What is technology?

Technology is the application of scientific knowledge to the practical aims of human life or, as it is
sometimes phrased, to the change and manipulation of the human environment.

Types of technology ( 7 main type of technology)

Artificial Intelligence. ...

Information Technology. ...

Space Technology. ...

4. Entertainment Technology. ...

Medical Technology. ...

Operational Technology. ...

Assistive Technology. ...

Communication Technology

Parts of technology

Technological System Parts

Input. The input of a technological system can be electricity or a user-defined setting. ...

Transformation. All technological systems also transform the input. ...

Output. After the technological system has transformed the input, it gives you the output or outcome. ...

Control. ...

Characteristics of technology

Purposefulness and technological practice. ...

Extending human capability. ...

Technological and other outcomes. ...

A socially embedded activity. ...

Creative and critical thinking, functional and practical reasoning. ...

Expect the unexpected.

Technologies we are using now

What are the 14 technologies?

The 14 disruptive technologies identified in Ark Invest's report are AI, blockchain, digital wallets, Internet
of Things, mobile enabled devices, battery technology, autonomous mobility, cloud computing, gene
sequencing, gene editing, living therapies (genetic tools that create new forms of therapeutic

Benefits/ Advantages of technology in this modern world

Quick access to information.

Facilitated learning.

Breaking the distance barrier.

Simplifying tasks.

Providing entertainment.

Increased productivity and efficiency.

Increased life expectancy.

Creating new jobs.

Disadvantages of technology

The top 5 disadvantages of modern technology include waste of time, a distraction from the study, cost,
social isolation, and easy cheating in the exam.

Concept of Blockchain technology

Blockchain technology is a decentralized, distributed ledger that stores the record of ownership of
digital assets. Any data stored on blockchain is unable to be modified, making the technology a
legitimate disruptor for industries like payments, cybersecurity and healthcare.

Blockchain is a shared, immutable ledger for recording transactions, tracking assets and building trust.

The concept of blockchain technology was introduced by an anonymous person or group using the
pseudonym "Satoshi Nakamoto" in a 2008 whitepaper titled "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash
System." However, the true identity of Satoshi Nakamoto remains unknown. Nakamoto is credited as
the founder of blockchain technology because the whitepaper laid the foundation for the development
of the first cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, which is built on blockchain principles.

The concept of blockchain was first described in a whitepaper titled "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic
Cash System" in 2008 by an unknown person or group using the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. To this
day, the true identity of the founder remains a mystery. Nevertheless, the paper laid the foundation for
the development of the first blockchain-based cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, which was launched in 2009.

Origin of Blockchain

*The origin of Blockchain technology* can be traced back to 2008 when an individual or group using the
pseudonym "Satoshi Nakamoto" published a whitepaper titled "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash
System." This whitepaper introduced the concept of a decentralized digital currency called Bitcoin and
the underlying technology called Blockchain.

Since then, Blockchain has evolved beyond its original use case in Bitcoin and found applications in
various industries, including finance, supply chain management, healthcare, and more, due to its
robustness and potential for secure and transparent record-keeping.

Blockchain gained popularity due to its secure and transparent nature. It ensures data integrity,
immutability, and eliminates the need for a centralized authority, reducing the risk of fraud and
tampering.

There are primarily three types of blockchains: public, private, and consortium. Public blockchains, like
Bitcoin and Ethereum, are open to everyone and operate in a decentralized manner. Private blockchains
are restricted to a specific group or organization, providing greater control and privacy.

The importance of blockchain lies in its ability to revolutionize various industries, including finance,
supply chain, healthcare, and more. It enhances security, reduces costs, and increases efficiency by
streamlining processes.

Key features of blockchain are decentralization, consensus mechanisms (e.g., Proof of Work, Proof of
Stake), cryptographic security, and immutability.

How does blockchain technology work

Blockchains are intended to maintain integrity in the system without anyone needing to monitor or
control it. By instituting a system of checks and balances that functions on its own accord through rules
programmed into the protocol, and which also makes decisions and keeps records based on consensus
throughout a peer-to-peer network, a blockchain oversees its own activities without requiring any trust
in a central authority or the other parties involved.

Blockchains require that a majority of all of the nodes involved agree that a change to a ledger
distributed among all of the computers on the network is valid and appropriate, and the blockchain
design makes it nearly impossible for a bad actor to change the ledger or to have invalid changes
approved by the blockchain. By requiring a proof of work, or in some blockchains a proof of stake, the
barriers to creating a 51% approval of a single fraudulent ledger entry would be so monumental that no
one would ever be able to pull it off. This is why blockchain technology is being researched in various
forms for various applications by many governments, companies, and other entities worldwide.

