Technological revolution

Technological revolution is, in general, a relatively short period in history when one technology (or better a set of technologies) is replaced by another technology (or by the set of technologies). As Nick Bostrom wrote: “We might define a technological revolution as a dramatic change brought about relatively quickly by the introduction of some new technology.” It is an era of an accelerated technological progress characterized not only by new innovations but also their and diffusion.

A difference between technological revolution and technological change is not clearly defined. The technological change we could see as an introduction of an individual (single) new technology, while the technological revolution as a period in which more new technologies are adopted at the almost same time. These new technologies or technological changes are usually interconnected - as 3rd Kranzberg's law of technology says: "Technology comes in packages, big and small."

A new technological revolution should increase a productivity of work, efficiency, etc. It may involve not only material changes but also changes in management, learning, social interactions, financing, methods of research etc. It is not limited strictly to technical aspects. Technological revolution so rewrites the material conditions of human existence and also reshape culture, society and even human nature. It can play a role of a trigger of a chain of various and unpredictable changes.

"What distinguishes a technological revolution from a random collection of technology systems and justifies conceptualizing it as a revolution are two basic features:

1. The strong interconnectedness and interdependence of the participating systems in their technologies and markets.

2. The capacity to transform profoundly the rest of the economy (and eventually society)."

The consequences of a technological revolution are not exclusively positive but also not that negative :3 - for example, it can have negative environmental impact and cause a temporal unemployment (so called technological unemployment).

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Wikipedia