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

[PROJECT: Simon 3,953]

Magic is the ultimate technology.

 

DARN IT I tried to say that!!

[Invincible 2,090]

Well, i'd say they are around wild-west (appleloosa) with a touch of rural europe's late 19th century (ponyville / canterlot), etc.

 

We've seen:

 

Steam powered machines, Electricity, Printing Press, (probably forgetting something here), 

 

But on a side note - Distinct between Technological progress and Cultural progress since they seem to have rock music, rap, hip-hop etc, DJs, and lots of cultural assets (which are unrelated to music but i'm too lazy to write down) which evolved much later than their suggested technological timeline, just a thought.

[The Crimson Cross 7,532]

It seems to be a strange mix of old and new technology.

Almost steampunk-esque actually.

 

Some places seem to have older technology, though then there's Manehattan which is quite modern and city like.

I guess out in Ponyville & even Canterlot they do things the traditional way.

[nonespark 17]

While it's true they have trains but no automobiles, I think it's just that they haven't found much of a need for them.

 

Most ponies seem to stay within their own town, as it has most things they need day to day, unless a special occasion is happening elsewhere. Then they take a train.

 

Plus, what would they really need cars for? Ponies (horses) are much stronger than humans and have ridiculous stamina compared to us. So foot (/hoof lmao) travel is basically nothing to them.

 

Most of the time, it's sort of a Harry Potter sort of deal. The whole 'we have magic to do most of the stuff humans/muggles need technology for so we haven't had a need to invent it at all' sort of deal.

 

But every once in a while they'll throw a technology into the show that is basically on par with what we have nowadays. Arcade machines were shown in one ep, Twilight made a funky brain examiner thing to strap Pinkie in the ep that she couldn't understand how "Pinkie Sense" worked, and the machine Twilight built in Rainbow Rocks was kind of ridiculous. Not to mention Vinyl's DJing equipment.

 

I feel like they're capable of advanced technology, they just usually don't need it. 

Edited October 15, 2014 by nonespark

[Odyssey 5,713]

I wouldn't say that Equestria is all that technologically advanced, but we do get some electronics here and there. Most of the electronics appear in episodes like Rarity Takes Manehatten.

 

However, I also think that because of the small amount of electronics, I like to think that magic is the Equestrian equivalent of electronics. In Rainbow Rocks, we see a little scene where one of Twilight's books begins to vibrate, much like a phone. Sometimes there are also some scenes where a pony powers up something with their magic.

[joecal97 340]

They have big computers, helicopters, trains etc.

There tech level is various depending on the requirements of the episode.

We cannot compare it to a human year.

[Andrebeccus 17]

Okay, so in the show I've noticed that their technology is somewhat scattered. Like they have gas stoves but no cars? Discord had a video recorder in one episode so do they have movies and tv's? What about DVD's? Like what era is this show set in? 

[Rebel the Wolfgirl 5,585]

I believe TV Tropes can answer your question:

 

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SchizoTech

[Critical Mass 178]

The era is mixed but you'll find most of the modern day tech in Manehattan or Fillydelphia

but there is one mostly seen in ponyville like DJ pon3's DJ set.

 

 

Edited December 1, 2014 by Genuine Arrow

[cuteycindyhoney 13,285]

Discord had a motion picture camera in Princess Twilight. It is canon that they have motion pictures, with sound. They may or may not have color film for motion pictures. I think they were just implying that the film about wing power raising the water to Cloudsdale was very old. They do have color photography. It's been show in several episodes. The film projector having sound implies at least a basic vacuum tube level of electronics. The projector again, and Twilight's telescope show that they have a good grasp of optics as well. The ponies seem very picky about what they want to use technology for. If magic, or good old hard work will do the job, it looks like they'd rather keep it that way.

[Larkybird~ 734]

It's a mix of yes and no. Schizo Tech as renagade said.

[~Sassy Dashie~ 712]

I don't really know.

 

But I do know they don't have (or at least don't need or use) the kind of technology we use in modern days.

 

Don't listen to me though, I don't know anything. X3

Edited December 1, 2014 by Sassy Dashie

[ShadOBabe 18,985]

That's an absolute yes.

We have yet to see things like phones and TVs, and Twilight didn't know what a computer was in EQG (though I'm reluctant to reference that). But we saw a pony playing on an arcade cabinet. And they have movie theaters. And flash photography (fast developing too). And then all those electronic gadgets in Twilight's basement.

Edited December 1, 2014 by ShadOBabe

[Steel Accord 6,658]

In bits and pieces, yes.