To get into the nuts and bolts of it, a set of data (such as transactions in a cryptocurrency) is encrypted
based on a one-way encryption technique known as Merkle Trees. This set of encrypted data is called a
block. The package containing this block is then sent out to many, many computers on the network
which attempt to crack a code that will unlock the data in the block. The time that this will require is
predictable based on currently available computing power and the fact that the difficulty of this code is
increased to keep the time between block-cracking the same as time goes on. Computers attempting to
unlock the blocks are said to be “mining” the blocks because they are rewarded with transaction fees
and a mining reward when they solve the block. Blockchains are designed so that mining is necessary
and takes a significant amount of resources to accomplish. This prevents anyone from being able to
change the record on the blockchain easily.

Once a block has been unlocked, the data contained within it is sent out to the rest of the blockchain
and is added to the permanent ledger of the network, which is held on every computer in the
blockchain, and this record can never be changed, only added to. Some blockchains are entirely public,
and some have built-in privacy or anonymity. Some have blocks containing smart contracts or even
distributed applications. Some do not require proof of work for block validation, but rather proof of
stake. There are many possibilities for blockchain technology, and we see many permutations of it
happening today in cryptocurrencies. In the future, more widespread applications will present
themselves in all areas of life, computing, politics, and business.

Types of Blockchain

Public Blockchain. It is a permissionless distributed ledger on which anybody can join and conduct
transactions. ...

Private Blockchain. A blockchain network operates in a private context, such as a restricted network, or
is controlled by a single identity. ...
Hybrid Blockchain. ...

Consortium Blockchain.

1. Public Blockchain

A public blockchain is a non-restrictive, permission-less distributed ledger system. Anyone who has
access to the internet can sign in on a blockchain platform to become an authorized node and be a part
of the blockchain network. A node or user which is a part of the public blockchain is authorized to access
current and past records, verify transactions or do proof-of-work for an incoming block, and do mining.
The most basic use of public blockchains is for mining and exchanging cryptocurrencies. Thus, the most
common public blockchains are Bitcoin and Litecoin blockchains. Public blockchains are mostly secure if
the users strictly follow security rules and methods. However, it is only risky when the participants don’t
follow the security protocols sincerely.

Example: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin

2. Private Blockchain

A private blockchain is a restrictive or permission blockchain operative only in a closed network. Private
blockchains are usually used within an organization or enterprises where only selected members are
participants of a blockchain network. The level of security, authorizations, permissions, accessibility is in
the hands of the controlling organization. Thus, private blockchains are similar in use as a public
blockchain but have a small and restrictive network. Private blockchain networks are deployed for
voting, supply chain management, digital identity, asset ownership, etc.

Examples of private blockchains are; Multichain and Hyperledger projects (Fabric, Sawtooth), Corda, etc.

3. Consortium Blockchain

A consortium blockchain is a semi-decentralized type where more than one organization manages a
blockchain network. This is contrary to what we saw in a private blockchain, which is managed by only a
single organization. More than one organization can act as a node in this type of blockchain and
exchange information or do mining. Consortium blockchains are typically used by banks, government
organizations, etc.

Examples of consortium blockchain are; Energy Web Foundation, R3, etc.

4. Hybrid Blockchain

A hybrid blockchain is a combination of the private and public blockchain. It uses the features of both
types of blockchains that is one can have a private permission-based system as well as a public
permission-less system. With such a hybrid network, users can control who gets access to which data
stored in the blockchain. Only a selected section of data or records from the blockchain can be allowed
to go public keeping the rest as confidential in the private network. The hybrid system of blockchain is
flexible so that users can easily join a private blockchain with multiple public blockchains. A transaction
in a private network of a hybrid blockchain is usually verified within that network. But users can also
release it in the public blockchain to get verified. The public blockchains increase the hashing and
involve more nodes for verification. This enhances the security and transparency of the blockchain
network.

Example of a hybrid blockchain is Dragonchain.

Example of a hybrid blockchain is Dragonchain.

Private Blockchain

Private blockchains are a restricted network of authorized nodes. No one outside the private network
can access information exchanged between two nodes. As impressive as private blockchains are, they
have their own pros and cons.

Advantages of Private Blockchain

Speed – Private blockchains’ transactions occur at greater speed as compared to public blockchains.
That means the transactions per second (TPS) rate is higher in the case of private blockchains. This is
because there is a limited number of nodes in a private network as opposed to a public network. This
fastens the consensus or verification process of a transaction by all the nodes in a network. Also, the
rate of adding new transactions in a block is fast. Private blockchains can facilitate the transactions at a
rate of up to thousands or hundred thousand TPS at a time.

Scalability – Private blockchains are pretty scalable. That is, you can choose the size of your private
blockchain as per your needs. For instance, if there is an organization that needs a blockchain of only 20
nodes, they can easily deploy one. Then after expansion, if they need to add more nodes, they can easily
do so. This makes private blockchains very scalable as it gives an organization the flexibility to increase
or decrease the size of their network without much effort.

