The Time Traveling Economist (Alpha v1.1)

Rough Outline: The Time Traveling Economist

Chapter One:

WW1 is often credited to be the first modern war by historians; however, most people would not consider the vast majority of technology from 1914 to be modern in 2020. 

In order to measure the enormous amount of technological growth since 1914, it would be best to start off by comparing more recent achievements, as it can be easy to overlook just how quickly the world has advanced in the past 100 years—this is the result of exponential technological growth.

In hardly any time at all, smartwatches have become much more important than they were for most people when they were originally released. Even though smartwatches have only been around for five years in 2020, they are already far more impressive than they were in 2015. The Apple Watch Series 5 is nearly twice as fast as the S3 processor in the Apple Watch Series 3; yet, the S3 processor was already 70% faster than the Apple S2 processor, and the Apple S2 processor was already 50% faster than the processor of the original Apple Watch. Also, there are now a variety of generic smartwatches that are now available. Not only is an expensive smartwatch in 2020 substantially more powerful than the original Iphone (even though an expensive smartwatch in 2020 is still cheaper than a first-generation Iphone would have cost originally), but a generic smartwatch can already be purchased for far less money than an original Iphone from 2007.

To be specific, the original Iphone cost $499 for the 4 GB model upon its release in 2007. Today, a Samsung Galaxy Watch Active can be purchased for around $150, and a Samsung Galaxy A10e 32GB phone can be found at Walmart for around $100; yet, even a Samsung Galaxy Watch Active is more powerful than the original Iphone in 2007! Not only is it much more convenient to use a Samsung Galaxy Watch Active for certain tasks than it would have been to accomplish them on a smartphone in 2007, but a smartwatch also has entirely new functions that were not available on smartphones from 2007; furthermore, a Samsung Galaxy A10e contains a processor that is over twenty times as fast as an original Iphone: in other words, for half the price, one is now able to obtain an incredible amount of capabilities in comparison to what were available less than fifteen years ago. 

However, this article is meant to compare WW1 with the War on Terror: we are not primarily concerned with a comparison of technology from 2007 to technology of the year 2020—the smartwatch and smartphone example has only been used to illustrate how quickly our technology has changed in less than 15 years alone. It is not as if humanity suddenly emerged out of the darkness and into the light of technology in 2007—enormous advances were occurring well before 2007!

Let us travel back just a bit further in time—to September 11th, 2001. At this point, Iphones were not even a reality. As a matter of fact, the original Ipod hadn’t even been released! The original Ipod Classic was not released until early November of 2001, and at that time, it cost $399: it had a very basic processor that was capable of playing MP3s, and it had 5 GB of storage—that’s it! And yet, people were willing to pay a rather substantial amount for the Ipod Classic, because the technology seemed spectacular at the time! It is not as if an original Ipod Classic was even something that could be used for a variety of productive purposes—it was more of a device for hobbyists! 

In economics, there is a term that is known as consumer surplus—it is the difference between what someone is willing to pay, and what they actually pay. 

For the sake of argument, let us assume that time travel would have been an option for people living in the past: anyone who purchased an Ipod Classic in 2001 would enjoy a consumer surplus of $150 by purchasing a Samsung Galaxy Watch Active and a Samsung Galaxy A10e in 2020 for a combined amount of $250—rather than the $399 they would have paid for an Ipod Classic; yet, they would also obtain an enormous amount of additional hardware and software. Obviously, this means that a time traveler from 2001 would obtain a lot more bang for their buck in 2020.

The storage space on a Samsung Galaxy Watch Active in 2020 is nearly as much as what was available on an original Ipod Classic; yet, the smartwatch in 2020 is phenomenally easier to use—especially if one works in a profession that requires the extensive use of ones hands. Indeed, it is easy to argue that a Samsung Galaxy Watch Active on its own is much more useful than an Ipod Classic: this means that the far more powerful smartphone of 2020 would be additional consumer surplus to a time traveler from 2001, as they would be able to purchase both items in 2020 for the price of an Ipod Classic by itself in 2001!

In fact, in comparison to what was available in 2001, not only does a budget smartphone in 2020 possess far more more powerful hardware and software than an Ipod Classic, but in many ways, it is even far more capable than an expensive laptop computer would have been in 2001, because we have not even begun to discuss the ways in which the Internet has changed since 2001! 