 

Remember, technology is not a straight line. Necessity is the mother of invention, if the need doesn't exist or is better served another way, the invention may never enter into common use. Many older Earth civilizations actually had the resources to build tools that wouldn't be re-invented until centuries later. The Romans for instance actually made the steam engine, but they didn't have the economic power to mass produce them on a level that would be practical.

 

In a civilization with a radically different environmental, social, and even metaphysical climate such as Equestria; some technology may never be invented. Ponyville particularly is a mixed bag. While Canterlot, Manehatten, the Crystal Empire, and other regions tend to drift to a certain technological aesthetic or form of function; Ponyville has examples ranging from thatch roof cottages and kerosene lamps, to electric sound systems, to a hydro-electric dam.

[CC_Maud_Pie 6,431]

It depends on what part of Equestria. Manehattan or Fillydelphia probably would because the cities are big. Ponyville? Maybe but probably no TV or other electronics.

[Wind Chaser 4,767]

Equestria is a strange, anachronistic hodgepodge when it comes to technology, but that's really to be expected in a fantasy world where many functions of technology and electricity in our world could be easily replicated by magic. Like @Steel Accord said, there really isn't a linear development of technology. Different things happen at different times, depending on where and when they're needed and the feasibility depending on economic or social climates, or in Equestria's case, the differing nature of the world compared to ours.

[sweetolebob18 724]

Something very weird is going on with tech in EQ.  It's not just that they don't have it.  That could be explained as "they choose not to use it" but it's almost as if they forget it once they leave a high tech level.

 

If you've ever read Lackey's Heralds of Valdemar series, they had a spell over the land that kept people from using or even talking about magic (except "mind magic", psionics)  It's like EQ has something similar about tech

[King Sejong 858]

   It was quite similar to the ancient world, each culture and region had related but different technological advancements, by the time Rome was becoming an empire, it conquered civilizations more advanced than Rome, like the Carthaginians, Greeks, Egyptians, Phoenicians and other Canaanites, as well as cultures with lower advances like the Celts and Germans, among those advances were steam power, hydro power, concrete, and public works. Then like now, some regions are more blessed than others, based on the availability of resources, the geography and population, the same can be said about Equestria, it does have steam power, like the railways, perhaps electrical power, provided by dams, and the structures in Manehattan appear to be constructed with beam or flat slab construction, in order to achieve height and stability, so Equestria is a work in progress, like a developing nation, some towns are more conservative than others, so are reluctant to let go of what works for generations, nevertheless Ponyville does still receive the benefits of technology, like in real life, the ponies are dynamic and non linear, so the quest for balance between tradition and modernity flourish.   

[Andrebeccus 17]

Hahaha thanks for the friendly and interesting perspectives everypony. Yeah, I guess their technology really does depend on a bunch of different factors. I hope they don't decide to destroy their world with technology like we did ours. Well, we didn't really destroy it, but we're successfully doing so every time we start a car.

[knuckles 150]

I think they maybe have old technology and some beginnings of the modern day technology  

[Christmasy Britty 2,553]

not really entirely sure but i'd say that they seem to have technology of an oldy time like 20s perhaps (yes i would love to see old telephones and gramaphones in the works would that be too steampunk?) but overall their are little hints of technology along with some non technology items

[HolidayPony 0]

My Theory is that ponies don't exactly NEED some inventions... Ponies have control of "Magic" which can be used as some sort of power! My theory is that magic is basically the replacement of electricity but electricity is still being used (Hospitals/Twilight's Basement) You can see screens in the hospitals... (and the dam) The buildings however may be medieval (Ponyville) because of the pegasi who control the weather so they wouldn't exactly need to do any inprovements.... Manehatten however may have gotten super advanced because of the rise of population and (Just a theory) inventors there. Ponies are at the industrial revolution and steampunk... ISH.

[skbl17 199]

In the show, we've seen pony-pulled trains, steam trains, pony-drawn carriages, the "motorized vehicle" that was the SSCS6000, lanterns, lights, hydroelectric dams, arcade machines, automated railroad crossing stop arms, the computerized equipment Twilight kept in her old library's basement, a bowling alley, and pony-drawn plows (no tractors,) among others. From that list alone, it's hard to pin down an equivalent time period. We've seen tech from the 1980s, the 1940s, the 1700s, the 1920s, and the 1880s.

 

I'd say that Equestrian technology is, on average, on par with the late 1800s to the early 1900s (electricity exists, steam trains exist, pony-drawn carriages), but the exact time period will vary by episode.

[RainbowTashie 378]

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.

Agreed i think they have everything under control it wouldn't be the same if Twilight were to google the NMM tale in the first series

[Varian Dusk 23]

Tech is advanced enough to have a machine in a basement under a tree to monitor brainwaves so...

 

Yeah. That far.