The Exploratory Essay Part 5

As I get closer to understanding what technology means, I start to look at how the rest of the world decides what is technological and who determines what is at the height of current technology. Is it the public, the marketers, or the manufacturers who have the real say in what is new and advanced? Actually, I found that they all are involved, just at different times. This is possible through what is called a hype cycle. According to Gartner.com, there are five stages to the hype cycle: the first stage is the “technology trigger,” which is the “product launch or other event that generates significant press and interest.” Next is the “peak of inflated expectations,” in which “a frenzy of publicity typically generates over-enthusiasm and unrealistic expectations. There may be some successful applications of a technology, but there are typically more failures.” Next, “Technologies enter the "trough of disillusionment" because they fail to meet expectations and quickly become unfashionable. Consequently, the press usually abandons the topic and the technology. Next is the “slope of enlightenment”, in which some businesses “experiment to understand the benefits and practical application of the technology” without the press being involved. Finally, “a technology reaches the "plateau of productivity" as the benefits of it become widely demonstrated and accepted. The technology becomes increasingly stable and evolves in second and third generations. The final height of the plateau varies according to whether the technology is broadly applicable or benefits only a niche market.”

Basically, the marketers are the first to determine what is technologically advanced at a certain point in time, they are followed by the public when expectations are either met or not, and the public’s reaction is followed by the manufacturers and businesses who try to figure out why a certain product is a success or a failure. Essentially, all sides of industry share the act of deciding what technology is by modern standards, and everyone plays a part in our world’s technological progress. This cycle has evidently existed ever since technology was first created, and I think that it’s a fair, democratic system that seems to naturally feed off of technological development in general.