". . . what do we mean by “technology”? "

"I think we all have sort of an operational idea in our heads of what we mean by the term, but if you’re like most people, odds are pretty good that you’ve never sat down and tried to articulate a real definition. A couple pretty smart thinkers had some thoughts on the subject that you might find helpful. Or challenging. Let’s see.

"First, Arnold Pacey, a British scholar whose Culture of Technology helps us understand that technology is a lot more than just the machine itself, which Pacey calls the “restricted” sense of the term. The machine – the technical dimension, is only a part of the whole picture."

"Have a look at this diagram:

The bottom point is what Pacey calls the “technical aspect,” which includes “knowledge, skill and technique; tools, machines, chemicals, liveware; resources, products, and wastes.”

This lower third of the equation, the “restricted meaning,” is what most people – probably you included – mean when they use the term “technology.”

Thanks to the blogger–Scholars & Rogues, "Reader Roundtable: what's the greatest technology of all time?"