[ceejayoz]

> best achievable with technology that today's eyes would confuse for magic

That's a pretty low bar, isn't it? Show an iPhone's capabilities to, say, a WWII soldier or industrial revolution textile worker, and they'll deem it pretty magical.

[sidlls]

The revolutionary war was 250 years ago which seems to reinforce the parent's point. That's several generations of human beings and outside of the lifetimes of ourselves, our children, almost all our grandchildren and many if not most of our great grandchildren.

Electronic computers were being built in WWII and television existed. I doubt many would see an iphone as magical.

[ams6110]

Sure, but an iPhone isn't really a step towards a post-scarcity society. It's an entertainment device, for the most part.

[mmirate]

Show it to the people who designed the PDP11 at the time they designed it, and chances are they won't.

The uneducated masses of soldiers and workers are much easier to dazzle and fool than technical personnel; and I apologize for not qualifying my previous comment enough to convey the idea that the Star Trek replicator, if it were to exist and be transported to the present day, would indeed be magic to any sane scientist or engineer.

[snaky]

To impress the people who designed the PDP11 at the time they designed it, you better just tell them we still use C and UNIX.

[gaius]

The uneducated masses of soldiers and workers are much easier to dazzle

Time Traveler: look at this iPhone!

WW2 soldier: that’s a flimsy looking walkie-talkie, wouldn’t last a day fighting the Waffen SS. Do you mind? I got work to do.

[mmirate]

Superficial; after, at worst, a brief demonstration, a stereotypical Nokia would elicit a different response.

[bluGill]

No, you would be very disappointed. The vast majority of usefulness from a smart phone happens because it is connected. Since there would be now towers for the phone to connect to, most of the things you want to show couldn't be done.

You could use it as a personal organizer - but without connectivity it can be argued that a paper organizer is easier to use. There are a few other programs that will also work in a fashion, but again lacking connectivity the paper equivalents are as good if not better.

There are also a few games that will work: you can really impress them with the games you can play.

The only thing impressive will be the camera - a full color picture that you can zoom in on and save is interesting. Having 10000 photos (plus some videos) in your pocket will get attention. Of course once the phone breaks you lose all that, but still it will be impressive.

[gaius]

Of course once the phone breaks you lose all that, but still it will be impressive

You would also have no way to charge it, it’s not like any modern phone has simple inputs for 5v or whatever.

[ceejayoz]

If only they had the sun back then.

https://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Cell-Phones-Accessories-...

[ufmace]

Maybe GP here's phrasing didn't communicate the idea well, but just because one item might be seen as magical to some particular people doesn't mean that anything we might see as magical is possible.