Disadvantages of Private Blockchain

Needs Trust-building – As far as a public blockchain is concerned, it is like an open book or as we call it,
an open ledger. This ensures the security and legitimacy of every user. Whereas, in a private network,
there are limited participants in a restricted network. Especially within an organization, where
colleagues know each other. They need to build trust to transmit confidential information within a
network.

Lower Security – As a private blockchain network has lesser number of nodes or participants, it runs a
higher risk of a security breach. If anyone of the nodes gains access to the central management system,
it can gain access to all the nodes in the network. This makes it easier for a node to hack the entire
private blockchain and misuse the information.

transactions. So, one can trust public blockchains blindly without feeling the needing to trust individual
nodes.

Secure – There can be as many participants or nodes in a public network which makes it a secure
network. The larger the network, greater the distribution of records and harder it is for hackers to hack
the entire network. In addition to this, every node will do verification of transactions and proof-of-work
which makes every transaction and block legitimate. Due to these practices and thoughtful cryptogenic
encrypting methods, a public blockchain is much safer thaOpen and Transparent – Public blockchain is
open and the data is transparent to all the participant nodes. A copy of the blockchain records or digital
ledger is available at every authorized node. This makes the entire blockchain system completely open
and transparent. No one shows a fake transaction or hides an existing one as every node has an updated
copy of the database at any given point of time.

Disadvantages of Private Blockchain

Lower TPS – The rate of transactions per second in a public blockchain is very low. This is because it is a
huge network with a lot of nodes and for every node to verify a transaction and do proof-of-work is
time-consuming. This is why public blockchains like Bitcoin can process only 7 transactions per second or
Ethereum network has a rate of 15 TPS. On the other hand, a private network such as Visa has a rate of
24,000 TPS indicating a huge difference in speed of transaction processing and execution.
Scalability Issues – Like we just saw in the point above, that public blockchain have a slow rate of
processing and completing transactions. This causes issues in scalability as well. Because the more we
try to increase the size of the network, the slower it will get. However, solutions like Bitcoin’s Lightning
Network helps in overcoming this problem. It maintains a rate of the transaction as we increase the size
of the network.n the private one.

High Energy Consumption – The process of proof-of-work is highly energy consuming as it needs
specialized systems (hardware components) to run a special algorithm. It is a matter of concern from
both an environmental and economical standpoint. The apparatus to do proof-of-work is costly and
consumes as much energy as the country of Ireland! The technology definitely needs to come up with
energy-efficient consensus mechanisms.

Private or Public Blockchain, which one is better?

Well, before passing a final verdict, we have thoroughly studied two main types of blockchains i.e.
private and public blockchains. Both of them have certain distinctions from one another. However, the
main differences lie in terms of security, scalability, and transparency. On one hand, where a private
network might not seem very trustworthy, you can completely rely on a public network for its intact
consensus (proof-of-work) system.

So, in a nutshell, every instance or case of a successful blockchain use that we have seen till date is of a
public blockchain. Public blockchain guarantees security as hacking the entire network is almost
impossible. In addition to this, it offers data transparency as every node has equal access to the record
stored in the blockchain. One of the very successful examples of a public blockchain is the Bitcoin
system.

Some of the challenges of blockchain technology include:

1. Scalability: As blockchain networks grow, their transaction processing capacity becomes a concern,
leading to potential bottlenecks and slower transaction times.

2. Energy Consumption: Proof-of-Work blockchains, like Bitcoin, require significant computational

power, leading to high energy consumption and environmental concerns.

3. Interoperability: Different blockchain platforms often have their own protocols and standards, making
it challenging for them to communicate and interact effectively.
4. Security: While blockchain is considered secure due to its decentralized nature, vulnerabilities in
smart contracts or the consensus algorithm can still be exploited.

5. Governance: Decision-making and consensus on protocol upgrades can be difficult due to the
decentralized nature of blockchain networks.

6. Privacy: Public blockchains often expose transaction details to all participants, raising privacy concerns
for some use cases.

7. Legal and Regulatory Challenges: The decentralized and global nature of blockchain can create legal
and regulatory hurdles across different jurisdictions.

8. User Experience: Blockchain applications can sometimes have complex interfaces, hindering
mainstream adoption and usage.

9. Data Storage: The immutability of blockchain means that data once recorded cannot be deleted or
modified, which may lead to compliance and data protection challenges.

10. Adoption and Education: Widespread adoption of blockchain technology requires educating users
and organizations about its potential and benefits.

Despite these challenges, ongoing research and development aim to address and mitigate these issues,
further improving the technology's utility and effectiveness.

Summary

In conclusion, we would want you to use your comprehension and decide which blockchain will serve
your purpose better. If you are part of a public blockchain network, all you need to do is have thorough
knowledge on how a public blockchain works to make smart moves in the future.
The next concept you should explore – Pros and Cons of Blockchain Technology

We hope you liked our explanation of different types of blockchains. If you have any queries in a
particular type of blockchain? Leave your comments below.