Term of industrial Revolution
First,
we first look at the definition of the industrial revolution itself. The
industrial revolution simply means a big and radical change in the way humans
produce goods. This big change has been recorded three times, and now we are
experiencing the fourth industrial revolution. Every major change is always
followed by major changes in the fields of economy, politics, even the military
and culture. There are certainly millions of old jobs disappearing, and
millions of new jobs are emerging.
More
details we have to see in every industrial revolution, but the roughness is,
some things that were so difficult, so long, so expensive in the production
process suddenly became easy, fast, and cheap. Remember, the economy talks
about the kinds of human endeavors facing scarcity. The industrial revolution
reduced, sometimes even ELIMINATING some of the scarcity, so that the time,
energy, and money used to overcome these scarcities suddenly became free, so it
could be used for other things, to overcome the scarcity of others.
The
loss or reduction of scarcity automatically changes many aspects of community
life. Especially if it turns out that some rarity disappears! Well, we see one
by one, in the order.
The First Industrial Revolution
In the period 1760 to 1830 the Industrial Revolution
was largely confined to Britain. Aware of their head start, the British forbade
the export of machinery, skilled workers, and manufacturing techniques. The
British monopoly could not last forever, especially since some Britons saw
profitable industrial opportunities abroad, while continental European
businessmen sought to lure British know-how to their countries. Two Englishmen,
William and John Cockerill, brought the Industrial Revolution to Belgium by
developing machine shops at Liège (c. 1807), and Belgium became the first
country in continental Europe to be transformed economically. Like its British
progenitor, the Belgian Industrial Revolution centred in iron, coal, and
textiles
France was more slowly and less thoroughly
industrialized than either Britain or Belgium. While Britain was establishing
its industrial leadership, France was immersed in its Revolution, and the
uncertain political situation discouraged large investments in industrial
innovations. By 1848 France had become an industrial power, but, despite great
growth under the Second Empire, it remained behind Britain.
Other European countries lagged far behind. Their
bourgeoisie lacked the wealth, power, and opportunities of their British,
French, and Belgian counterparts. Political conditions in the other nations
also hindered industrial expansion. Germany, for example, despite vast
resources of coal and iron, did not begin its industrial expansion until after
national unity was achieved in 1870. Once begun, Germany’s industrial
production grew so rapidly that by the turn of the century that nation was
outproducing Britain in steel and had become the world leader in the chemical
industries. The rise of U.S. industrial power in the 19th and 20th centuries
also far outstripped European efforts. And Japan too joined the Industrial
Revolution with striking success.
The eastern European countries were behind early in
the 20th century. It was not until the five-year plans that the Soviet Union
became a major industrial power, telescoping into a few decades the industrialization
that had taken a century and a half in Britain. The mid-20th century witnessed
the spread of the Industrial Revolution into hitherto nonindustrialized areas
such as China and India.
The Second Industrial Revolution
Despite considerable overlapping with the “old,”
there was mounting evidence for a “new” Industrial Revolution in the late 19th
and 20th centuries. In terms of basic materials, modern industry began to
exploit many natural and synthetic resources not hitherto utilized: lighter
metals, new alloys, and synthetic products such as plastics, as well as new
energy sources. Combined with these were developments in machines, tools, and
computers that gave rise to the automatic factory. Although some segments of
industry were almost completely mechanized in the early to mid-19th century,
automatic operation, as distinct from the assembly line, first achieved major
significance in the second half of the 20th century.
Ownership of the means of production also underwent
changes. The oligarchical ownership of the means of production that
characterized the Industrial Revolution in the early to mid-19th century gave
way to a wider distribution of ownership through purchase of common stocks by
individuals and by institutions such as insurance companies. In the first half
of the 20th century, many countries of Europe socialized basic sectors of their
economies. There was also during that period a change in political theories:
instead of the laissez-faire ideas that dominated the economic and social
thought of the classical Industrial Revolution, governments generally moved
into the social and economic realm to meet the needs of their more complex
industrial societies.
the third Industrial Revolution
After replacing muscle power with steam, then
parallel to serial production, what other changes can occur in the industrial
world? The next factor that is replaced is the human. After the second
industrial revolution, humans still played a very important role in the
production of goods, as mentioned earlier, this is the industrial era!
The third industrial revolution changed it. After
this revolution, the industrial age slowly ended, the information age began. If
the first revolution was triggered by a steam engine, the second revolution was
triggered by conveyor belts and electricity, the third revolution was triggered
by a moving machine, which thought automatically: computers and robots.
The computer was originally a luxury item. One of
the first computers developed in the World War 2 era as a machine for decoding
made by Nazi Germany, namely the first programmable computer called the
Colossus was a giant machine the size of a bedroom. Do not have RAM, and can
not take orders from humans through the keyboard, especially the touchscreen,
but through paper tape. This ancient computer also needed enormous electricity:
8500 watts! But its ability is not as surprising as smartphones in the pockets
of most Indonesians today.
However, the advances in computer technology were
speeding up after the second world war was over. The discovery of
semi-conductors, followed by transistors, then integrated chip (IC) made the
size of the computer smaller, the electricity needed was getting smaller, while
its numeracy ability flew into the sky.
Decreasing the size of the computer becomes
important, because now computers can be installed in the machines that operate
the production line. Now, computers replace many humans as operators and
controllers of production lines, just as telephone operators in telephone
companies are replaced by relays so we just have to call a telephone number to
contact our friends. This process called "Automation" all becomes
automatic, does not require humans anymore. This means that once again there is
a decline in the scarcity of human resources, the release of thousands of
workers for other jobs.
Along with the progress of computers, the progress
of machines that can be controlled by computers has also increased. Various
types of machines are created with forms and functions that resemble human form
and function. The computer becomes his brain, the robot becomes his hand,
slowly the function of the rude worker and manual worker disappears.
However, this does not mean that human tasks in
production can be completely replaced by robots. The original car factories
thought the 3.0 industrial revolution would be like 2.0, where parallel
production was totally replaced by production lines, robots would be totally
replaced by humans. Car manufacturers in the 1990s tried to replace all their
employees with robots, the result was that productivity declined. Elon Musk
tried to do it again in this 2010 in the Teslanya car factory. Again, everyone
found the fact that for car production, a combination of humans and computer
robots is the best. The emergence of robots and computers is a human helper,
not a replacement.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution, finally, will change not only what we do but also who we are. It will affect our identity and all the issues associated with it: our sense of privacy, our notions of ownership, our consumption patterns, the time we devote to work and leisure, and how we develop our careers, cultivate our skills, meet people, and nurture relationships. It is already changing our health and leading to a “quantified” self, and sooner than we think it may lead to human augmentation. The list is endless because it is bound only by our imagination.
I am a great enthusiast and early adopter of technology, but sometimes I wonder whether the inexorable integration of technology in our lives could diminish some of our quintessential human capacities, such as compassion and cooperation. Our relationship with our smartphones is a case in point. Constant connection may deprive us of one of life’s most important assets: the time to pause, reflect, and engage in meaningful conversation.
One of the greatest individual challenges posed by new information technologies is privacy. We instinctively understand why it is so essential, yet the tracking and sharing of information about us is a crucial part of the new connectivity. Debates about fundamental issues such as the impact on our inner lives of the loss of control over our data will only intensify in the years ahead. Similarly, the revolutions occurring in biotechnology and AI, which are redefining what it means to be human by pushing back the current thresholds of life span, health, cognition, and capabilities, will compel us to redefine our moral and ethical boundaries.
Sumber :
With the invent of automation in technology, businesses have now become smarter. Companies have started using automated accounts receivable software.
BalasHapus