Importance of connecting between Work and Technology

The feature of emerging postindustrial economy is computer and related

information technology. The information revolution is changing both workplace and

nature of work itself. Technology is a body of practical knowledge and equipment

for

enhancing the effectiveness of human labor, and altering the environment for
human use.

As we can see, the production of material things (clothing and cars) that defined the

industrial age is quickly being replaced by the creation of ideas and images (
computer

programs and television shows ). Not only is this trend altering the nature of work,
but it

is redefining the skills needed to find employment – working with one’s hand is
steadily

giving way to working with one’s head.

Here, before getting into description about the importance of technology in

these

days’ work, we want you to look back through the early societies – to see the level of

technology development from the Hunting and Gathering societies , and to see how
work

was changed by technology .

Sociologists, Gerhard Lenski and Jean Lenski, observe how societies change
over

centuries as they gain greater ability to manipulate their physical environment.

Societies

with simple technology can provide for only a small number of people and offer few

choices about how to live. Technologically complex societies – while not necessarily “
better” in any absolute sense – support large population who live diverse, highly

specialized lives.

The Lenskis also explain that the more technological information a society
has,

the faster it changes. In short, new technology sends ripples of change throughout a

society’s way of life. When our ancestors first discovered how to harness the power
of

the wind using a sail, they set the stage for building sailing ship, which took them to
new

lands, stimulated trade, and increased their military might. Consider, as a more
recent

example, in how many ways our lives are being changed by the spread of computer

technology. Now we will describe five general types of societies distinguished by

their

technology.

1. Hunting and Gathering societies

The most basic human societies live by hunting and gathering, simple
technology

for hunting animals and gathering vegetation. With little control over their
environment,

hunters and gatherers continually search for game and collect edible plants. During
this

century, technologically complex societies have slowly closed in on the few

remaining

hunters and gatherers, reducing their landholdings and depleting game and
vegetation.

Because of the limited technology in Hunting and Gathering societies, people live
depend
on nature. They neither produced nor preserved food. They used simple weapon –
the

spear, the bow and arrow, and stone knife – to search for food and shared with
other

members of the band. They often fall victim to force nature, and there is little they
can

do.
2. Horticultural and Pastoral societies

Ten to twelve thousand years ago, a new technology changed the lives of
human

being. People discovered horticulture, the technology of using hand tools to cultivate

plants. Using a hoe to work the soil and a digging stick to punch holes in the ground
for

seeds may seem simple and obvious. They combined this new technology with
traditional

Hunting and Gathering. For the first time, human being became food producers. A
more

stable food supply enabled people to settle down in permanent or semi permanent
village.

In especially arid regions, societies turned not to raising crops but to pastoral, the

domestication of animals.

With the greater productivity that come from domesticating plant and
animals,

these societies expand to 100 of members. There, the material surplus frees some
people

from food production to make crafts, engage in trade, or serve as full-time priests.

Compared to hunters and gatherers, pastoral and horticultural societies are also

hierarchical, with wealth concentrated among few families who operate as a ruling
group.
This is because of the technology development.

3. Agrarian societies

Five thousand years ago, further technological advances led to agriculture,

large-

scale cultivation using plows harnessed to animals or more powerful energy sources.

Agrarian technology first appeared in the Middle East and gradually spread
throughout

the world. So important to human culture was the invention of the animal-drawn
plow as

well as the wheel, writing, numbers, and the expanding use of metals – all appearing
at

roughly the same time – that historians regard this era as “ the dawn of
civilization” (

Lenski, Nolan and Lenski 1995.175).

Farmer with animal-drawn plows can cultivate field vastly larger than the
garden-

sized plots worked by horticulturalists. They can produced 10 times yield of hunting
and

gathering. Plows have the additional advantage of turning, and thereby aerating the
soil to

increase fertility. As a result, farmers work the same land for generation, which in
turn,

encourage permanent settlements. Large food surpluses, transported on animal-

powered

wagons, allow agrarian societies to expand their land area and population. As
always,

increasing production means greater specialization. Task once performed by

everyone,
such as clearing land and securing food, become distinct occupation. Agrarian
technology

also afford a greater rage of possibilities as to how to live, which is why agrarian

societies differ more from one another than horticultural and pastoral societies do.