After all, even if someone does not wish to pay for Internet service for their smartphone—they are still able to access the Wi-Fi networks of Starbucks and McDonalds in 2020, which would have been unavailable in 2001. Once online, a smartphone user in 2020 is able to freely use far more advanced social networks than those that were available in 2001: one can send private messages from Snapchat, group text messages from Twitter, and photos from Instagram. All of these services would have been missing in 2001—even if one had been using a relatively expensive laptop with a home internet connection. Myspace was not even founded until 2003, and many of us have long forgotten that service. Obviously, these are much better options than a payphone would have been for someone with low income in 2001.

Furthermore, even if someone does not wish to pay for Internet service for their smartphone by purchasing coffee and hamburgers in 2020—it is also much easier and cheaper to access the Internet from local libraries in 2020 with a smartphone than it would have been to use a laptop in 2001. A library from 2001 with Wi-Fi would have been cutting-edge; nevertheless, at that time, even a cutting-edge library would have had trouble assisting more than a handful of users who were lightly browsing the Internet: for comparison purposes, the original 802.11a Wi-Fi standard that was available from 1999 had a maximum linkrate of 1.5 to 54 Mbit/s; today, the 802.11ax Wi-Fi standard that has been available since 2019 has a maximum linkrate of 600 to 9608 Mbit/s, and the much more established 802.11ac Wi-Fi standard from 2014 has a maximum linkrate of 433-6933 Mbit/s.

Once at a library, a smartphone user in 2020 can now watch a seemingly unlimited amount of YouTube videos; nevertheless, YouTube was not even available to people with a home internet connection in 2001, as YouTube did not exist until 2005. 

It is also important to mention this: even though some academics might not consider Wikipedia to be a reliable research method—there is no doubt that it is phenomenally better than it would have been in 2001. Wikipedia was not even a year old when the terrorist attacks of September 11th occurred, and the website had very little funding. For comparison purposes, in 2003/2004, Wikipedia had revenue of $80,129—in 2018/2019, Wikipedia had revenue of $112,900,000: this means that Wikipedia can hire far more professional editors and software developers than they could have in 2001, especially since the cost of the hardware that powers Wikipedia has fallen dramatically since 2001; furthermore, as time has moved along, and as the user base of volunteers has contributed more and more to the site, the accuracy of the articles that have been submitted to Wikipedia has continually increased, as there is a much greater chance that they have been peer reviewed multiple times. 

In any case, between the various social networks, YouTube, and Wikipedia alone, it is easy to see why it is fair to say that a basic 2020 smartphone has far more Internet capabilities than a high-end laptop would have had in 2001—despite the fact that a smartphone could be considered to be consumer surplus in comparison to what one might have paid for an Ipod Classic in 2001! 

To sum things up thus far, the world has obviously drastically changed in the past twenty years, and the world has changed so quickly that it is easy to lose track of how quickly this change occurs. Once again, the ultimate point of this article is not to compare the modern world to the year 2001—we are trying to compare the modern world to what the world looked like during the time of WW1, which was much further back in time; nevertheless, because the rate of change has been exponential, it helps to step back incrementally--in order to see the bigger picture.

Therefore, instead of simply comparing a basic smartwatch and smartphone of 2020 to what someone would have paid for an Ipod Classic in 2001, let us now rewind the clock just a bit further to the beginning of the year 1995.

The cutting-edge consumer device of 1995 was the original Playstation. In comparison to a standard electronic device of today, it was a bit laughable, but it seemed amazing at the time. Despite the fact that the Playstation was primarily a gaming device that was aimed towards a younger audience—it included a CD player! This seemed revolutionary at the time—even though the device was unable to connect to the Internet. Nevertheless, despite the fact that the original Playstation sold for $299 at the time, demand was high: over 100,000 units were sold in North America within two days!

Let us now take just a moment to think about how much consumer surplus those 100,000 purchasers of original Playstations from 1995 would have if they could travel forward in time to the year 2020 in order to purchase a Samsung Galaxy Watch Active for around $150, and a Samsung Galaxy A10e 32GB prepaid phone for around $100.

