General Purpose Technology
General purpose technologies (GPTs) are technologies that can affect an entire economy (usually at a national or global level). GPTs have the potential to drastically alter societies through their impact on pre-existing economic and social structures. Examples include the steam engine, railroad, interchangeable parts, electricity, electronics, material handling, mechanization, control theory (automation), the automobile, the computer, and the Internet.
Read more about General Purpose Technology: Lag, Government Investment Necessary To Develop New General Purpose Technologies, New General Purpose Technologies in Energy Systems Transformation
Famous quotes containing the words general, purpose and/or technology:
“There is absolutely no evidence—developmental or otherwise—to support separating twins in school as a general policy. . . . The best policy seems to be no policy at all, which means that each year, you and your children need to decide what will work best for you.”
—Pamela Patrick Novotny (20th century)
“I want that glib and oily art
To speak and purpose not, since what I well intend,
I’ll do’t before I speak.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“If we had a reliable way to label our toys good and bad, it would be easy to regulate technology wisely. But we can rarely see far enough ahead to know which road leads to damnation. Whoever concerns himself with big technology, either to push it forward or to stop it, is gambling in human lives.”
—Freeman Dyson (b. 1923)