Third Law: Technology comes in packages, big and small.
A technology embodies a sequence of operations; we can call this its “software.” And these operations require physical equipment to execute them; we can call this the technology’s “hardware.” If we emphasize the “software” we see a process or method. If we emphasize the “hardware,” we see a physical device. Technologies consist of both, but emphasi
... See moreW. Brian Arthur • The Nature of Technology
The first will be the one I have been talking about: that technologies, all technologies, are combinations. This simply means that individual technologies are constructed or put together—combined—from components or assemblies or subsystems at hand. The second will be that each component of technology is itself in miniature a technology. This sounds
... See moreW. Brian Arthur • The Nature of Technology
Complicated means that something has many moving parts, whereas complex means it exhibits emergent behavior – that is, it does things that are not easily predicted a priori.
J. Doyne Farmer • Making Sense of Chaos: A Better Economics for a Better World
fundamental ingredients of bits and networks