To begin, by purchasing the budget smartwatch and smartphone in 2020—as opposed to an original Playstation in 1995—a time traveler from 1995 would save $50 in 2020; furthermore, they could store over five times more data on their wrist than could be found on a CD—in a compressed format that would allow for them to pick out hundreds of their favorite songs—and they would even be able to take that music with them to the gym (after all, there is a reason why people found Ipod Classics to be superior to portable CD players, and a smartwatch takes that concept to the next level, as it is even lighter than carrying an MP3 player in one’s pocket); even furthermore, not only would the time traveler also now have a second MP3 player as an additional bonus in the form of a smartphone—with enough storage space to carry an average person’s entire CD collection from 1995—but the Internet capabilities of a smartphone in 2020 would be even greater than the Internet capabilities of an expensive desktop computer from 1995!

After all, not only were the major social networks, YouTube, and Wikipedia completely absent in 1995, but this was the year that Ebay was founded! Obviously, according to basic economic principles, as supply increases, and as the number of sellers in a market increases—the market clearing price decreases. Not only are the barriers to entry in 2020 for sellers on Ebay much lower than they might have been in 1995, as a budget smartphone is much cheaper than a laptop would have been in 1995, but pictures are obviously important on Ebay, and the cost of a digital camera would have been astronomical in 1995: for comparison purposes, in 1996, the relatively cheap (at the time) Kodak DC20 cost $299 for the camera by itself—it had no LCD display to review photos, and it only contained 1 megabyte of flash memory, which was only enough storage to hold 16 pictures at low resolution. Nevertheless, a digital camera would be an additional bonus (consumer surplus) to a time traveler from 1995--if they used their money for an original PlayStation to purchase the aforementioned smartwatch and budget smartphone of 2020. 

In any case, let’s say that a time traveler from 1995 does not wish to be a seller on Ebay, even though they could make a fair amount of money in 2020 if they worked at it with a budget smartphone and free Wi-Fi at McDonald’s, Starbucks, and their local library (despite the fact that it would have been incredibly difficult to produce income with a PlayStation in 1995—unless one happened to be extremely talented)--even as a consumer, one could at least save a substantial amount of additional money in 2020 by purchasing used products online than a time traveler might have spent in 1995 by purchasing the same products when they were new in a physical store. This is important to mention, as a PlayStation needs software, and a brand new PlayStation game in 1995 likely cost around $50.00: many of these games can now be found on Ebay for under $15 (collector’s items in good condition could trade for much higher amounts), and a used original PlayStation itself can be found for around $50.00, which is how much money a time traveler from 1995 would have leftover if they purchased a smartwatch and a budget smartphone in 2020 with their Playstation funds from 1995! In other words, partially thanks to Ebay, we can safely say that a smartwatch and a budget smartphone in 2020 are both consumer surplus in comparison to what someone would have paid for an original Playstation in 1995—and that’s not to mention the fact that a time traveler from 1995 could now purchase far more PlayStation software at deep discounts—especially if their main concern is playing video games, rather than collecting pristine pieces of history (it’s not as if video game players in 1995 primarily thought they would be reselling many of their games as collector’s items—they just wanted to have fun!).

However, we are still far too ahead in the future, because in case one has forgotten—we are comparing the modern War on Terror to WW1, and 1995 is still a long way off in comparison to the years of WW1. It is not as if technology suddenly started expanding in 1995!

Let us wind the clock back another few years—to 1991.

In 1991, the Super Nintendo was first released in the United States—at the time, it cost $199. At first glance, it might seem as if a smartwatch and a budget smartphone in 2020 would be more expensive than a Super Nintendo; however, we have not even mentioned inflation—until now!

Once adjusted for inflation, a Super Nintendo from 1991 would cost over $350 in 2020 (the federal minimum wage was only $4.25 an hour in 1991). However, let’s not factor inflation into the equation—let us say that it actually costs $50 more for a smartphone and a smartwatch in 2020 in comparison to what a person in 1991 might have paid for a Super Nintendo.

Even then, a time traveler from 1991 would easily make their $50 back.

