Introduction: The Substitution of Human Faculties with Technology: Computers and Robots With the development of modern computing, starting in the 1940s, the substitution of human abilities with technology obtained a new dimension. The focus shifted from the replacement of pure physical power to the substitution of mental faculties. Following the early 1980s personal computers started to attain widespread use in offices and quickly became indispensable tools for office workers. The development of powerful computers combined with progresses in artificial intelligence research also led to the construction of sophisticated robots, which enabled a further rationalization of manufacturing processes.

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Introduction: The Substitution of Human Faculties with Technology: Powered Machines The development of the steam engine in 1776 represented a major advance in the construction of powered machines and marked the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Powered engines and machines soon became common and led to the first extensive mechanization of manufacturing processes. The development of large-scale machine production on one hand decreased the demand for craftsmen and increased the demand for semiskilled and unskilled workers and on the other altered the nature of the work process from one mainly depending on physical power to one primarily dominated by technology.

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Calculator Calculators are machines for automatically performing arithmetical operations and certain mathematical functions. Modern calculators are descendants of a digital arithmetic machine devised by Blaise Pascal in 1642. Later in the 17th century, Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz created a more advanced machine, and, especially in the late 19th century, inventors produced calculating machines that were smaller and smaller and less and less laborious to use.

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Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) DSL connections are high-speed data connections over copper wire telephone lines. As with cable connections, with DSL you can look up information on the Internet and make a phone call at the same time but you do not need to have a new or additional cable or line installed. One of the most prominent DSL services is ISDN (integrated services digital network, for more information click here ( http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/4/0,5716,129614+15,00.html )). http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/4/0...

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