine a life. This does make sense considering the transformation that technology has brought into our daily lives and society.
How Technology Evolved?
Technology has evolved tremendously over the years, transitioning from rudimentary tools and simple machines to complex systems like computers and smartphones. This evolution has been driven by continuous human ingenuity and a desire for efficiency. This drastic change has been influencing every aspect of our lives including communication, transportation, healthcare (such as robots in healthcare), and entertainment.
What drives technological evolution?
An evolution in technology is basically an advancement or development that is the result of an invention, innovation, or diffusion of technology or its process. Thus, any technological change consists of inventing things, innovating already existing technology, commercializing said innovation, making further improvements, and finally diffusing said technology to the masses.
If one has to understand the evolution of technology or why it happens, one has to first understand how it came to be, how it progressed throughout the years, what made it popular, and how widespread it has become.
However, technological evolution is not spared from outside influence, and no, it doesn’t happen solely due to scientific consideration, as there are other driving forces behind it. These factors are:
Improvement in scientific knowledge
The most obvious reason is an improvement in scientific knowledge and relevant breakthroughs. Such improvements often lead to new discoveries or inventions, paving the way for a technological evolution. You can read the article on how technology and science are related for more info.
Demand for better tech
Sometimes, a demand for a new or better technology can also be a contributing factor. Man is a very industrial animal, and more often than not, he can find ways to meet any market demand. Here, it merely uses technology as a medium to fulfill market demand.
Competition
Competition can also be a reason as good as any other to ensure technological advancement. When two companies are competing to be the first in a market, it often leads to the pouring of funds, research and development tasks, and the creation of something better.
Government Intervention
There are also instances where a government or its policies have induced technological innovation. The government can easily dictate the shape and direction of technological evolution by championing one type of technology while discrediting or banning others.
War
Sadly, war has always been a driving factor. One of the most famous examples that comes to mind is the invention of the nuclear bomb during the Second World War. However, just because a tech is invented for one thing doesn’t mean it has to be limited and only used for that particular reason.
Social or cultural change
A change in our society also demands a technology change, especially when the demographics and potential customers change. This drives the company to accommodate them by developing new technology.
Why is the evolution of technology important?
The evolution of technology is paramount due to various reasons, explained below:
- It makes our world a much better place to live in.
- It drives growth across the sectors.
- Allows us to develop and evolve alongside technology.
- It changes society for the better.
- It empowers the workforce.
- Technology also creates more jobs.
- Production increases across the board.
- It makes things cheaper.
- Makes our lives more convenient.
- Evolves healthcare, education, transportation, and so on.
Our Past And Technology
Before the beginning of the 21st century, very few people were a part of the online community. The others were struggling to adopt technology while some didn’t care enough about it. The technology allowed us to witness so many trends as well as experience drastic changes.
Isn’t it fascinating to know that just in two decades the number of users of mobile devices has increased from a few million to billions now? All thanks to technology which is providing us with convenience and simplifying our life.
Back then people had to wait in the long queue to speak to the ones they wanted to by using the technology of the past, and even after that, it was a struggle to connect with them. Now we can carry technology with us anywhere and everywhere we go, but it was not always like this. Think about the telephone, feeling nostalgic already?
Yeah, we had the telephone in the past, quite a popular technology of those times. This technology allowed people to connect with others they wanted to talk to by simply letting them dial a few digits. It was considered a blessing in the past for a reason, as previously they could only send messages that took several weeks to be delivered and a couple of more weeks to get a reply.
Our Present And Technology
Let’s look at some present technology to better understand its evolution. Starting with the internet – without the internet, we can’t really talk about technological progress, can we? We can easily find WiFi connections in public places, and even if for some reason, there isn’t one, we still have an internet connection on our devices. We are not disconnected anymore by barriers, we are part of an online community provided we have an internet connection and a device.
Businesses use the internet to make themselves available to their target consumers and fulfill their needs. Now we have online streaming platforms for our entertainment and there is a continuous cut down in the usage of cable connections.
The rise of technology has witnessed more data creation leading to storage concerns on devices. But it was not long before we faced this issue, that we found a solution. The solution was cloud technology, giving you the flexibility to store as much data as you want without compromising the storage of your devices. The best part of this technology is that now you can have your data forever, plus access it anytime and anywhere you want.
Examples of present technologies
Here are a few examples of what the present technology is like –
1. 7Cups
No doubt technology is a foundation of the online community but did you know there is a company named 7Cups that provides free support to people experiencing emotional distress? Basically, they take tests of users who want to become a listener, and once they qualify, they are eligible to become a listener and help people via chat who come to them with their problems.
2. Fitbit
The other technology is Fitbit, which allows you to take better care of your health. Using this technology, now you can track your sleeping patterns, heart rate, the oxygen level in your blood, and many more factors, thus allowing you to make careful and informed health decisions for yourself.
Our Future And Technology
We cannot be sure what the future will look like with advanced technologies but we can study the patterns and speculate. Currently, for identification purposes, our palms and fingers are scanned but eventually, our hands will become a scanner and we will have sensors implanted in us.
We have basic personal AI assistants on our devices like Google Assistant, and with advancements, these assistants powered by AI will be able to understand the meaning of the texts so well and recite it to us that it would become difficult to distinguish them from a human.
Everyday activities like planning our day, scheduling our meetings, planning trips, and ordering things will become easier using these future technologies. We have machine learning concepts that allow these technologies to understand and learn better.
We can also see positive transformation in the energy sector with future technologies. These technologies will help us to eliminate carbon footprints and also find alternatives to better deal with climate change concerns. More technologies like carbon dioxide removal would be developed with the capability of limiting issues like global warming.
These technologies will eliminate the relevant amount of carbon dioxide from the air. The advancement in virtual reality technology will blur the line between physical space and virtual space in the future. AI technology will help people connect on an emotional level. In simple words, future technologies will help us to build real connections based on emotions.
Comparing different technological revolutions throughout history
The following table compares the various technological revolutions in history:
| Name | Time Period | Impact and Innovation | Changes in Industries |
|---|---|---|---|
| Industrial Revolution | Late 18th to mid-19th century | Shift in production method from hand-made to machine-produced, start of manufacturing, transportation, steam engine, and urbanization | Mostly agriculture, textile manufacturing, and transportation were impacted |
| Information Age | Mid-20th century to the start of the 21st century | Beginning of computers, telecommunication, and the internet | The emergence of a new industry, media, and telecommunications, impacted heavily |
| Digital Age | Late 20th century till now | Digitization, e-commerce, digital finance, smartphones, and social media | Establishment of the IT sector, boost in the tertiary sector, retail, and communications impacted |
| Fourth Industrial Revolution | Currently | Start of automation, AI, IoT, 3D printing, and so on. | Will change most industries |
Conclusion
We started our discussion from the time when we stood in the queue to use the technology of those times to connect with people to the time when we will be able to connect with them in an instant irrespective of external barriers.
With the advancement in technology, there is a possibility that things can get better from here, but on the other hand, if it is not controlled and monitored, there is a possibility that things can get worse too. In either case, technology will still evolve and when we will look back now from the future, we will only realize how far we have come and how far we can reach.