It is easy to see why: unlike the original PlayStation, the Super Nintendo did not have a CD player—let alone the two separate MP3 players that one obtains when they purchase a smartwatch and a smartphone in 2020 for a mere $50 more than a Super Nintendo would have cost in 1991. More importantly, in 1991, most people in America did not have a home Internet connection: the few people who paid for Internet service would have used a dial-up modem with a data transfer rate of 14.4kbit/s. It would not trouble someone from 1991 if they were required to be at a library in order to freely access the high-speed Internet of 2020 for only a short amount of time—they certainly would not mind traveling the average distance to the nearest Starbucks from the residences of most major cities in 2020. After all, besides the much higher speeds of the Internet in 2020, it is actually more convenient to have so much open Wi-Fi available as an option when one is traveling to begin with—even if one might have a high-speed Internet connection at home! 

It is also important to consider the fact that even more content would have been absent on the Internet of 1991 besides Ebay, the social networks, YouTube, and Wikipedia: Amazon was not online until 1994, and MP3s did not exist until 1993! Therefore, it would not have been possible to purchase a large amount of music with a private Internet connection in 1991—even if someone had the money and the patience in order to download songs with a modem speed of 14.4kbit/s. Also, it was far more difficult to search the Internet when the Super Nintendo was released in 1991—Google was not available, and Yahoo and AltaVista were absent: there was such a lack of Internet content in 1991 that it probably did not make much of a difference that search engines were practically nonexistent. 

The Internet of 2020 would particularly benefit a video game player much more than the Internet of 1991—even if they are not a music fan. Two of the largest and most established gaming websites in 2020, IGN and Gamespot, did not exist until 1996: not only do these websites help video game purchasers make informed decisions in 2020, but one can simply search Google for the “cheapest and best super nintendo games”, and an enormous number of independent reviews will appear. Therefore, it is fair to say that the sheer amount of information on video games that one is able to obtain in 2020 in comparison to what was available online in 1991 would be worth $50 to a time traveler from the past—especially in combination with Ebay: in 1991, a very limited amount of software was available for the Super Nintendo, and a single game cost $50 (adjusted for inflation, the cost of a typical game would be over $90 in 2020); today, a frugal shopper can easily locate and purchase hidden gems on the Super Nintendo for $15 or less, and since these games are nearly 30 years old, the depreciation rate is much lower than it would have been when they were brand new!

In any case, once again, the point of all of this is not to talk about how much more affordable Super Nintendo games have become since 1991—we are trying to compare the War on Terror with WW1, and in order to do so, we need to compare the technology of the modern world with the technology that was available in WW1. And yet, even though we have at least made it all the way back to 1991 in our discussion thus far, and even though we have seen dramatic changes in technology since this analysis began, there is still a long way to go!

Let us rewind the clock a bit further—the year was 1985. 

In 1985, the deluxe set original Nintendo Entertainment System was released at a price of $179.99—this would be over $425 in 2020, once adjusted for inflation! However, since the deluxe set contained a rather gimmicky robot and a light gun, let use say that the basic set from 1987 (this only contained Super Mario Bros.) had been available as an option two years earlier—once adjusted for inflation, this would still be $230 in 2020.

Nevertheless, even if one does not adjust for inflation, it is guaranteed that a time traveler from 1985 would be willing to pay an extra $150 for the aforementioned smartwatch and budget smartphone of 2020—despite the fact that the minimum wage in 1985 was only $3.35 an hour! After all, not only was the original Nintendo Entertainment System missing a CD player, but a basic CD player in 1985 cost $199 by itself (adjusted for inflation, it would be $450 in 2020), and a portable CD player (the Sony Walkman-style D-5) cost $300 (adjusted for inflation, it would be nearly $720 in 2020)! And yet, the first-generation of portable CD players did not even include adequate skip protection for jogging—they definitely were not as useful as a light weight and ultraportable smartwatch of 2020 (even a smartphone in 2020 would be much better to exercise with than a portable CD player from 1985).

