Electricity? Candles? Science?

[Lady Rarity Pony 4,892]

Pony physics are confusing, but you can't fault them for being inconsistent. This is what I've conjured over the past while.It's science!

 

It's you Bill

[cuteycindyhoney 13,283]

I'm just sayin'!

[I used to be a stranger 7,989]

Why are there Van de Graaf generators on that pumping house.

 

That would just make people's hair frizzy whenever they came close, and confuse fish.

 

(Tesla coils typically have torus shaped hubs, and if they have globe-shaped ones they're most efficient being only the top half, not a sphere. Whereas Van De Graff generators are almost always spheroid.)

Edited December 8, 2011 by Blue

[Lady Rarity Pony 4,892]

Applebloom says "we take cash or credit"

Credit Cards are part of canon tech apparently

[Kodiak 431]

There's some good evidence that electricity exists in Equestria. There's, of course, the hydroelectric dam we saw in The Mysterious Mare Do Well. But in the first episode of season one when Twilight enters her home after visiting Fluttershy, she says: "Now, where are the lights?" Then the rows of ceiling lights turn on. It might be magic lighting (something like Snails' flashlight spell in Boast Busters), but electricity seems more likely.

[Nah 3,181]

both!

[cuteycindyhoney 13,283]

Applebloom didn't say "Credit Card" Buying on credit has no need of computers or electricity. Stores and shops in real life have offered lines of credit for centuries.

 

http://www.rlrouse.com/credit-cards-history.html

 

The idea of credit itself has existed in some form since around the late 1700’s. A furniture salesman wanted to offer his customers a chance to furnish their homes immediately, while taking a little longer with the payments. He introduced the idea of “have now and pay later”. Since clearly, this is an appealing idea to all parties involved, the idea was easily accepted and adapted by others.

 

 

The first "Charge Card" type device came about in the late 1800's

 

http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/credit-collectible-coins-charge-plate-1264.php

 

Celluloids, charge coins

An early charge coin, whose bearer could stay at Chicago's Hotel La SalleCharge coins are believed to have been first issued around 1865. At first they were made of celluloid, which is an early form of plastic. Later ones were made of copper, aluminum, steel or white metal, which is when they became known as charge coins. They came in various shapes, in sizes from a quarter to half-dollar. Not all were round; some were triangular and others had unique shapes. These credit pieces were mainly issued by department stores, and usually displayed the customer's identification number and an image connected with the merchant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Applebloom says "we take cash or credit"

Credit Cards are part of canon tech apparently

 

The doctor did have X-Ray photographs on light boxes in his examination room though. If not produced by magic, the ponies have a beginning knowledge of raditaion. This is also shown when Applebloom had the Cutie-Pox, and ponies donned radiation suits.

[Caramel Shower 7]

HELLO Again, Sorry my internet was down, Glad thats overwith. Any how! the two new episodes just blew holes in everything!

not the least of witch being that ponyville has no bulding codes.

* The railroad crossing had electric lights.

* Thay have steam power.

* indoor plumbing and sewage disposal.

* And early belt and pully systems.

[Simcity11100 770]

You sure electricity is rare, well in New Mane, they have a lot of towering residential building and skyscrapers that use electricity.

[83awsm 234]

It’s always debatable when the topic's about the incorporation of our elements into the cartoon world, such as physics and modernization. The one thing that has me a little confused is when the show conflicted with itself in season 1 episode 21. They used colts to pull the train, yet in season 2 the train is propelled by the locomotive. Possible technological advancement between seasons? The construction site in Mare do well cleared a lot up for me though. It shows that they do have a process for building and when things get damaged they have a means of repairing and reconstructing. Also I think their electricity scenario seems to be similar to ours. I mean if they use it for lighting regularly, then they must have at least a substantial supply. And I think that they choose to use candles when they aren’t around electrical lighting or don’t want to use the lights for another reason. Edited January 26, 2012 by 83awsm

[Luurilka 325]

Even if they have electricity, there's probably no need to use it considering just how bright their candles are. Really, their candles can make a room very bright, they're probably magic.

[Eenohay 318]

I just assume its magic powered, but I also think the show takes place in a time period similar to the beggining of the 20th century, so they do have some electricity

[Queen Cassie 3,057]

The overall technological state of Equestria appears to be approximately turn of the 20th century, but with some mixed things heading both ahead and behind. For example, note the prevelance of cameras that take full color pictures, or the plastic soap bottles in Feeling Pinkie Keen right next to a wooden crate. The Hydroelectric Dam itself is an anomoly a little bit ahead of where one might expect, but so were the cranes.

