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what fact about our current world would freak people out if it were a newspaper headline a century ago? (self.asklemmy)

submitted 1 year ago by Phen to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

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Some news that would be completely mundane today but scary or shocking in the past.

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[–] hackris@lemmy.ml 19 points 1 year ago (3 children)

That nearly everyone is carrying a tracking device with them, designed to disguise itself as a convenient entertainment device.

[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 8 points 1 year ago

Given this is the era of rising totalitarianism, maybe the surprise would be that there's no legal penalty for not carrying it; people just choose to to the point life will be difficult if you buck the trend.

[–] saketaco@lemmy.ml 7 points 1 year ago

And yet you still can't ask the device to locate someone.

[–] Carighan@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago (4 children)

How would that even register with people from 1923? What is a .... "tracking device"? Or an "entertainment device"?

[–] optissima@possumpat.io 8 points 1 year ago

Its 1923 and the phonograph has been around for 45 years, and local radio has been around for 3 in some areas, so I think they would know what an entertainment device is. A tracking device, like a radio that tells people where you are without your input. These idea would not go over the heads of any citygoer, though you would struggle with any back country folks.

[–] deus@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

Maybe a communication device? That's how it started at least.

[–] hackris@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 year ago

I agree I should have phrased that better. Something like a "secret agent following you wherever you go" maybe?