Yash Tekwani 8th March 2013

Innovation Essay: Industrial and Digital Revolutions

So what exactly is a revolution? Here is a shot at it, A Revolution is a fundamental change in power and organizational structures taken over a period of time (Revolution). Throughout the centuries many revolutions have taken place, but the Industrial and Digital revolutions have been said to be the two biggest. This essay will compare and contrast the impacts on both these major revolutions which have occurred or is occurring. Both these revolutions can be compared and contrasted as they both have had an impact on the compass of sustainability; nature, economy, wellbeing and society. The end result will determine which revolution has had a greater impact on the world.

Compass of Sustainability

The Industrial Revolution is said to be one of the greatest revolutions, to have had an impact on the whole world. This revolution was a fundamental transition from human labor and machines, which occurred in the period of 1750s to 1850s in Britain and spread to Europe and the United States. Whereas, the digital revolution, also known as the The Third Industrial Revolution is a change from analog, mechanical and electronic technology to digital technology that has taken place since 1980 and continues to this very present day (The Third Industrial Revolution). Knowing that these two revolutions have taken place in different time periods, they have a few similarities. Even though these two revolutions happened in different time periods, they have similar impacts of the environment and the social life. Taking a look at the environmental impact, the Industrial Revolution had initially started the immense use of hydrocarbon fuels such as coal, oil and other resources which were copious in Britain. Currently, the uses of non-renewable energy sources have lead its way into causing both air and water pollution. It has been said that the rivers have been dumped with so much industrial waste that, wasnt only disastrous to the environment but also to human life. Also with the Industrialization increasing the air pollution automatically increased, and the pollution spread to do domestic and industrial waste. According to the Environmental History Resources: The effects of air pollution brought cities to a halt, disrupting traffic but more dangerously also causing death rates to rise. During a week of smog in 1873 killed over 700 people in London. However, the largest air pollution disaster in Britain was the Great London Smog of December 1952 which killed approximately 4000 people (Environmental History Resources). This was on the abundant issues that took place in Britain at that moment. A similar occurrence is taking place with the current Digital Revolution. The Digital Revolution is leading into an increase of manufacturing electronic good, however due to the high demand and rapid evolution of technology; there are large amounts of waste that is being disregarded every year. E-waste represents 2 percent of America's trash in landfills, but it equals 70 percent of overall toxic waste. The extreme amount of lead in electronics alone causes damage in the central and peripheral nervous systems,

Yash Tekwani 8th March 2013 the blood and the kidneys. Only 12.5 percent of e-waste is currently recycled (11 Facts About EWaste). As mentioned in the fact, this isnt only effecting the environment, but is also rapidly causing harm to the human world. A second similarity that can be related from these two revolutions would be the impact it has on the society. Both these revolutions have changed the way tasks have been completed. Before the industrial revolution, about 80% of the worlds population was engaged in farming to keep itself and the other 20% of people from starving. Today, in the United States less than 1% of people list their occupation as farming (Coal, Steam). This is quite similar to the Digital Revolution as it has changed the way the society works as a whole, everyones daily schedule such as; shopping, talking, buying and activities can all be accomplished at home with ease, just with the help of a phone, laptop or tablet. Thus, both these revolutions have changed our lives and helped us organize it in a much easier and efficient way. Therefore these revolutions have had positively impacted our lives, but can also cause harm to environment drastically. When looking at how these revolutions have had similarities, they can also be differentiated. The Industrial Revolution unlike the Digital, has affected the economy quite extremely. The Industrial Revolution had its biggest impact in Europe, though particularly it had been the growth of the industrial manufacturing especially in textiles. Whereas, the Digital Revolution has impacted the world as a whole! The main reason behind this would be that because of the development of the internet over the last 30 years, and the frequent use of social networking sites, it has created an opportunity for companies to advertise and also interact with global customers and their markets. The development of the digital age has also created more efficient forms of communication, and certain information can be passed on and receive by millions of people, with a much shorter amount of time. When comparing the social effects, they quite vary as they have different effects on the society. The Industrial Revolution had led to short-term effects such has illnesses or even death, due to slavery and labour conditions in factories in urban areas. Whilst, the Digital Revolution has changed only 20% of the worlds population, in completing daily tasks which was mentioned above, such as; shopping, talking etc. It can be argued that the Digital Revolution has made our lives more complex, as new information hits us at any unexpected time that it can consume almost every moment of our day. Which results in us making faster decisions, especially when compared to the times of the Industrial Revolution. To sums thing up, I feel that the Industrial Revolution has had the greatest impact on us from the past to this very day. Without having the Industrial Revolution, how did our world develop as it is today? Nevertheless the Industrial Revolution has change almost anything ranging from, how the society has been structured to how it had become more economically independent. The Industrial Revolution is known to be the turning point in history that made changes to the nature, economy, society and the state of well-being in the population. Its alternations that we made a long time ago, have resulted in our social structure today. Without the Industrial Revolution, it would have taken centuries for our world to be as advanced as it is today. Secondly, the Digital Revolution is basically a continuation to the Industrial Revolution, it works like evolution. In conclusion, both these revolution have impacted the world in its own ways, however; the Industrial revolution has had a more long lasting impact on the worlds societies as a whole. What if some individuals feel that the Digital Revolution has a greater? Well for them its undecided, as we are currently living through it!

Yash Tekwani 8th March 2013

Bibliography (Work Cited):

"Coal, Steam, and The Industrial Revolution: Crash Course World History #32." YouTube. YouTube, 30 Aug. 2012. Web. 8 Mar. 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhL5DCizj5c>. "Environmental History Resources." Industrial Revolution. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2013. <http://www.eh-resources.org/timeline/timeline_industrial.html>. "Industrial Revolution." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 05 Oct. 2013. Web. 8 Mar. 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_Revolution>. "Revolution." Wikipedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Mar. 2013. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolution>. "The Third Industrial Revolution." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 05 Oct. 2013. Web. 8 Mar. 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Third_Industrial_Revolution>. "11 Facts About E-Waste." Do Something. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2013. <http://www.dosomething.org/actnow/tipsandtools/11-facts-about-e-waste>.