How Advanced is Equestrian Technology? Is There an Equivalent Time Period?

[Espionage 113]

With seeing the new episode, I conclude that the level of technology is at par of the 1950s. They have a hydroelectric dam, which was most famous in the the form of the Hoover Dam, which was constructed in the 30s. They have locomotives but aren't very popular...like the 50s.Only thing that defeats this theory are the houses but I'll just attribute that to cultural archictecture.So any other theories on the technology in Equestria?

Edited July 18, 2013 by Twilight Sparkle
Added tags.

[Ron Jeremy 2,032]

My theory is... pretty close to yours, actually.

 

They obviously haven't got microchips or anything, which is good, since MLP with digital technology would just be weird. I can't imagine any of the ponies using laptops or anything of the sort.

 

Culture itself seems to kinda be in the '50s, too. Well, okay, were it actually closer to '50s, there'd be racial segregation and stuff, but you get what I mean. I guess that makes sense, since that's about where their technological level stands.

[Zero000 435]

I'd like to say that in a world where magic is free and Equestria's weather and seasons are done by hoof, technology should never advance, as it is unnecessary compared to the limitless magic they possess.

 

In short, Magic > Electricity

 

God I wish life was like it is there.

[Skullbuster 1,906]

i saw it more akin to the early 1900's seeing how they use lanterns and the automobile in todays episode looked like something from that time period

[Ezynell 2,036]

They do seem to have widely distributed electronic lights. And the machine that Twilight Sparkle used on Pinkie Pie to try to read her mind in "Feeling Pinkie Keen" looked pretty modern era.

[Guest]

i saw it more akin to the early 1900's seeing how they use lanterns and the automobile in todays episode looked like something from that time period

 

Something like this, perhaps 1880's-1920's time period with a bit of light hearted steampunk thrown in (the flying yachts and Flim and Flam's machine). Although really, it is probably a hodgepodge (I love that word) of various times mixed in with Magic=Science.

[Fizz. 1,078]

I coudlve sowrn fluttehsy had a radio but i amty asa just be wong

[EvilToasterPony 33]

But surely, there would have to be TVs or something in upcoming eps!

[Queen Cassie 3,057]

The technology levels of Equestria are roughly turn of the 20th century, but with some anomolies that head in both directions in time relative to human technology, as far ahead as the 1960s even, with the plastic soap bottles we see in one episode.

 

However, I suspect there are still technologies they fundamentally lack. Telephones, radios--and thus, television--as well as some of the more typical modern-day conveniences like vacuum cleaners, microwaves, other electronics, and so on and so forth are all missing. Given their overall technological level I do think they should have telephones, though we've never seen any evidence for said telephones. Telegrams, we've seen plenty of, but no telephones.

 

Also, I will copy a few other thoughts I had on another forum relating to power generation in Equestria: As Equestrian technology improves, their electrical demands will increase dramatically, especially if they start using refrigerators and other such technology all over the place. In our world this required massive expansion of coal-fired and oil-fired power plants, but the ponies have another, more efficient alternative: solar and wind power.

 

On Earth, these power sources are highly limited due to chaotic weather conditions. We have zero control over the weather, so wind power becomes especially prone to unreliability, and solar only functions when the sky isn't cloudy.

 

In Equestria, however, they have total control over the weather, apart from in wild areas such as the Everfree Forest. They could set up massive wind farms where the wind is blowing all the time at high levels, or massive solar farms in an area that will stay sunny all day long. Now, granted, this would result in some rather dangerous working conditions for Pegasi, especially when it comes to the wind farms, but I expect the ponies could get far more electricity than we could out of these methods due to their control over the weather.

 

There are still some limitations. Solar would still only function during the day, and solar cells require materials science at a level I don't think the Equestrians can match yet. They'll still need petroleum products for various things, including power generation, but on the whole I think they could get most of their electricity from clean sources without ever having to go through a fossil fuel usage cycle like we humans have.

[Espionage 113]

They do seem to have widely distributed electronic lights. And the machine that Twilight Sparkle used on Pinkie Pie to try to read her mind in "Feeling Pinkie Keen" looked pretty modern era.

 

Objection! The computer was more akin to the 50s, vaccuum tube computers.

[Ele77 30]

It's pretty simple. The reason we don't see anything like TV's and what not is because Celestia does not allow them. After all give the ponys TV you give them power over the media, what people watch they will believe, ponys will become lazy and want to watch TV and not work. But most importantly the fear that diffident ideologies might get out via mass media thus threatening society and more importantly Celestia her self.... :3

[Twi Rubix 726]

I say some parts of Equestria haven't discovered certain parts of electricity

 

But I think magic makes up for it. Seems better anyways.

[Comet Tail 808]

Oooooh yes! A thread on it! Huge interest topic of mine.

I'm doing an in-universe kinda fanfic of a space program being started for Mars. So this is a biggie for me.