Furthermore, not only were home Internet connections even slower in 1985 than they would have been in 1991, as dial-up modems only reached speeds of 9.6kbps when the Nintendo Entertainment System was released, but the World Wide Web did not even exist in 1985! In fact, even though video game systems are often thought of as being devices for children, AOL developed out of an older online system for a video game console that predated the original Nintendo Entertainment Sytem—AOL was originally known as Control Video Corporation, and they sold a service that was known as Gameline for the Atari 2600: this service was transformed into Quantum Computer Services in 1985, which eventually utilized a licensed system known as PlayNet for the Commodore 64. Even though the Commodore 64 had been deeply discounted by 1985, as the video game industry had crashed in 1983, the Commodore 64 would have still been more expensive than the basic set of a Nintendo Entertainment System, as a Commodore 64 would have cost at least $150 (adjusted for inflation, this would be around $360 in 2020). Nevertheless, even though the Commodore 64 had an online capability, the service cost $8 a month ($19 a month in 2020, once adjusted for inflation), plus $2.75/hr ($6.50/hr in 2020, once adjusted for inflation) for connect time—a more limited user could pay $3.75/hr ($9.00/hr in 2020, once adjusted for inflation) with no service charge. 

Obviously, this amount of money in 1985 would have been astronomical in comparison to the Wi-Fi service that one could obtain by purchasing a basic cup of coffee every other day from Starbucks in 2020—let alone in comparison to the free Wi-Fi service that one could obtain in 2020 by visiting their local library. Starbucks Wi-Fi is around 9 Mbps, which is over 930 times as fast as a 9.6kbps modem: assuming an online user visits Starbucks for fifteen minutes, they could download well over 230 times more data in the year 2020 than one could have in 1985 after spending $3.75 for an entire hour of online access at home. Yet, in 2020, one is also able to enjoy a large cup of coffee as additional consumer surplus while they are online. It is also important to remember that the web browsers and applications of a smartphone in 2020 make it much easier to find amazing content in the first place—from an unimaginable amount of third parties—whereas PlayNet was a service with a much more restricted amount of content, which was controlled by an extremely limited amount of vendors. 

An interesting side note to keep in mind is that there is a reason why people purchased Nintendo Entertainment Systems in 1985, despite the lack of an option to download games—even though it was technically possible to download games from home on an older Atari 2600. Frankly, despite the online capabilities, the hardware of an Atari 2600 was not nearly as powerful as a Nintendo Entertainment System. For comparison, an Atari 2600 contained 128 bytes of RAM; a Nintendo Entertainment System contained 2,000 bytes of RAM. Atari 2600 game cartridges contained eight times less storage space than the first Nintendo Entertainment System game cartridges, and as time moved on, the cartridge size of Nintendo Entertainment System games continued to increase. The games of the Nintendo Entertainment System were simply much larger and far more immersive than the games of the Atari 2600, and the developers of the Nintendo Entertainment System knew how to design games that took advantage of these capabilities—this is why people didn’t mind having to pick up physical copies of Nintendo games.

In any case, as the original Nintendo Entertainment System did not possess online capabilities, despite the fact that the basic set (if it had been available) would have cost at least $99 in 1985, it is important to realize that the gaming console needed a decent amount of physical cartridges in order for it to be enjoyable. And if search engines and Ebay are useful for finding discounted Super Nintendo games in 2020—they are even more useful for finding older Nintendo Entertainment System games in 2020! It is easy to find Nintendo Entertainment System games for under $10 in 2020, even though they could have cost $50 in 1985 (many of these would not have been released by 1985). 

Furthermore, in 2020, it’s possible that some of these games are becoming collector’s items, which is to say that they could even appreciate in value—like baseball cards, or comic books. In fact, there are brand new aftermarket gaming systems in 2020 that cost less than $75, which can play both Nintendo Entertainment System and Super Nintendo Entertainment System cartridges on modern televisions: this is a fantastic deal for adults who might have grown up in the mid-1980s and early 1990s, as they do not need to pay nearly as much for dozens of video games up front in 2020, especially since they are now able to use Ebay in order to easily resell and trade any games that they might be tired of playing—without incurring a substantial depreciation expense at a garage sell!

Let us not spend too much time comparing 1985 with 2020, however. 

Regardless as to how one may feel about video games, once again, the point of this discussion is not about video games in particular: video games are simply an indication of technological progress, and in comparison to what technology was like in WW1, the technology of 1985 was incredibly more advanced. In fact, there was a time—not much further back from 1985—when the Atari 2600 was a technological juggernaut—even before it obtained a basic online capability.

When the Atari 2600 was first released in 1977, it cost $199; however, when adjusted for inflation, this would have been $350 in 1985, or $850 in 2020! 

