The historical trajectory of technology has been amazing. The human species has gradually moved from the days when a lot of force was used to do very little work to the present age when all a person requires is the click of a mouse or even the touch of a screen and everything is done! Going to the future, one will wonder what could be the 'next big thing' in terms of technology. Over time, human activities have shaped the direction of technology and at the same time technology shaping human activities. Human activities and advancement in technology have been supplementing each other. Many factors have contributed to the advancement in technology. Such advancement in technology has had numerous effects on the environment, on human populations, on the society, politics and the economy. In a nutshell, virtually all sectors have experienced the effects in technology.
Some of the effects of the advancement of technology have been adverse . Advancement in technology has brought about increased warfare. Fielding nations have taken advantage of newly sophisticated weapons whose manufacture has been triggered by technological advancement. As a result, many people die; the environment is also adversely affected. Moreover, technological advancement has brought about numerous communicable diseases partly as a result of explosions that release hazardous chemicals in the atmosphere. The damage that results is insurmountable.
In spite of the foregoing, technological development has revolutionized the way activities are carried out in the offices. Paperwork has miraculously disappeared from the office and has been replaced by computers that store large volumes of data. The size of computers has also reduced and what we have now is a fraction of what we used to have some years ago, in terms of the size of computers. The concept of haptic feedback is being employed to produce touchscreen computers, which are easier to browse, faster to work with and more entertaining than the traditional computers. As this happens, however, technological advancement must be in line with the requirements of consumers. Consumers are demanding more environmentally-friendly, smaller sized, and multi-purpose gadgets which will do virtually all the work for them. Consumers no longer queue in markets in search of new gadgets. They log into the internet and explore the numerous products in the market as available on the company websites.
The future of technology may not be easy to predict. Virtually all thinkable gadgets have been produced in the market, the latest being the haptic screen. One may wonder whether the next discovery would be the no-touch interface so that computer users shall not be required to touch their computers in order to operate them. Users may also long for the day when all that they will need to do whenever they intend to travel in their car is to instruct the car systems of where they are heading to and they are good to go. This will be one of the ways in which man will have shaped technology . It will also be interesting to have brain scanners so that a person will not be able to lie to their friends! The courts will also not need to go through lengthy criminal litigation; all they will be required to do is to scan the brain of the accused to determine their criminal liability. People will also be able to predict their future using computer gadgets, for example, their prospective spouses, the day of their death, and so on.
The interest is not in mass anymore but consumer satisfaction.
References
Jaffe, A. B. (2011). Technological Change and the Environment. University and National Bureau of Economic Research, Waltham, MA. Department of Economics and Brandies, 15-23.
Pal, R. (2007). Beyond Engineering: How Society Shapes Technology. Oxford University Press, 25.
