Development and Application of Technology

Stephen G. Peitchinis

Chapter 5 in Computer Technology and Employment, 1983, pp 75-90 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract Opinions vary widely on the factors that influence the development and application of technology. There is general agreement that most technologies, even the most radical ones, originate from efforts to introduce minor improvements in the performance of existing technologies; and there is general agreement, also, that market developments induce the development and application of technology. Examples should abound: in the historical past, the water pump was a necessary technological solution to water problems in underground mining; development of the telegraph was essential to the running of the railways; the development of two-way wireless communication was essential to the flying of aircraft; and development of the cotton gin was induced by the development of textile machinery that used cotton instead of wool. In more recent times, the increase in the price of oil induced the development of technology for the exploitation of alternative energy sources, such as, heavy oil, shale oil, solar energy and coal gasification, and equally, induced the development and application of technology designed to increase the power yield per unit of input and thereby reduce consumption.

Keywords: Labour Cost; Central Processor; Industrial Robot; Relative Prex; Word Processor (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1983
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DOI: 10.1007/978-1-349-17322-8_5

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