 

As for Twilight's "computer" in Feeling Pinkie Keen, that thing was more like an oscillator or other similar device. It also had a steam whistle on it. Believe me I wanted it to be a computer, but I just can't come to that conclusion based upon what we saw it do.

 

Still, they do seem to have some sort of electric lighting, given that many times we hear the sound of a lightswitch and the light level flickering on in an instant, just like with any electric lighting. They also have plenty of other devices that use electricity.

 

All in all, they have plenty of technology, but electricity might still be expensive. That, and Twilight just might like using candlelight. Also, ballpoint pens and other pens that carried their own ink are a relatively recent invention, so quills and ink aren't as out of place as you might think.

 

So...ultimately the conclusion I come to is that they have a lot of technology at about a period of 1910 or so, with some things ahead as far as 1960. (The plastic soap bottles and so on mainly.)

[cuteycindyhoney 13,283]

Twilight Sparkle...

She blinded me with science!

 

 

 

 

http-~~-//www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXyFy7ixr10

 

 

 

2:32

"The elements in harmony"

Edited January 26, 2012 by cuteycindyhoney

[Caramel Shower 7]

I have to agree with kyronea. about 1920, and mabey the trains boiler was down? IDK.

But when did thay have colour photos? I've only seen b/w photos in the show.

[Queen Cassie 3,057]

I have to agree with kyronea. about 1920, and mabey the trains boiler was down? IDK.

But when did thay have colour photos? I've only seen b/w photos in the show.

 

Several times throughout the series, we see the cameras produce full color photographs. There's the one seen in the intro, of course, but there's also other examples. Green Isn't Your Color has plenty of examples from the various Fluttershy photos taken.

[Caramel Shower 7]

Well derp, Black and white tv set everything is gray. But AH! todays epsode.

spolier: Powered automobiles! and complex machines! my word!

[Tom The Diamond 1,828]

Ya know, a lot of ponies seem to judge Equestria on our standards, saying the all their technology is 20s, 40s, 60s, 80s, and so on. Which has always bugged me. Equestria is a different world, and technology advancement would be different because they have different uses for technology.

 

For example, a lot of human technology is used to do tasks that would be hard/impossible/inconvenient for a human to do. However, a lot of things that we as humans have trouble doing are rather easy for ponies to do, because they have things like wings, and magic. For example, we have the plane to travel long distances through the air. However, in Equestria they instead have pegasi fly chariots when grounded animals/goods need to be transported. There is no need to develop things like engines to carry the airplanes.

 

So because most practical things are easily done by the ponies they seem to have focused their technological advancement on entertainment, such photography, music, and, as of the recent episode, 80s style arcade games.

 

Another thing we can assume from Equestrian Technology is that it is rather rare, and mostly only available to the wealthy, or for special events. Your average pony will not have anything electrical. Heck, Rainbow Dash had a lantern that was lite by lightning bugs. The reason for this is either because ponies have very little interest in most technology, or it is extremely expensive.

 

Also, magic seems to play a major role in technology, as we could see Flim and Flam powering their machine with magic. However, they also have a dam that produces electricity in Ponyville. Since we don't really see many electrical dams anywhere else, we can assume that they are rare, and mainly produce electricity for non-unicorns or unicorns that don't have the magical abilities to power machinery. However, since the demand for electricity seems to be so low, that one dam maybe the only one needed in Equestria.

 

So in conclusion, I'd say in entertainment technologies, Equestria is somewhat comparable somewhere between our 50s-80s technology, and in other technological areas are somewhat equivalent to our 10s-50s technology. I'd also say that due to low demand for technology, advancement in that area is incredibly slow.

[Demi 545]

What about DJ Pon3's turntable? That seemed pretty modern, but she used magic to use it.

[Akemi Homura 7,680]

Equestrians use all of their technology quite effectively. the key thing here is that they don't take anything for granted. It's kind of like something you would see in an alien world in Star Trek. Say, the race could be extremely advanced with special abilities but still use candles as a light source. It wouldn't be considered primitive as they've already got more advanced methods of illumination. It's just there. As for science... well, in one episode in Cheerilee's classroom, on the blackboard there was a bunch of information on vector calculus, implying that ponies are also scientifically advanced to a certain degree. But hey, we're talking about a race that utilizes magic (unicorns) and can fly (pegasi). And their supreme rulers can manipulate the location of the sun and moon.

