Week 3, Thing 7

Technology...the word is so overused today that when you actually stop to think about it, what does it actually mean? How was it first used? Interestingly enough, using Omaha Public Library's databases to find the good ol' Oxford English Dictionary, technology means: "discourse or treatise on an art or arts; the scientific study of the practical or industrial arts." The denotative meaning discussed here is definitely not the connotative meaning we have today--when people automatically jump to talk about computers, cell phones, the internet, surveillance methods, robots, etc. The OED definition, however, provides a much broader idea--in this sense, technology could apparently apply to anything that involves practicality or industrial methods. I also think that the designation as "technical nomenclature" is illuminating, since it means something that requires a technique or technical skill. At any rate, this post is basically showing that technology is much more than we think--and the greater issue here is what happens when words become overused and land far from the path of the original intent of meaning.