# Enabling technology
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An '''enabling technology''' is an [invention](/source/invention) or [innovation](/source/innovation) that can be applied to drive radical change in the capabilities of a user or culture. Enabling technologies are characterized by rapid development of subsequent derivative technologies, often in diverse fields. See [General purpose technology](/source/General_purpose_technology).
Equipment and/or methodology that, solely or in combination with associated technologies, provides the means to increase performance and capabilities of the user, product or process.[{{cite web |url=http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/enabling-technology.html#ixzz2lrYdBsg3 |title=What is enabling technology? definition and meaning |website=BusinessDictionary.com |date=2016-12-05 |accessdate=2016-12-11 |archive-date=2010-08-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100825093859/http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/enabling-technology.html#ixzz2lrYdBsg3 |url-status=dead }}] An enabling technology have capability to radically improve or positively change the status quo. It is in recognition of this potential that the United Nations [Sustainable Development Goal 5](/source/Sustainable_Development_Goal_5) targets the use of enabling technology to promote the empowerment of women.[{{Cite web|title=Sustainable Development Goal 5: Gender equality|url=https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/women-and-the-sdgs/sdg-5-gender-equality|access-date=2020-09-23|website=UN Women|language=en|archive-date=2020-11-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201126102330/https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/women-and-the-sdgs/sdg-5-gender-equality|url-status=dead}}]
==Historically significant enabling technologies==
{{Expand section|date=July 2010}}
The history of enabling technology can be broken down into three different time periods, the [ancient era](/source/Ancient_history), the [classical era](/source/Classical_antiquity), and the [modern era](/source/modern_era). All three eras had extremely important enabling technologies within them, although the modern era has the most due to the [industrial revolution](/source/Industrial_Revolution) and the [information age](/source/Information_Age).
===Ancient and prehistorical eras===
*[Mechanics](/source/Mechanics): Established by [Archytas the Tarantine](/source/Archytas) as a combination of [mathematics](/source/mathematics) and structures[{{Cite book|last1=Valavanis|first1=K. P.|last2=Vachtsevanos|first2=G. J.|last3=Antsaklis|first3=P. J.|title=2007 European Control Conference (ECC) |chapter=Technology and autonomous mechanisms in the mediterranean: From ancient Greece to Byzantium |date=July 2007|pages=263–270|doi=10.23919/ECC.2007.7068808|isbn=978-3-9524173-8-6|s2cid=32345309}}]
*[Glasses](/source/Glasses): Allowed visually impaired people to actually see clearly for the first time[{{Cite web|url=http://www.enablingtechnology.eu/what-is-enabling-technology-and-how-has-it-changed-us/|title=What is Enabling Technology and how has it changed us?|date=2015-07-17|website=Enabling Technology|language=en-US|access-date=2019-12-14}}]
*[Ceramic](/source/Ceramic)s: Artificial material created by firing several raw materials together creating a hard, rock like product[{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W2cSkEsWbSkC&dq=ancient+technology&pg=PA192|title=Raman Spectroscopy in Archaeology and Art History|last1=Edwards|first1=Howell G. M.|last2=Chalmers|first2=John M.|last3=Britain)|first3=Royal Society of Chemistry (Great|date=2005|publisher=Royal Society of Chemistry|isbn=978-0-85404-522-8|language=en}}]
*The [plow](/source/plow): Farming tool that allowed for faster preparation of soil before planting[{{Cite journal|last=Fussell|first=G. E.|date=1967|title=Farming Systems of the Classical Era|journal=Technology and Culture|volume=8|issue=1|pages=16–44|doi=10.2307/3101523|issn=0040-165X|jstor=3101523|s2cid=113016490 }}]
*[Gunpowder](/source/Gunpowder): Revolutionized warfare from swords, catapults, and bows to gun fights[{{Cite journal|last=Bachrach|first=David Stewart|date=2008-08-13|title=Gunpowder, Explosives, and the State: A Technological History (review)|journal=Technology and Culture|language=en|volume=49|issue=3|pages=785–786|doi=10.1353/tech.0.0051|s2cid=111173101|issn=1097-3729}}]
===Classical era===
* The [printing press](/source/printing_press): Revolutionized the way people conceive and describe the world they live in, ushering in the [period of modernity](/source/Modern_period)[Boruchoff, David A. (2012), "The Three Greatest Inventions of Modern Times: An Idea and Its Public", in Klaus Hock; Gesa Mackenthun (eds.), ''Entangled Knowledge: Scientific Discourses and Cultural Difference'', Münster: Waxmann, pp. 133–163, {{ISBN|978-3-8309-2729-7}}]
*The [telescope](/source/telescope): Allowed for more detailed exploration of [the universe](/source/Universe) beyond what the human eye could comprehend[{{Cite web|url=https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/9-12/features/telescope_feature_912.html|title=NASA - Telescope History|last=MSFC|first=Sandra May-|website=www.nasa.gov|language=en|access-date=2019-12-14|archive-date=2021-02-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210214151151/https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/9-12/features/telescope_feature_912.html|url-status=dead}}]
*[Refrigeration](/source/Refrigeration): Allowed for human control of air temperature to keep goods and food fresh for a longer period of time[{{Cite web|url=http://www.historycarper.com/resources/twobf3/letter1.htm|title=The Writings of Benjamin Franklin, Volume III: London, 1757 - 1775 -- Letters of 1757 and 1758|date=2011-01-28|access-date=2019-12-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110128075748/http://www.historycarper.com/resources/twobf3/letter1.htm|archive-date=2011-01-28}}]
