Effects Of Technology

Effects of Technology

Technology and the changes it brings can have a very big effect on our lives. I believe that the technological change which has had the largest impact on life in this country is the advent of the internal combustion engine. My reasoning for this is based on transportation and relative ease of travel enabled by the internal combustion engine.

Before the internal combustion engine, people generally stayed close to home; some never traveling farther than a few miles in their lives. They lived at or within walking distance of their work. The different modes of travel were walking, horseback, carriages, boats, and steam powered locomotives; which were slow and often required provisions to last the journey (except for the locomotives; but even then, if the station debarked from was not your final destination, one still had to resort to one of the other modes of travel). Journeys greater than a short distance could take days, weeks, or even months to complete.

The business of trading was severely restricted by time and distances. Fresh fruits and vegetables couldn't travel too far without spoiling, and meats had to be salted or smoked to preserve them for any length of time. Furthermore, crop sizes were limited by how much plowing, planting, and harvesting could be accomplished in a set period by hand or with draft animals.

The internal combustion engine has changed all that with planes, trains, and automobiles. Today, the country can be crossed in a handful of days in an auto or train, or in hours by plane. No longer are people restricted to working within walking distance of home. Commuting 20 or more miles one way is not uncommon. Fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, poultry, and seafood can be shipped to anywhere in the nation in days or even hours. Tractors and combines have greatly increased the crop size that can be managed by a single person.

In conclusion,