The Evolution of Technology

Technology is by far, one of our greatest innovations in human history. It is a very important
innovation because without it, it would be very hard to survive. With it we can increase our
productivity, communicate from all corners of the globe, and it grants knowledge to anyone who has
it. But talking about all of this makes me wonder, “Where did all of this start?”. Let’s expand more
and more into this topic, shall we?

Let’s start with “The First Industrial Revolution”. This revolution started in Europe and the
United States, from about 1760 to 1840. It caused the transition of manufacturing processes from
hand to machines and mechanized systems. This is the era where the first steam engine, made in
Great Britain was made, along with other innovations like new chemical manufacturing, iron
production, railway transport systems, and many more. Then we have “The Second Industrial
Revolution”. This revolution is generally dated between 1870 and 1914, ending at the dawn of World
War 1. It was a phase of rapid standardization, industrialization, and refinement of many of the
technological systems that were introduced earlier. Some of the most significant noble inventions in
this era include the use of electrical power, telephones and the internal combustion engine. Then
comes “The Third Industrial Revolution” or known otherwise as “The Digital Revolution”. This
revolution started from about the early 1960s. This is the shift from mechanical and analogue
electronic technology to digital electronics. Central to this revolution is the mass production and use
of transistors, and integrated circuits, as well as their derived technologies including
microprocessors, computers, digital cell phones, and one of the most important inventions in the
whole world, the Internet. Then finally, we have “The Fourth Industrial Revolution - Industry 4.0”
which is the current revolution we are living in. industry 4.0 aims to use smart information systems to
collect, transmit and use data to add business value. Among the notable technologies in this
revolution, we have Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, Big Data, Robotics, Cloud Computing,
Autonomous Vehicles, and many others.

While, we made the future sound very dark, it really has a lot of promises too. Human beings
are doing things that they never dreamt of, going places they never thought they could. And most of
that is thanks to technology.