 

Technology, although a lot of things are connected, doesn't necessarily have to be at the same level. For example, a society can probably make it to about 80's technology in every other way before computers come along. Or maybe a society has computers and internet but 40's level technology in other fields.

 

It seems, though, that there are no fossil fuels in the show. Flim and Flam's machine shows why: you can just power things with magic and electricity. But they do know about burning oil and such, I think I've seen such lanterns and torches before.

 

Anyways, for my fanfic, I've kinda decided they're at ~1910's technology. Remember they used wood cups in the Apple Cider episode, though. If plastic were available, they'd use it for cheaper costs, probably...

 

They've used pencils before, AND quills... My guess is they don't have pens, so they use quills for that.

 

And finally, plastics, made their debut surprisingly early, according to this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic#History

[cuteycindyhoney 13,283]

The ponies have a surprisingly stable mix of magic and technology. The Flim Flam brother's machine's motive power was steam, which seemed to generate electricity too. For something that we may use computers for, like "Quality Control" they used their magic. They did speed up the machine with a magical blast though. This leads me to think they can directly convert magic to electricity when needed in an emergency.

[Silverwisp the Bard 2,353]

I'm currently in the middle of rewatching Season 2 and realised that one of the reasons I dislike the "Mare do well" episode is the addition of "modern" elmements like the concrete dam (clashes horribly with the asthetic of Ponyville) and cranes (seriously there's perfectly fine magic to do that).

I don't mind Twilight's cellar labortory (on account of it being Frankenstein-ish) or the Super Cider Squeezer 6000 (powered by magic and some sort of Tesla coil, which is awsome).

So for me the ideal tech level for Equestria is somewhere around early 19th century Europe, with magic replacing electricity.

 

What are your thoughts?

[Lostwanderer 366]

Well, ponyvile was founded by earth ponies, so i do imagine that without magic readily avalible they would have had to have made other contraptions.

[FALCON PUNCH 243]

I think it looks Victorian but then there is a lot of things that are quite modern.

[Nas 2,863]

In many different areas of evolution, some are more advanced and some are less advanced than the way they are in our world.

 

For instance, cranes and assumably other construction vehicles are as advanced currently in Equestria as they are on Earth. Video games (seen in Hearts and Hooves Day) in Equestria seem to be currently based off of the Golden age of arcade video games (1982-1986). Dishwasher technology, for example, seems to not have been invented (yet), as seen in Sisterhooves Social.

[Crazy Misty 653]

Technology wise I think they're in the early 1900's, like in "Hurricane Fluttershy" they use the old projector thingy (forgot the name here's a pic)

 

However as others have mention construction wise they seem to be up to date with us (cranes ect) and there's also that arcade video game in Hearts and Hooves day.

[murkyx 904]

I think that general wise, they are at the early 1900's in tech, but appliances for things such as cooking and washing are behind in development, and things requiring electricity and construction appear to be more advanced.

 

Though that doesn't explain Vinyl Scratch's gear. She appears to be ahead of the times with speakers and light systems. She even cleans her dishes with wubs!

(Yes I know it's not canon, but I still want to mention it.)

[pyro pie 68]

There's no set era from which all the pony-tech is from. There is modern technology (arcade machines, cranes, etc), yet they seen to lack some basic things, like dishwashers. So as far as I'm concerned, the tech level in Equestria is all over the map, changing constantly.

[Jibbs93 64]

I don't think it's a matter of them being less advanced than us with regards to technology.

 

They don't have the same need for a washing machine or a dishwasher as we do. These appliances were designed to make household chores more efficient. Unicorn magic would probably be quicker than a machine at washing dishes and clothes.

 

Of course, different species have different abilities. Earth ponies and pegasi don't have magic, so maybe they would have a need for machines. However, we haven't gotten a proper look at a pegasus kitchen, and Sweet Apple Acres tends to take a more traditionalist approach to what they do anyway. The bakery could employ unicorn cleaners for their kitchen for all we know.

 

The technology that they do have seems to be either essential to everyday living or something that can't be replicated by unicorn magic, such as hospital equipment and arcade machines.

 

All in all, I think it's unfair to judge ponies against our advancements in technology when our lifestyles are so different.

[Marcusaralius76 150]

I believe they're at the same tech level that we were at in the first World War. It's just that some technology, like cars, planes, and telephones, don't exist because they don't need to.

 

Necessity is the mother of invention.

[NavelColt 22,875]

I refuse to stick a single label on it, because to me there's been examples of various technology from all sorts of dates and periods.

[Akemi Homura 7,680]

Equestrians remind me of the Kazon from Star Trek because of the fact that they look like they're technologically advanced in one area yet primitive (at least in our standards) in another; i.e, the Kazon have rather strong phasers and deflector shields, but lack transporters or replicators found in Federation races.