4. Industrial Societies

By the mid-eighteen century, a second technological revolution was under

way,

first in England and, soon afterward elsewhere in Europe and North America.

Industrialization occurred as societies replaced the muscle power of animals

and

humans with advanced sources of energy. Formally, industry refers to the

production of

goods using sophisticated fuels and machinery. Task once performed by humans are
now

performed by machines, on assembly lines, at a much faster speed and lower cost.
With

industrial technology, societies began to change faster. Industrial societies

transformed

themselves more in a century than they had in thousands of years before. Industry
made

the world seem smaller. During 19th century, railroads and steamships
revolutionized

transportation, moving people farther and faster than ever before. During 20 th
century,

additional waves of change followed the invention of automobile, radio, television,

and

so on.

Work, too, has changed. In agrarian societies, most men and women work in
the
home. Industrialization, however, create factories near centralized machinery and
energy

sources. Thus people started to work in the new work sites under supervision of
strangers.

Before the industrial revolution, most work involved growing and gathering raw

materials such as grain, wood and wool. The industrial economy shifted that focus
so that

most people worked in factories to turn raw materials into a wide range of salable

products. Industrial technology has raised living standards and extended lives. In
the

process, extensive schooling also become common, because industrial production

demand a literate and skilled labor force.

5. Postindustrial Society (Information Technology)

By the middle of this century, the nature of production itself was changing
once

again. Many industrial societies, including the United States have now entered a

postindustrial phase of economic development based on new information

technology.

While production in industrial nations center on factories and machinery generating

material goods, postindustrial production focuses on computers and other electronic

device the create, process, store, and apply information. Automated machinery
(and,

more recently, robotics) reduced the role of human labor in factory production,
while

simultaneously expanding the ranks of clerical workers and mangers. Today, service

industries – such as public relations, health care, advertising, banking, and sales –
employ
most working people in this country. Distinguishing the postindustrial era, then, is a
shift

from industrial work to service jobs. Driving this economic change is a third

technological transformation: the development of the computer. The information

revolution is generating new kinds of information, new means of communication,

and

changing the character of work just as factories did two centuries ago. The
information

revolution has unleashed three major trends:

A. From tangible products to ideas. The industrial era was defined by the

production of goods; in the postindustrial era, work involves creating and

manipulating

symbols. Computer programmers, writers, financial analysts, advertising

executives,

architects, editors, and all sorts of consultants make up the labor of the Information
Age.

B. From mechanical skills to literacy skills. Just as the Industrial revolution

required mechanical skills, the Information revolution requires literacy skills –

speaking

and writing well, and, of course, using computers. People able to communicate

effectively enjoy new opportunities; people with limited skills face declining
prospects.

C. The centralization of work away from factories. Industrial technology drew

workers into factories containing the machines and energy sources, but computer

technology allows workers to be virtually anywhere. Indeed, laptop computers, cell

phones, and portable facsimile (fax) machines now turn the home, car, or even an

airplane into a “virtual office.” New information technology, in short, blurs the lines
between work and home life, bringing about a return of cottage industries in the
form of

home-based offices and small businesses.

As part if a shift toward postindustrial societies linked within a global

economy,

telecommuting can even cross national boundaries, oceans, and continents.

Telecommuting clearly facilitates communication between a company’s employees

who

work in different locations, including some who work at home. This offers many

important benefits for individual employees and for the company as a whole, yet it is
still

important to encourage face-to-face communication in staff meetings and social

settings.

To sum up, technology is extremely important with work and it gives lots of

benefit to people as the whole society because as we described above, technology:

- In the early societies, with technology development, the productivity was

increasing very fast.

- It eliminates the demand for some types of workers, while increasing the

demand for others.

- It makes some jobs easier.

- It increases centralized control through new technologies of management.

- Presents new challenges.

- It offers exciting new possibilities for sharing information and

communication.

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