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Technological Design - High Technology Sectors & Industries

High Technology Sectors

The sector approach classifies industries according to their technology intensity, product approach according to finished products.

High-technology that is at the cutting edge: the most advanced technology currently available. It is often used in reference to micro-electronics, rather than other technologies. The adjective form is hyphenated: high-tech or high-technology. There is also an architectural style known as "high tech."

There is no specific class of technology that is high tech - the definition shifts over time - so products hyped as high tech in the 1960s would now be considered, if not exactly low technology, then at least somewhat obsolete. This fuzzy definition has led to marketing departments describing nearly all new products as "high tech."

As a side note, the public never has free access to that which is truly the "high tech" of its time. All true high technology is controlled and researched by militaries, governments, universities, and corporations. Technology in public hands is generally already 30 years old in its most basic form, if not even older. For example, the first MP3 player was created in the 1970s. However, the storage devices of the time were not advanced enough and the MP3 player could only store a single song. MP3 players would have to wait until affordable storage could make it a practical device that the public would desire to purchase.

High Technology Industries