Rhymes of History Technology
Mark Twain states that history may not repeat itself but it rhymes a lot (Laureate Education Inc., 2008). Dr. David Thornberg (2008), discusses that new technologies are often based on older technology ideas, they are just rekindled and improved (Laureate Education Inc., 2008).
When thinking about this idea of emerging technologies, I think about transportation. Transportation has been around since the Native Americans used horses to get from one place to another. It has just evolved over years and years to become more and more effective. After riding horses, people began to use horses to pull wagons and the people rode in the wagon. Then horse shoes were invented to provide comfort for the horses. The history of transportation goes on and on until where we are today. We now have automobiles that can run off of electric charge without the use of gasoline. We have autopilot systems, navigation systems, and so much more. But all of these emerging technologies are based on a idea of technology that has been around since the beginning of time. Here is a timeline of the history of transportation http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bl_history_of_transportation.htm.
Whenever new technology emerges it takes the place of a technology from the past. This is very clear when looking at transportation. When automobiles were invented the horse and buggy became obsolete. It is actually very interesting when you look at history and the patterns that occur.
References
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Evolutionary technologies, featuring Dr. David Thornburg.
Transportation History-
Rachel,
ReplyDeleteTransportation was a good idea for your module 3 blog! From the rudimentary first cars at the opening of the 20th Century to vehicles now that have electronic ignitions and use technology for most of what's under the hood. My dad was an auto mechanic, but he would not be able to fix cars now because you no longer use hand tools to do a lot of the things he used to use hand tools for. They do an electronic diagnostic to determine if a car is running as it should or if it needs repairs, and I believe the whole "smog certification" process that we have to do on alternating years as part of our registration renewal in California is technology-based. When a vehicle passes that inspection, the information is submitted to our DMV in Sacramento electronically. In fact, we can even register our vehicles online without ever going to the DMV in person.
Transportation as a "rhyme of history" shows quite a progression from the Model T or Edsel to the vehicles we drive today and how they are maintained.
Good blog!
AJ