*[Mariner's compass](/source/Mariner's_compass): Allowed sailors to navigate the seas without having to use celestial bodies[Gubbins, David, ''Encyclopedia of Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism'', Springer Press (2007), {{ISBN|978-1-4020-3992-8}}, p. 67]
===Modern era===
*[Manufacturing](/source/Manufacturing): The rapid creation of usable products in large abundance, seen early in the automobile industry
*[Reinforced concrete](/source/Reinforced_concrete): Allowed for the building of taller and stronger buildings, leading to the birth of [skyscraper](/source/skyscraper)s[{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/technology/construction|title=Construction - Early steel-frame high-rises|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|access-date=2019-12-14}}]
*[Elevator](/source/Elevator): Allowed buildings to be built higher instead of wider, which caused cities' population densities to spike
*[Steam engine](/source/Steam_engine): The stationary steam engine was a key component of the [Industrial Revolution](/source/Industrial_Revolution), allowing factories to locate where water power was unavailable[{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qdlDZlosAcAC&pg=PA60|title=Society and Economy in Modern Britain 1700-1850|last=Brown|first=Richard|date=2002-11-01|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-0-203-40252-8|language=en}}]
* [Electric motor](/source/Electric_motor): Machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy using electricity and magnetic fields, creating a dynamic and cost effective motor
*[Incandescent light bulb](/source/Incandescent_light_bulb): Invented by [Thomas Edison](/source/Thomas_Edison), this let individuals switch from oil powered lighting to electrical powered lighting[{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/storygreatinven01burngoog|page=[https://archive.org/details/storygreatinven01burngoog/page/n146 123]|title=The story of great inventions|last=Burns|first=Elmer Ellsworth|date=1910|publisher=Harper & brothers|language=en}}]
*[Rechargeable battery](/source/Rechargeable_battery): Created the opportunity to have a single battery for machines that can be recharged, rather than using multiple batteries
*[Ballpoint pen](/source/Ballpoint_pen): Created a way to write more consistently and comfortably without having to dip your pen in ink
*[Bessemer process](/source/Bessemer_process): Revolutionized the steel refining process, making it much quicker
*[Photography](/source/Photography): Revolutionized portraiture and art
*[Telephone](/source/Telephone): [Alexander Graham Bell](/source/Alexander_Graham_Bell) invented the telephone which revolutionized communication between geographically distant individuals[{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/historicalfirstp0000brow|url-access=registration|title=Historical first patents: the first United States patent for many everyday things|last=Brown|first=Travis|date=1994-08-01|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-2898-8|language=en}}]
*[FM radio](/source/FM_radio): Allowed for the transmission of audio from a broadcast tower to [radio](/source/radio)s within range
* [Internal combustion engine](/source/Internal_combustion_engine): The stepping stone for the modern automobile, which revolutionized transportation[{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TPE--YskI_kC|title=Technology Today and Tomorrow|last=Fales|first=James|date=June 1993|publisher=Glencoe|isbn=978-0-02-677103-0|language=en}}]
* [Anesthetics](/source/Anesthetics): Allowed for more serious and longer surgeries with much more comfort for the patients
* [Antibiotics](/source/Antibiotics): Allowed for effective treatment of infectious diseases, most of which were previously lethal
* [Flight](/source/Flight): Revolutionized travel and transportation across the world
* [Personal computer](/source/Personal_computer): Allowed for extremely fast calculating times and later was the basis for the Internet[{{Cite web|url=https://www.computerhistory.org/siliconengine/microprocessor-integrates-cpu-function-onto-a-single-chip/|title=1971: Microprocessor Integrates CPU Function onto a Single Chip {{!}} The Silicon Engine {{!}} Computer History Museum|website=www.computerhistory.org|access-date=2019-12-14}}]
* [Internet](/source/Internet): The Internet has enabled new forms of social interaction, activities, and social associations
* [Cloud computing](/source/Cloud_computing): Allowed for affordable and fast access to high end [computing](/source/computing) equipment over the internet
* Inter[seasonal thermal energy storage](/source/seasonal_thermal_energy_storage): Enables recycling of [waste heat](/source/waste_heat) and utilization of natural energy (e.g., summer's solar heat or winter's cold) for heating or cooling in the opposite season
* [3D printing](/source/3D_printing): "Three-dimensional printing makes it as cheap to create single items as it is to produce thousands and thus undermines [economies of scale](/source/economies_of_scale). It may have as profound an impact on the world as the coming of the factory did."[{{cite news |url=https://www.economist.com/leaders/2011/02/10/print-me-a-stradivarius |title=Print me a Stradivarius – How a new manufacturing technology will change the world |publisher=Economist Technology |access-date=2012-01-31 |date=2011-02-10}}]
==Impact of technology on society==
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Throughout history, technology has continuously influenced all aspects of the society.[{{cite thesis |type=MSc |last=Sutton |first=Brian |date=2013 |title=The Effects of Technology in Society and Education |publisher=State University of New York College}}] It has impacted how humans think, learn and communicate.[{{Cite web|url=https://www.bctv.org/2019/11/07/technological-influence-on-society/|title= Technological Influence on Society |website= www.bctv.org |date= 7 November 2019 |access-date=2020-09-22}}] The world is presently witnessing an era with frequent technological inventions, which have both positive and negative impacts on how people go about their daily activities.