"Technology" isn't in the processes or inventions, it's in the societal dependencies that enable their deployment and maintenance. Some of these come "bottom-up

"Technology" isn't in the processes or inventions, it's in the societal dependencies that enable their deployment and maintenance. Some of these come "bottom-up," others "top-down". If you step into a public library you are likely to have access to a large amount of music. It does not matter that much whether the medium of that music is CD or vinyl - the primary technology is the library, the medium is just facilitative, enabling more of it to be archived and made available. Cities are known as the oldest "technology of civilization" because they operate in this context of providing something that you could not simply choose to have or not have - it has to coexist across a broad number of people. You can buy a different vehicle to drive on the road, but the road and the other people on it are part of the city, and the city is a package deal: you may be able to move to a different city, but you don't get to choose every detail.