Saturday, June 28, 2014

Emerging Technologies Tetrad
Transportation

Enhances

Transportation of cargo and people by horse and cart with wheels.

Obsolete

Transportation of goods by human and innovations such as sledge.

Retrieval

Transportation of passengers and cargo using steam locomotive train and rolling stock cars.

Reversal

Transportation of passengers and cargo using diesel and electric trains.  Lays foundation for levitated high speed trains.



Obsolete:
            Transportation of goods by humans has limitations.  Ability to transport goods is limited by distance and weight.  This limits contact with distant sources for buying and selling goods.  Communication is limited to close surrounding areas decreasing ability to sell goods, learn new ideas and procedures for greater efficiency.  Rather than carrying cargo such as food prehistoric people invented sledge to carry heavier loads longer distances.

Enhances:
Transportation of cargo and passengers using horse and cart expands market area allowing for transportation of heavier and larger amount of goods and provides opportunities for people to travel longer distances in a shorter period of time.  Larger market area allows for greater change of information and increases greater efficiency. 

Retrieval:
Uses wheel transportation technology adding train steam engine to transport cargo and passengers more quickly to greater destinations.  Increased efficiency provides additional opportunities to expand markets and adopt new technology to perform task that were not possible before the introduction of steam locomotive.

Reversal
Human ability to create steam locomotives, lays the foundation for development and replacement of steam locomotives by diesel locomotive trains and electric locomotive trains.  Greater access to distant places in shorter period of time breaks down barriers and creates additional opportunities. Passengers can travel longer distances much quicker resulting in greater efficiency.  Improvements in technology lay foundation of replacing diesel and electric powered trains with levitated powered high speed trains.   

References

Stone Age Innovations and Inventions; http://www.boneandstone.com/articles/soper_03.html