Once again, however, let us ignore inflation, as people in 1977 would certainly be willing to pay an extra $50 for a smartwatch and a budget smartphone in 2020 if they could travel in time to 2020, despite the fact that the minimum wage in 1977 was $2.30 an hour!

The reason why we could say that people in 1977 would be willing to spend an additional $50 for a smartphone and smartwatch in 2020—in comparison to what they would have paid for an Atari 2600 upon its release in 1977—is because many people were willing to spend $150 (over $530 in 2020, once adjusted for inflation) for an original Walkman cassette player when it was released in 1979. Of course, a dollar was worth less by 1979; however, even though the minimum wage had increased to $2.90 by then (this was a big jump in wages, as the inflation rate was unusually high), the increase in wages within those two years certainly wasn’t a 300% increase, which means that it is fair to say that $50 in 1977 would have still been worth less than $150 in 1979!

Nevertheless, if we continue to assume that certain video game players might not care much about the music market in particular, Ebay would be even more useful for a time traveling video game player from 1977 than it would be for one from 1985! From the perspective of used video game software alone, even though original Atari 2600 cartridges are becoming increasingly rare from a collector’s standpoint in 2020, the actual software itself can be found at even more extreme discounts than Nintendo Entertainment System games from 1985! For instance, as of this writing, there are multiple Ebay listings for Atari Flashback 9 reproduction systems with 110 built-in Atari 2600 games for around $40—many of these software titles were not even released by 1977. In fact, upon its initial release, the Atari 2600 only contained nine launch titles--only a handful of these software titles would have cost far more than $40 at the time, despite the enormous cost of the base system!

And yet, 1977 was still decades after WW1.

As a matter of fact, 1977 was after the relatively recent Vietnam War!

The Vietnam War ended on April 30th of 1975. 

Nevertheless, technological progress did not begin in 1977—in 1975, technology was more basic than it would be a mere two years later! Before Atari could develop the Atari 2600, they marketed their home console version of Pong for around $99: adjusted for inflation, this price would be equivalent to around $450 today (the minimum wage in 1975 was only $2.10 an hour)—despite the fact that Pong was a single game—Pong was not even a system! However, there were plenty of Pong buyers at the time, and it is certainly fair to say that most people in 1975 wouldn’t have minded paying two-and-a-half times the amount they spent on Pong for a smartwatch and a smartphone in 2020.

Indeed, an HP-21 scientific calculator alone cost $125 ($600 in 2020, once adjusted for inflation) in 1975; yet, for practical purposes, this calculator was inferior to the standard scientific calculator applications that are preinstalled on smartphones today! It is much easier to edit typos on a smartphone calculator; furthermore, a standard smartphone calculator keeps a detailed calculation history, which one can easily scroll through and select. Most importantly, not only can scientists, engineers, and financial specialists freely and easily download far more specialized calculator applications for smartphones in 2020, but they can even use spreadsheets on a smartphone!

And yet, as expensive as basic technology might have seemed immediately after the Vietnam War—the situation was far worse during the Vietnam War itself.

The original video game console was the Magnavox Odyssey, which was released in 1972. Similar to Atari’s Pong console of 1975, it cost $100 (at this time, the minimum wage was only $1.60 an hour): once again, if inflation is taken into consideration, this would be equivalent to over $615 in 2020, which was even more expensive than the Atari Pong console would be!

Nevertheless, let us continue to ignore inflation.

Even though the Magnaox Odyssey could be found in a few homes, most people had much less discretionary income to spend on electronic devices in 1972. After all, archaic video game devices are often considered to be especially nerdy, and nerds had to spend far more on calculators in 1972 than they had to spend on calculators in 1975. In 1972, an HP-35 scientific calculator cost $395 (over $2,400 in 2020); therefore, it is immediately obvious why an engineer from 1972 would consider a 2020 smartwatch and smartphone a steal if they could buy both of them for $250—even if they could only use their accumulated savings from 1972!

Already, therefore, one should see a crucial difference between the Vietnam War and the modern War on Terror. For the majority of the Vietnam War, many scientists and engineers did not have portable electronic devices that they could easily perform trigonometric functions with—they relied on slide rules. Not only is an electronic calculator much more precise than a slide rule, but a modern smartphone can be used in the dark without an external light source! In fact, even the LED camera light on a smartphone would have been extremely useful for military engineers in the Vietnam War.

