5 ms·
What you could not buy for even a trillion dollars in 1665, is now free
by zild3d 5y ago
What you could not buy for even a trillion dollars in 1665, is now free
- kybernetikos 5y agoSome of the functions of an iphone could have been somewhat replicated with enough money. The very wealthy could afford to pay musicians to play the music they wanted when they wanted it. (Somewhat) detailed maps were available for large sums of money or sometimes painted on walls. If you had enough money, you could commission an expedition to map somewhere. You could pay someone to carry messages to those you wanted to communicate with. Skilled artists could paint pictures of your food, or selfies, if you were prepared to sit still long enough. Of course, even this hypothetical gaggle of skilled servants following you around all day would still not be able to cover some of the basic aspects of a modern mobile phone, but if you can apply enough cheap labour, you can do quite a lot.
- zild3d 5y agonow do facetime with someone on another continent :)
- ClumsyPilot 5y agoNow explain to a modern kid what is privacy. The kids born today will never see a coral rief or an iceberg or a glacier, most kids living today have never tasted an actully ripe tomato.
- isbvhodnvemrwvn 5y agoThey also haven't died of cholera or due to a broken leg. I doubt an average child saw a coral reef, iceberg or a glacier in their lifetime at any point in history.
- RC_ITR 5y agoMost kids in any era ever have not tasted a ripe tomato. Until very recently it’s unlikely that most even saw a tomato.
- ClumsyPilot 5y agoWhat the hell did you think kids used to eat, carrion and dirt? Tomato has been a staple food for several centuries now. My grandparents and great-grandparents and their have all certainly eaten ripe tomatoes and their lifespan covers a revolution, a civil war, WW2 and a famine. Obviously if you live in a different climate, then a tomato gets replaces by something else.
- kybernetikos 5y agoIt was pretty rare that you'd know someone on another continent and want to face time with them, but if you did (and didn't want to spend months travelling), I think you'd be stuck using magic. Doctor Faustus for example used his deal with the devil to allow him to travel rapidly around Europe and visit famous people like the Pope. I think it's fun how much of what a modern mobile phone gives us is an amalgam of magic from fantasy stories - Jack's harp that plays itself, Aragorn's Palantir, predictions of future weather and harvest (without even having to consult any entrails), summoning physical items to your location (with 1 hour prime), inhabiting and controlling remote drone servants, imbuing talismans you wear around your wrist with the power to keep you healthy, or binding you with someone else so they always know where you are. And of course one of the main functions of magic in the ancient world is accessed through twitter - the power to curse an enemy.
- cesarb 5y ago> I think it's fun how much of what a modern mobile phone gives us is an amalgam of magic from fantasy stories This goes deeper than most people realize. Think of fantasy stories which use some kind of crystal as a medium for magic. Well, a modern mobile phone literally works through crystals, we just don't think of them because they're usually encased in plastic or covered by a metal heat spreader. A LED lamp is literally a crystal which glows. And so on. (If you didn't know about it yet, start at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon_ingot https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon_ingot and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon_wafer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon_wafer)
- kybernetikos 5y agoNot just crystals, but crystals with arcane patterns etched onto them with concentrated light.