"The Iron Horse" Bonus - Celestia vs Telephones · 3:27am Nov 8th, 2016
I meant to bring this up shortly after the last chapter, but since it seems to have been a sticking point for some, I thought I'd clear it up just before the release of the next chapter... tomorrow. 
Clear what up, you ask? Well, one of the bigger talking points was the brief section of "Jigsaw Falling Into Place, Part 1," mentioning Celestia's lack of support for the telephone.
So, check below the break for some explanation for why I included it as well as some commentary from one of our technical consultants: JFalk!
So, I considered not including telephones at all, but there's a problem... they apparently do exist in Equestria, at least in a limited way.
That being the case, it would be weird for the technologically-advanced Conspirators (and thus the region where they're based) to not utilize them. But that left the question of why they weren't more widespread. So, the obvious answer is that, in The Iron Horse, phones are seen as little more than a novelty by most, and used almost exclusively for inter-office communication. As with a lot of other technology, this is partly due to Celestia's lack of support for them, which reinforces a major point of contention between her and the Conspirators as well.
Still, this got a sharper reaction than I expected, and while I would have loved to respond to this, it seems my pal, Iron Horse Technical Consultant JFalk already covered it, and probably better than I could! (bolds and italics are his, underlines are mine, btw)
I know that Celestia get criticized by her technoreluctance, but it is important to note that she only assumed such position after the debacle about the farming automaton, when its inventor made his claims that technology could replace ponies in all works - that claim is what made Celestia become after more reluctance to adopt new technologies: until that point, she was enthusiastic about it... so, it is possible to claim that Dearborn Crumble (Cobbler Mustang's ancestor) was the responsable for her position, that would affect later inventors.
But even with her technoreluctance that prevented her from incentive new inventions, she never made illegal to create new inventions, or build automatons like Turing... And when presented with facts that the technology actually is useful for her little ponies, she accepted and incentived them, like with Vanderbull's trains or Talon Turing's computing machines.
I confess that I was surprised that she didn't incentive the telephone (such invention would fit Equestria's ideals of friendship very much!), but I wonder if the inventor didn't present her a very early prototype, that made doubtful that it could really be useful... (We know that the telephone is a critical invention, but it is because we live in a technological-based world were it was successful [...] People forget that the telephone *was* considerated a toy until the Philadelphia Exposition, and it only changed because Bell called the attention of Dom Pedro II, Emperor of Brazil - otherwise the judges would have leave for the day, due the demonstration of the device being in a isolated corner of the exposition). So it was possible that the introduction of the telephone at the world at large would have been very delayed. So we have a hindsight that Celestia and other Equestrians could not possibly have - and we must remember that they have a far bigger control over their enviroment than we have, so they dodn't have the same incentive for invention that we have due thier magic).
Well said, JFalk!
Pictured: JFalk - robot enthusiast and all-around smart motherbucker.
Anyway, that's all for now, but if you have more to add to this conversation, leave a comment below! See you soon!
Ah, thanks for the explanation.
I am aware of this, and it's partially why I never really voiced an opinnion on it.
But it does raise the question of how she's ignored it's implementation in Mustangia(hope I spelled that right. Horse-puns why) but I see that being explained relatively soon.
That is the reason I think of why Equestria is Schizo Tech. Since they aren't human and have magic and other resources it makes sense that they may not have something like a phone, yet have texting the form of magic books.
I could see Celestia admitting something like the following to Twilight,
“This whole Industrial Revolution has just gotten away from me. Sometimes when you are as long lived as I, you blink and much time has passed. I was so focused on getting Luna back, on setting up everything so there would be Element Bearers when the time came, that sometimes I let other things run in the background. When issues arose, I just applied old solutions that had worked so well for me and my little ponies in the past.
“Some years ago, a group of earth ponies showed me a building that was held up with iron inside. It was less than half the height of the towers of Canterlot. But the walls were nearly all glass, instead of magically reinforced stone. I told the builders they were very clever and thought nothing else of it.
“A generation later, their children showed me a building that was held up with stronger metal. It was as tall as the towers of Canterlot. And it had elevators, so that non-flyers could reach the top floors easily. When I asked about the metal, I was told it was steel. Think of it, steel, like a sword, but enough of it to build an entire building! Again I congratulated the earth ponies on their cleverness and industry, but did not dwell upon it.
“Now the buildings in Manehattan reach two, three, even four times higher than the tallest towers in Canterlot. And the clever earth ponies tell me that the limits on size are based on how many bits they have to spend, not on the strength of magic or metal.
“I am both amazed, and somewhat concerned, about what my clever ponies are going to do next. I fear my old solutions may be less and less relevant.
“I hope that as a Princess born into this new age, your wisdom and experience will be useful in helping us plot a course forward for the betterment of all.”
I just can't help wondering what would happen if a Culture Mind dropped by. I doubt it would take Celestia's actions very well, no matter how she might try to justify them.
Glad that the comment was useful!
4289839 It is an interesting point isn't? The news of Mustangia's adoption of the telephone system could show how useful it could be, a factor that could change Celestia's first impression about it (after all, we know that she would change her mind with enough evidence) and lead to a greater adoption although Equestria - but if the conspiracy deliberately kept the phone network restricted to Mustangia, then it makes one wonder what they really want to do with the technology....
4289860 The presence of magic as a natural force really makes for an alternate tech path: for example, we are only theorizing about weather control and geoenginnering, but Pegasus magic do both - at a certain scale, at last - a routine. We are developing medical drugs to improve memory, but Unicorns have spell that could lead to full memory restoration. Earth ponies could grow food without diminish the soil, we are fighting with such problem.
4289908 After Celestia crack the conspirators down, that would be a good solution - maybe then Twilight could create the Equestrian equivalent of the Royal Institution or of Bell Labs.
4290246 The fact her own guards haven't made a note of it makes me think either their idiots, or she's just out right ignoring it on purpose, and considering the fact Celestia's word is enough to destroy an inventor, outlawing the invention of new tech isn't needed, thats more or less a moot point.
And as for restricting it to Mustangia, thats more then likely the cost prohibitive nature of wiring a whole nation across every terrain, with far less efficient tech then we have for the same.
I mean, most governments took almost a decade to do it with a national budget, I doubt the Conspirators have even a tenth the resources and funding to attempt that.
Add to this Celestia's ungodly cruel and inhumane choices of punishment for anything she deems a true threat and I can easily see thier reasoning for secrecy and only advancing singular areas.
It's just safer and easier to hide.
4289908 In other words she forced the world into her vision instead of guiding it.
This shows why I'm not taking the excuse of doing what she thought best as an acceptable response.
She knew she was ruining lives and destroying names amd simply kept doing it without a thought to the long term consequences of her actions.
No one will love the ruler who cursed their name and craft solely on their own blind doctrine.
I want to make a point I've made before, The conspirators haven't done nearly as much harm as Celestia herself, and the few harmed directly by their creations are responsible for their own mistakes, I.E not courdinating their attacks on 4', despite his exposition laden speech during their conflict, or Celestia's risking of entire nations on luck, or to 'teach' her student a lesson with the world as the price for failure.
Wait, what episode is that screenshot with the phone from?
4290675 "Rarity Takes Manhattan"