This is a blog about technology. It may appear to be framed as history but I make no claim to have separated inaccuracies, interpretations, opinions, myths and stories from fact. I believe that art, engineering, mathematics, philosophy, science, society, imagination and curiosity all have a part in the evolution of today's technology and are needed to guide us as we contemplate the technology of tomorrow.
Technology evolves through a recombination of the products of human creativity with the application of our ever evolving human mind.
The question of when and where technology began to evolve plagued me for a long time. It seemed to differ depending on your association with technology. Different associations such as academic, engineer, technician or user yield different views of what technology is and how it influences human life.
The academic sees technology as theories, methodologies, protocols and mathematics. Academics develop ideas through research, testing and imagination. they develop what is imagined into theories, knowledge and prepare guidelines for further development and implementation at the engineering level.
Hardware and software product engineers work together to apply theories, knowledge, mathematics, specifications and limits developed by academics; to a user defined machine. In many cases, engineers feed data back to the academic for refinement. The academic then sends the refined data back to the engineer to be applied to the machine. The circle of feedback and refinement continues until the machine is up and running properly.
A system engineer builds on the product engineer's creation and defines communications methodologies and protocols (developed by academics); defines communications media specifications to match product engineer equipment specifications; defines geographic and media limitations and applies this to a system that allows communication between products and users. The system engineer may at times feed data back to the product engineers and/or academics for refinement. The circle of feedback and refinement continues until the machines and system are up and running properly,
The user sees technology as a tool for completing a task. The user does not have to know the theory, knowledge and mathematics behind the machine and/or system, it's installation or how it communicates (if it does) with other machines or systems. The user only has to know how to operate the human-machine interface to apply it to a task at hand.
The technician views technology as an integrated system of hardware, software and human-machine interfaces. Technicians focus on hardware and software functionality, machine and system performance, and user interaction. Their expertise must allow them to navigate both the complexities of technology and human-machine interoperability to ensure that technology and humans operate efficiently and effectively.
Lastly, there is the hacker. A hacker does not follow corporate rules or regulations. I thought long and hard about mentioning hackers, but they are and have been a part of the evolution of technology since the beginning. Many of the early gaming and desktop computers were born through the curiosity and imagination of hackers.
My role in the evolution of technology began as a technician in the US Navy, then to a systems engineer for the US government, then a network engineer for a university system. Now, retired, I'm just a user. ... And, at times, a hacker. In high school, I messed around with radios, communications equipment and computers, just for the fun of it.
Personally, now I see technology as a product of society. We (American society) create technology to fill needs that grow out of wants. Those in wealthy societies such as the United States, have a lot of technology and we are constantly creating more. Those living in poor societies are satisfied with the technology their ancestors used because they can not afford the academic, labor and material costs associated with technology creation.
What's your view of technology?
Why is studying the evolution of technology important? Just as human evolution is affected by climate, animal and plant life, and human evolution effects climate, animal and plant life (circle of life); the evolution of technology both effects and is affected by human evolution.
In the past decade, technology and humanity have evolved in step with each other. A change in one has caused a change in the other. There are some who have said that we have become one with our technology.