References To Technology
In the novel, MacKinnie introduces horse collars to improve the efficiency of his army. In Makassar terms, this is a disruptive technology for the following reasons, as explained in the novel. Makassar society uses slaves. Slaves are even used as draft animals, because they cannot exploit the full ability of the horse with a simple harness fastened around the neck. A horse eats as much as five men and so must perform better than five men to be worth using. With a wooden collar bearing on its shoulders, a horse can pull ten times as much as a man at high speed. The effect of this is either to render a large number of slaves useless, or to free them for other uses. Either way the economic structure of the society will change radically and with it the political and power structure.
Read more about this topic: King David's Spaceship
Famous quotes containing the word technology:
“The real accomplishment of modern science and technology consists in taking ordinary men, informing them narrowly and deeply and then, through appropriate organization, arranging to have their knowledge combined with that of other specialized but equally ordinary men. This dispenses with the need for genius. The resulting performance, though less inspiring, is far more predictable.”
—John Kenneth Galbraith (b. 1908)