6- Effects of technological developments

• Mass production is large scale industrial production, usually involving high levels of mechanisation
• Consumerism is social inclination towards acquiring ever more goods and services
• Industrial revolution the change from a craft based to an industrial society during the late 18th and the early 19th century
• The new industrial age of high technology production, the 20th century witnessed another revolution in design and manufacture particularly due to factors such as

  • advances in technology, particularly in computing and electronics
  • developments in materials such as composites, polymers and alloys
• Miniturisation is reducing the size of products such as electronic devices by incorporating components developed to be smaller but more powerful
• Global marketplace is multinational companies in developed and developing countries, manufacturing offshore in developing countries and local and global production