It is important to remember that a time traveling military engineer from 1972 would not simply save $145 by purchasing a smartphone and smartwatch in 2020—in comparison to what they would have spent on a basic electronic calculator by itself—but this is completely disregarding everything else that they could accomplish with the remainder of the features on a smartwatch and a smartphone in 2020. We haven’t even discussed how beneficial temporary access to the Internet would have been to a military engineer from 1972 who could travel in time to 2020! 

For instance, with this $145 in savings alone, a time traveling military engineer from 1972 could use a mere $40 of such in order to purchase the aforementioned Atari Flashback 9 reproduction systems with 110 built-in Atari 2600 games on Ebay. Of course, the modern Atari Flashback 9 requires the use of an HDMI cable and a television, but an HDMI cable and a 24-inch 720p HD LED TV can be found online in 2020 for around $100. 

Speaking of televisions—in 1972—they were also much more expensive. As an example, a 1972 Emerson Color 18” Model 18cp40WR sold for around $359—adjusted for inflation, this price would be over $2,200 in 2020. Therefore, not only would a 24-inch 720p HD LED TV be a significant upgrade in size and picture quality, but it could actually be thought of as a form of consumer surplus in comparison to what a military engineer might have paid for a portable calculator in 1972!

Nevertheless, before we spend a great deal of time extrapolating the compounded consumer surplus that a time traveling military engineer from 1972 would discover in 2020, it would be better if we at least made it halfway back to the time of WW1, as that is the ultimate point of this discussion.

Chapter Two:

1972 was roughly 48 years ago, which means that it is still closer to the modern world of 2020 than it would have been to the world of WW1. WW1 ended in 1918; therefore, the halfway point of traveling back in time to the end of WW1 would be around 1969.

If pocket calculators seemed expensive in 1972—they were virtually nonexistent in 1969. 

One of the first pocket calculators was the Sharp EL-8; however, it was not released until the start of 1971, and it was unable to perform trigonometric functions. The Sharp EL-8 would be a basic calculator in 2020, which is to say that it could only add, subtract, multiply, and divide figures on an 8-digit display—as opposed to the 15-digit display of the HP-35 scientific calculator from 1972. The Sharp EL-8 was also too bulky to actually fit in one’s pocket; however, it could be held in one’s hand, and it had a rechargeable battery pack. It cost $345 at the time, which would be around $2,200 if adjusted for inflation in 2020.

Nevertheless, basic accounting is important in logistics. 

A Sharp EL-8 would have been useful for bookkeeping purposes in the Vietnam War. A single battalion under the care of a lieutenant colonel contains anywhere from 300-800 men, and over a period of weeks, the amounts of food and ammunition that are required to support such an amount of people become substantial. 

In 1971, an O-5 (lieutenant colonel) made a base salary of $835 a month. Even if the army required its officers to buy their own computing equipment for use in the field, which would have been ridiculous—given what the army spent on other equipment—it’s possible that such an officer might have found the Sharp El-8 to be useful enough to purchase on their own. After all, the base salary of $835 a month was for a relatively inexperienced officer, and they might have been taking educational classes in order to obtain an even higher rank (if they were promoted, they would become a full colonel, which would be in charge of at least 1,000 soldiers: it’s rather common sense that the arithmetic quickly becomes tedious when one is dealing with numerical figures that contain at least four digits). Of course, a basic calculator would have been useful for personal use to begin with—officers in the army still needed to balance their own checkbooks!

Today, a $150 Samsung Galaxy Watch Active can easily function as a basic calculator (this is not a standard application, but it is a simple and free download). Even though it is somewhat more difficult to use the smaller screen of a smartwatch as a calculator, there are many advantages to the basic calculator of a smartwatch in comparison to a Sharp EL-8. Firstly, a smartwatch calculator in 2020 would be less than half the price of the Sharp EL-8. Secondly, a Samsung Galaxy Watch Active is extremely lightweight and can be carried on one’s wrist—it’s not as if one could have carried a rifle and a Sharp El-8 at the same time—it would have been difficult to transport a Sharp El-8 in one’s pocket! Thirdly, even though a Sharp El-8 was portable—its battery pack only lasted around three hours—the battery life of a Samsung Galaxy Watch Active is over two days! Fourthly, it is easier to see the calculator of a Samsung Galaxy Watch Active in poor lighting. Finally, even if someone managed to fit the Sharp El-8 in their pocket, it is doubtful that it would be very water resistant, which is an enormous factor to consider in an environment such as the jungle!

