Popular Science | Tech '54, Where Are You?

Low Tech

How long could you survive (or stand to survive) using only the technology of 1954? A magazine writer spends 10 days living with the technology of 50 years ago: Tech '54, Where Are You? Sample quote: "After scouring the streets for a working pay phone (an increasingly rare commodity), I put in my last quarter--and get a busy signal. Of course the phone eats my quarter. I feel sorry for people who still have to use these things on a regular basis, and recall the comment famously attributed to William Gibson: 'The future is already here, it's just not evenly distributed.' "