User:Chriswaterguy/Appropriate technology/Archive

Merge proposal from Appropriate technology
Here is a longer version of my vote on Talk:Appropriate technology for developing countries:

Strong For: I'm responsible for separating the ideas originally. However, I don't think it was the best solution. Actually, Appropriate technology in standard usage is just shorthand for Appropriate technology for developing countries. "Appropriate technology" is the term used by organizations working in the field, focused on developing countries.

Why did I separate them? To avoid edit wars over what constitutes appropriate technology. However, a better solution would be to add something like this to the introduction, to make clear exactly what the article is about:
 * It is sometimes argued that "appropriate technology" for a technologically advanced society may mean a more expensive, complex technology requiring expert maintenance. However, the term "Appropriate technology" is generally used to mean appropriate technology for developing countries, or for other settings where low cost and low maintenance requirements are of prime importance. This is the meaning intended in this article.

The downside is that it may be necessary to defend this stance. The upside is that it better the way the term is used in reality.

I've had conversations with engineering lecturers about what constitutes "Appropriate technology" and how it's different in a technologically advanced society. There were also a few links in the "Appropriate technology" article that weren't really about developing countries. However, I believe these really boil down to either misconceptions about (in the Wikipedia article), or clarifications of (the lecturers) the meaning of "Appropriate technology". "Appropriate technology" without reference to developing countries is a vague concept that I don't think deserves an article. --Singkong2005 02:59, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

See Talk:Appropriate technology for developing countries

(Rorybowman's comment moved to my talk page.)

Appropriate technology for developing countries
This article - Appropriate technology for developing countries - was created to be more focused than the article based on the less specific term Appropriate technology It's a long, inelegant name. But it's necessary to have something specifically addressing this particular aspect or meaning of appropriate technology. I have changed my view on this. See the section above, and the paragraph below.

There's a bit of an issue in that Appropriate technology is usually used with a specific meaning (i.e. appropriate to developing countries and poor communities, but this inevitably leads to a discussion about what is appropriate in other contexts. I responded by making a separate page - Appropriate technology for developing countries - but I now think it's possible to have one article, dealing with the controversy in one subsection and then have the rest of the article focus on the more specific meaning. Hopefully this will be acceptable. I will work on this in January 2006. --Singkong2005 00:12, 31 December 2005 (UTC)