Motivation and Introduction

In ancient times, living and working was characterized by using what nature produced and provided. Our first technologies were fire and tools such as blades, stone axes, spears and lances of varying quality depending on the capability and skills of those who made and used. Early memory and calculation tools known as tally sticks were used to record and document numbers, quantities, or even messages. Another early device is the Chinese Abacus for arithmetical calculations. In current societies we have become strongly dependent on technical systems and information technology. Technological progress has accelerated to the point that whereas historic innovations took hundreds, even thousands, of years, we now have the situation that technology can become outdated in as little as a few weeks.