Low-tech Magazine

Invention & Technology Magazine

Low-tech Magazine will take some time off during summer, but this does not mean we will leave you without anything to read. The online archives of Invention & Technology Magazine (1985-2007) should keep you busy for quite some time (thanks a lot for the tip, David). This spin-off of American Heritage Magazine is dedicated to the history of technology. Very recommended. We keep moderating comments here at LTM, but there might be some delay in publishing them.

Life without airplanes: from London to New York in 3 days and 12 hours

Rising fuel prices are slowly killing airline companies. Can ocean liners save long distance travel and tourism?

Flying has become cheaper than taking a train or driving a car. Yet, environmental concerns, dwindling fuel reserves and fast rising kerosene prices are threatening to turn airline travel into a privilege for the rich again. This should not mean the end of mass travel or tourism, however. Before mass air travel took off in the 1960s, people crossed the globe in majestic passenger ships. Reintroducing ocean liners would be more than a nostalgic move: it could be a much more energy efficient (yet slower) way to travel.

Mechanical calculators: computing without electricity

Fast and complicated calculations are a product of fossil fuels.

Multiplying and dividing numbers was not always that easy. Before the arrival of cheap electronic pocket calculators and computers in the 1970s, people relied on an array of low-tech means and machines to calculate taxes, profits or the properties of engineering parts.

Being an obsolete technology now, some of these 19th and 20th century calculators are surprisingly sophisticated and fashionable. Moreover, most are powered by a crank, which makes these gadgets "green". Today's pocket calculators are no power hogs, either. The thing is that computers took over most calculating jobs from calculators, and a large supercomputer consumes as much energy as a convoy of trucks.

What do we do with all that calculation power? We build fast cars, giant jumbo jets and worldwide information highways, all of which, in their turn, raise energy consumption. We also construct opaque financial products, rickety electronic voting systems and contradictory global warming scenarios. Mechanical calculators may be an inferior technology, but they had the benefit of keeping things on this planet relatively simple. A brief overview of the most remarkable models.

Photoshop in the early 20th century

At the beginning of the 20th century some clever photographers specialized in Photoshop before the term existed, faking postcards from mainly rural communities. Images of oversized vegetables, fruits and animals created a utopian myth about a town or region and served as a way of encouraging settlement and population growth. Some noteworthy collections of these so-called "Tall Tale Postcards" can be found here (Wisconsin Historical Society) and here (American Museum of Photography). UPDATE: Things magazine has found another weird example of postcard manipulation.

Life before television

Turn off your flat screen television and get lost in 17th, 18th and 19th century optical entertainment.

Nowadays, televisions and cinemas have a remarkable image quality and size, computer games boast impressive graphics, and portable media devices make it possible to watch movies anywhere you want. But, before the birth of modern multimedia, our ancestors were all but cut off from vivid graphics and virtual reality. Innovative low-tech devices delivered amazing effects and fulfilled almost the same role that television, cinema and media players do today. Some features of these even modern multimedia does not match.

Reinventing the wheel

The Museum of RetroTechnology  has an amazing collection of pictures and drawings of motorized monowheels. These one-wheeled vehicles (the driver was placed inside the wheel) evolved from pedal-powered monocycles at the end of the 19th century. They became sort of a wet dream for boffins during the first decennia of the 20th century.