Throughout history humans have used technology to increase the abundance of food and other resources, travel more efficiently, communicate over long distances, and control natural environments. But technology is not just tools; it can also disrupt social hierarchies, increase costs, and harm individuals or groups.
Technology is not a fixed thing; it changes over time, influenced by the circumstances and values of particular societies. People make decisions about which technologies will be developed, promoted, funded, marketed, and bought and sold. This happens both directly as a result of government policy and indirectly as a consequence of market competition, patent law, public opinion, economic incentives, and local or national regulations.
Arthur suggests that a key aspect of technology is that it is “combinatorial”: we use it by building new systems from existing technologies, each of which itself has some design constraints, including cost (only so much money can be spent on development), safety (no one wants to get hurt), and ecologically disruptive (harming the natural environment). An ideal engineering design prioritizes these different concerns and strikes a reasonable compromise among them.
The most visible kind of technology is the electric devices you use to process information, like computers and televisions. But there are many other kinds of technological systems that are less visible. For example, modern manufacturing uses smart robots to improve production processes and automate repetitive tasks. And we depend on a vast network of electronic communication systems to stay informed about our world and interact with others.