Technology has existed throughout history. People use the combination of knowledge, skills and available resources to develop solutions that meet their daily needs and wants. Some of these solutions have been in the form of products (e.g. shaping bones into fishhooks and needles, making clay cooking pots), while some solutions have involved combining products into working systems (e.g. bow and arrow, moving water and a wheel, pestle and mortar).

Today people still have needs and wants. However, the knowledge, skills and resources used to find solutions are of a different kind because of accelerating developments in technology. Today’s society is complicated and diverse. Economic and environmental factors and a wide range of attitudes and values need to be taken into account when developing technological solutions. The development of products and systems in modern times must show sensitivity to these issues. It is in this context that Technology is defined as:

The use of knowledge, skills and resources to meet people’s needs and wants by developing practical solutions to problems, taking social and environmental factors into consideration. [1]

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