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INTRODUCTION

 

We live in a society characterized by the development of information and communication using new technologies. These new and powerful tools developed by social progress in recent years are not only instrumental resources, as we see how they can significantly change the lives of citizens.

The so-called new information and communication technologies are becoming catalysts in our society, inspiring and accelerating processes of change, creating expectations or rejection of social, labor, political, cultural and economic structures. The world is undergoing profound changes in all areas of human activity. New technologies are changing the way we work, the way people acquire knowledge, communicate and learn, and the mechanisms through which they access the services offered by their communities: transportation, commerce, entertainment, and the ever-changing formal and informal education, regardless of age and occupation. 

Technology is a scientifically organized body of knowledge that enables the development and creation of goods or services that facilitate adaptation to the environment and satisfy basic individual needs and human desires.

To talk about technology, we first need to know what it was like or how these innovations came about. A few years ago, about 5 million years ago, humans were covered with hair all over their bodies. Then they lost it (although not in all cases...), but still man found a way to satisfy his needs and avoid the cold, he covered himself with the skins of the game he ate. 

Later he discovered that vegetable fibers could keep him warm and invented clothing. He got tired of going barefoot and invented shoes, got tired of shouting, invented the telephone, got tired of burning his fingers (and eyelashes) with candles, invented the electric light, got tired of counting hands, invented calculators and computers... As we all know, technologically produced objects can improve our quality of life in all aspects. Moreover, these technological innovations seem to be coming very fast, if you don't consider how quickly your computer can become obsolete in a matter of months. 

The development of technology goes hand in hand with science, although they are different:

-Scientific discovery involves knowledge itself.

-Technology uses this knowledge to solve human needs. 

Technology is often associated with modernity, but true technological activity, the curiosity to change the environment to improve living conditions, is as old as human beings.

You can better understand the events and inventions created since prehistory in the following timeline:

On the other hand, nowadays the simplest definition we can give to technology is that it refers to an accumulation of knowledge that is applied to seek the resolution of a particular problem. For this reason it can be understood as the search for the satisfaction of needs, covering all fields of daily life.

Technology is usually closely associated with the industrial revolution, machines and other electronic components. But it can be differentiated by classifying it into two major groups:

1. Hard Technology

It is based on mathematics, chemistry, physics and other applied sciences, to try to understand our environment and provide solutions.

It consists of the production, development or manufacture of tangible products. That is, products that can be physically stored.

In other words, it is mostly about machinery and final products that can make possible from a production or transformation, to being those final products themselves produced or transformed.

2. Soft Technology

It is so called because it uses humanistic sciences to reach conclusions, which can be beneficial. It encompasses much more theoretical topics, in order to improve processes, models and theories.

In other words, they consist of knowledge or techniques that can add value depending on how they are used.

An example of the use of this type of technology is software. 

 BRANCHES OF TECHNOLOGY

When technologies are mentioned, there is always a debate as to which branches are covered or where they can be applied. As we know, technology arises from the modification or creation of a method or device that facilitates the operations of daily life.

These technological advances cannot be classified, since technology is changing day by day, leaving in obsolescence all the advances that for a generation was a state-of-the-art technology. 

The following conceptual map explains in a better way which are the branches of technology.