Quote from Jeanette on Dec 30th, 2018, 1:19pm:Quote from Fernando on Dec 29th, 2018, 4:19pm:If any Time Traveller goes back in time to stop an event, he changes the course of history and can even make the situation worst.
That is what I was thinking. Is it possible to create an apocalyptic world by stopping a nuclear war?
That may depend on the mindset of the people. I'll use a random opinion to illustrate this: "These tree-hugging aliens have gone too far. They planed everything from the beginning to get us to use trains and buses instead of a car, it's harder to get a new appliance or TV because they are always refurbishing old ones, they say use less electricity in the summer and now they are interfering in the middle east."
Is it possible to create an apocalyptic world by stopping a nuclear war? Yes. It depends on the underpinnings of what events follow. Economic collapse (like in Brazil with its Uber Inflation or in various African and Central American nations; thus they use what tourist-collected American Dollar they can get their hands on as their money is literally worthless) is one such possible set of events though it has to last for years. Political Imperial to the point of absolute dictatorship, like in current China and Saudi Arabia; these will reach a point where the people will no longer take it and rebel against their political leaders.
Quote from Jeanette on Dec 30th, 2018, 1:19pm:Quote from Fernando on Dec 29th, 2018, 4:19pm:Stagnation is a major problem for many companies and governments.
Stagnation is a problem. How do the Texas Spirits see things? Their interest is in protecting the environment and one way of doing so is "get it right the first time." They are not replacing old equipment with new because what they are using is "as good as it is going to get."
As we have discussed, there have to be exceptions such as (as you pointed out) the Texas Spirits can't change the history of the microcomputer industry. So, as we discussed, they build an expansion card with a 32-Bit 6502 and 2GB of RAM that will fit an expansion slot of an Apple II. Presto! We now Google, shop Amazon and watch YouTube on an Apple II.
In various technologies, I find little improvement on various things. Lets take cars as an example, car companies have been boasting that car today are more fuel efficient that those of generations past. Bullshit. A 1984 Honda CRX series (sub series DX line) had a fuel mileage of 55MPG on the highway and 35+ in the city. The 1980s VW Rabbit Diesel has the same or even higher results. A 70s/80s VW bug has the same MPG back then as cars do today. If anything, they improved on the safety of these vehicles, but they also made them for lazy drivers to drive. Driving requires one to concentrate on the road 24/7 of driving time. But auto navigation, lane placement software, computerized driver assistance, Interactive GPS, takes away from the concentration of driving. People have become complacent drivers. If they were to drive a 70s/80s automobile in the same fashion they do today's cars, there will be more accidents on the road.
People are already doing this with the Raspberry Pi on an Apple II Slot and accessing the R-Pi through the Apple. (see:
http://schmenk.is-a-geek.com/wordpress/?p=167 ) The problem is that you will need 2 monitors or one that can display Picture with-in picture. And software and tech advancements are already having Apples, Commodores Ataris and even Sinclairs (Spectrums, not the ZX) to access the Web and webpages in a limited sense, but accessing multi-media files, that is doable.
My (current idiot bothersome) neighbor has taught me a lot about air conditioning and washing machines, in that Old Tech is 1000x better than New Tech. New tech is not repairable, Old Tech is. A lot of times a device breaks down when it is not taken cared off. Like vacuuming out the Lint area of a Dryer, washing out the drum of a washing machine, a little grease or oil on the bearings, and the machine comes back to life. Sometimes a switch or capacitor fails after years of use, and they just need to be replaced, at a price of under $5. But the new computerized machines, if they die - that is it. The computer fails to turn on and recognize the system to be repaired, forcing you to go out and buy a new one to replace it.
Quote from Jeanette on Dec 30th, 2018, 1:19pm:Quote from Fernando on Dec 29th, 2018, 4:19pm:How is that $100 gold piece evaluated in other areas?
Remember, the Texas Spirits had no control over the weight, purity and stated value of this international currency.
That can be a problem if they do not recognize a Spirit Gold coin for its stamped value but take it for its gold value which can be higher or lower than what the stamped value says.
Quote from Jeanette on Dec 30th, 2018, 1:19pm:Quote from Fernando on Dec 29th, 2018, 4:19pm:The Spirits locked themselves into a closed market with dealing with Charlton.
Charlton is a mixed economy. Though the Texas Spirits own the power company and railroad, private enterprise is encouraged in almost every other sector. If a private company wants to make furniture, for example, they would fit in perfectly.
On the other hand, the Texas Spirits do encourage people to go green. They don't do that through laws that go against what they believe. Instead, they help people to save money. For example, why buy a new pencil sharpener when a person can bring in their old pencil sharpener and get the blad replaced for less?
Going green is not the 'argument' here, in fact it is one of the few things that puts them in a good light. The problem is - outside of Charlton and through out the lay of the land, as stated early on in the forum, there are loads of equipment graveyards: buses, trains, planes, office equipment, etc. Even if the device can not be rebuilt, its parts can be recycled for others. Raw material from unrepairable parts can be reclaimed.
But if they lock themselves into a market, where everyone has a car and they still continue to make cars, who is going to buy the overstock of cars?
And Gadget would be so proud:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Spirit_of_Butts%27_Farm Quote from Jeanette on Dec 30th, 2018, 1:19pm:Quote from Fernando on Dec 29th, 2018, 4:19pm:Even if the Spirits are having great strides in technology with computers and airplanes, if they close the market to only service themselves, that can lead to economic collapse in just a few years as others around them see economic growth. But it is on them who their customers are and who is not.
I'm confused. How is the Texas Spirits only servicing themselves? The Charlton Railroad goes to many places, though not everywhere, throughout the North American Continent. Zero Point Energy has many power plants across North America. Again, not everywhere. Electric Airlines flies overseas. The Texas Spirits has retail stores in the railroad towns and, in a few cases, away from the railroad.
Jeanette Isabelle
See above.
In short, the Spirits need to broaden their market horizons to the rest of the nation. not too long ago, Fernando and Jeanette tries to sell surgical supplies to Centerville's hospital, but the doctors refuse if it is Spirit-made technology. Fernando took his old Civil War and WWI Surgeons kits and had them replicated by other means and simply gave it to the doctors. This will force them to use them when other supplies run out. And once they start using them and find nothing wrong with them, they will be wanting more. The only supply chain left is the Spirits' replicated version of Fernando surgical kits, which is nothing more but knives and medical saws, which is more than what the doctors have at the hospital.