Edited February 11, 2012 by Devin McCourty

[Prince Lightning Da Cute 616]

Its a mix of Technology, Science and Magic. That is what makes MLP so awesome because it goes to different periods of time to get their point across.

[Silverhoof 2,839]

Pony tech is very inconsistent

 

Bingo. The technology of the show ranges from fantasy to high technology.

Certainly it feels like 1904 with electricty in the cities but not in the country.

 

Bottom line: Technology presented in the show exists to tell the story. The story trumps consistancy.

 

In the vein of trying to tie all the inconsistant technologies together, I will give it a try.

 

Equestria, at it's very core is magic. So magic that it exists in an alternate universe/reality. The world does not revolve around a sun, No it is static in space, The sun and moon must be manipulated with magic to revolve around Equestria. There is no guarantees that the stars are suns with worlds of their own...for al we know, they could really be the campfires of the gods.

 

It was magic that allowed the ponies to arise from the plains and alter their environment. Telekinesis exists in ever pony to varying degrees. From the magnet/sticky hooves of the earth ponies, the flight of the sky ponies, to the magnificent full-power TK of the unicorns. Telekinesis in Equestria is based on magic, not psychic abilities.

 

The magic infuses all of Equestria, and is occasionally unstable...creating wormholes to other dimensions. Obviously there is a consistant linking of Equestria to a number of human based dimensions. There is contact between dimensions as the wormholes open and close, and ponies (especially earth ponies) are open to any new technology they can get their hooves on.

It is possible that the wormholes are reacting to pony influence as only english speaking dimensions seem to be opening up.

 

Its this intra-dimensional give and take that explians why there is such a disparity in pony technology. From the fantasy of Canterlot, to steam engines conquering the Mild West, to the electric street cars in the earth pony city of Manehatten. It takes time for new technology to spread in a magical world. This would also explin the visibility of tools made for human hands being used by earth pony hooves in the show,

 

Thus we can see the high technology of (earth pony) Photo-Finish and her glossy fashion magazines, standing side by side with 1904 Manehatten. Electricity seems not to have reached beloved Ponyville yet. But the convienience of Steam powered trains link the Equestrian cities. Photo-Finish has access to a different wormhole than the Manehatten ponies.

 

(there are downsides to wormholes as well. The monsters of Equestria are also known to have ravaged our own world in ages past. Its likely they used these worm holes to migrate from world to world. The manticore seems perfectly evolved to hunt ponies. But is he a native of Equestria? or did he enter from yet another, darker dimension?)

 

The bottom line is the Wormholes are open long enough for contact, but not long enough for trade. Earth ponies seem to be the most eager to accept technology. DJ Pon and the Flim Flam Brothers seem to mix technology with magic. I would guess Unicorns can't help it, being so magical in nature.

 

Finally I present THIS as evidence of extra Dimensional connections with Equestria http://askhumantrixie.tumblr.com/

Obviously, Trixie fled Equestria and started a Tumblr acct here in our own earth. Its now known if she used magic to become a human or if it happened naturally. But she answeriong questions as they please her.

Edited February 11, 2012 by Silverhoof

[NewCalamity 3,454]

I don't know

 

Therefore aliens

 

[Simcity11100 770]

You guys forgeting about New Mane? That place uses a lot of electricity!

[cuteycindyhoney 13,283]

Several times throughout the series, we see the cameras produce full color photographs. There's the one seen in the intro, of course, but there's also other examples. Green Isn't Your Color has plenty of examples from the various Fluttershy photos taken.

 

Color photography is a lot older then people seem to think. The ponies seem to have a very advanced knowledge of chemistry and optics. That's all you need. I've seen nothing to indicate motion pictures though.

• 1861 – The first color photograph, an additive projected image of a tartan ribbon, is shown by James Clerk Maxwell.
• 1868 – Louis Ducos du Hauron patents a method of subtractive color photography.
• 1887 – Gabriel Lippmann invents a "method of reproducing colours photographically based on the phenomenon of interference".
• 1907 – The Autochrome Lumière is the first color photography process marketed.
• 1908 – Kinemacolor, a two-color process that is the first commercial "natural color" system for movies, is introduced.

Has anypony noticed something that so far is non-existent in Equestria? So far, there has been no mention of either radio or television broadcasts. They do have phonographic records though, but the players shown have no active electronics. They are "wind-up" with a large cone or trumpet for sound reproduction. DJ Pon does have a mix board, but it appears that she powers it with her magic, and not active electronics. Edited February 12, 2012 by cuteycindyhoney