Technology in Equestria · 12:46am Feb 19th, 2016
This is a subject that has come up in a lot of fics, and in a lot of comment sections of those fics, and has been subject to a wide range of interpretations. I'm talking about Equestria's "tech level". Just what technology do they have?
Based on my own careful watching of the TV show, I pegged Equestria at roughly the 1880s. It's a magic/steampunk world. Steam trains make perfect sense. Some electronics may exist, but nothing sophisticated -- no transistors, to say nothing of integrated circuits. There have always been a few anomalies, though. Why have we seen little evidence of a telegraph system? Why does everyone use quill pens? On the other hand, we've had episodes where we saw ponies carrying flashlights, and we saw a movie projector (with sound!). . .
I've seen stories where the authors cherry picked items from the show and tried to argue that Equestria's science and technology are just as advanced as ours -- or even more so! Well, I don't buy it. I always figured items like the movie projector, or the games in the arcade, or Vinyl's DJ rig, were either magical constructs or "artistic license" employed by the writers for the sake of a joke, or for exposition, or to get through sticking point in the story. But I couldn't prove it. With me saying "artistic license" while somebody else was pointing their finger at an actual working movie projector (with sound!) in the TV show, the projector always won.
Finally I have some backup, from a book called The Art of Equestria. Here's what the people who actually produced the show had to say:
"I tried to think of Manhattan at the turn of the twentieth century, and there are plenty of historical references to that old-timey feel. It is difficult to know how much technology to bring into it, but I tried to stay away from electronics. I tried to think of things that would be wind powered or steam powered." -- Phil Caesar, DHX Media
"In terms of the taxicabs and stuff, we don't have combustion engines. We know that there are no streetlights, for example. If we had streetlights, there would be fireflies or lightning bugs or magic lighting them. We have kind of set rules about technology -- you can't have anything that's post-1900s." -- Jim Miller, DHX Media
"Another major factor that determines the design choices we make is the level of modern technology. Equestria is a fantasy storybook world that sits somewhere between the medieval period and the Edwardian era of the very early 1900s, if we had to specify. So all the technology that exists is limited to what could exist in that period. Every once in a while, we will break the rules to allow a piece of technology to exist that wouldn't normally, due to the necessities of the story -- or joke. These are few and far between, and even then we limit how advanced it can be. We are strict about this, to keep the world consistent and to force ourselves to think more cleverly when problem solving." -- Jayson Thiessen, Supervising Director at DHX Media
So, my own estimate was slightly off. I said 1880s, while apparently the producers of the show had pegged 1900-1910. That's OK. Close enough. The point of all this analysis, however, is. . . When I'm reading what seems like a perfectly normal FiM story, and perhaps enjoying it, and then several chapters into it the protagonist casually sits down to play some videogames -- that is JARRING to me. That is like a splash of cold water in the face.
If you want to put your stories into an advanced, high-tech version of Equestria, please. . . Go right ahead! I don't mind that. I've written alt universe stories, and I've read a bunch of them, and I like many of them. But please, please, signal it in some way! Give us some clue in the description or somewhere near the beginning of the story that your world is one of those. Don't spring it as a surprise six chapters in! And if I may also suggest. . . It might be best to avoid the advanced technology unless it does, in fact, play some kind of role in the story. A story where the characters casually play some videogames in chapter 12, but the technology isn't seen elsewhere and has no other impact, makes it seem like you're just messing with us.
Those are really interesting passages. I had forgotten about that book. It's good to know the staff have a very purposeful limit to technology. I've never really liked it too much in mlp.