Besides the fact that such factors easily outweigh the one advantage the Sharp EL-8 might have over the calculator on a smartwatch, which is to say that the buttons of a larger calculator are easier to see and push in decent lighting conditions, it is important to remember that a smartphone and a smartwatch in 2020 are cheaper in combination than a Sharp EL-8 would have been alone in 1971! Therefore, not only would a time traveling field officer from 1971 still save around $95 by purchasing a smartwatch and a smartphone in 2020, but they would could now obtain two separate calculators, and each calculator would have its own distinct advantages! This would be a substantial amount of consumer surplus to a field officer from 1971—after all, we are only discussing the calculator functions that are available on smartwatches and smartphones!

In fact, even if one might make the argument that a lieutenant colonel wouldn’t have paid that much money for a calculator in 1971—given the rather large expense and the difficulties it would have posed in the field—it is important to note that the first digital electronic watch (the Pulsar LED) was cutting-edge technology at the time, as it had only been in existence since 1970; however, since it was manufactured with 18-carat gold, it wasn’t exactly cost effective for military use. The first quartz watch hadn’t even been available until 1969, and despite the fact that this invention quickly led the watchmaking world into the period known as the quartz crises, at which point watches would become incredibly affordable and much more accurate—the first quartz watch was hardly affordable at all: in 1969, the Astron wristwatch cost $1,250. It would be a few more years of intense watchmaking before Texas Instruments would create the first affordable digital electronic watch in 1975, which originally sold for $20 (adjusted for inflation, this would be $95 today); therefore, in 1971, it is possible that a field officer wouldn’t have minded paying $150 for an accurate electronic watch—even if it could only digitally display the time and the date in a way could easily be viewed in the dark! 

And yet, despite the fact that the first quartz wristwatch was not released until 1969—this is the year in which we finally reach the halfway point in our journey back in time to the technology of WW1. It is at this point that it becomes fascinating to really examine the consumer surplus that a time traveler from this period would discover if they were able to move forward to 2020. After all, a lieutenant colonel would have found the technology of a simple electronic watch to be even more cutting-edge if they had been living in 1969, rather than 1971; therefore, despite the fact that a dollar was worth more in 1969, it is fair to say that they still might have paid $150 for such a watch! 

Of course, even if one might make the argument that a time traveling field officer from 1969 might not have felt the benefits of such a watch were sufficient enough to justify the expense, it is much more certain that they would have paid $250 for the full benefits of a Samsung Galaxy Watch Active and a Samsung Galaxy A10e 32GB phone—especially if they were able to connect to the Internet of 2020. In some respects, the amount of money that they would have saved with such technology would be absolutely incredible in comparison to what they might have paid in 199!

To begin, social networks would save a time traveler from 1969 an enormous amount of money on personal long-distance phone calls. Around 1969, at best, a three-minute long-distance phone call was around $0.70 during certain hours on the weekend: adjusted for inflation, this would be $4.92 in 2020, which is more than a basic cup of coffee at Starbucks. More importantly, an international phone call was substantially more money in 1969: such a call could have cost $2.43 a minute. Even if a military officer from 1969 only spoke with international friends and family members for ten minutes a month, within a single year, this would have cost them more than a smartwatch and smartphone from 2020! Nevertheless, in 1969, it would have been impossible to see the other person: today, the video capabilities of a smartphone make it possible to view the other person—let alone their environment! 

Once again, the calculators of a smartphone and smartwatch of 2020 would have been an additional bonus beyond the benefits of much cheaper telecommunications. It is important to remember that—even if they had wanted to, and even if they had the money—a lieutenant colonel wouldn’t have been able to pay $345 for a Sharp EL-8 in 1969, as it had not even been released yet! Nevertheless, it is not as if someone is limited to using the basic calculator on a smartphone if they live in 2020—spreadsheets are substantially more powerful for bookkeeping purposes, and basic spreadsheet programs can be accessed for free with a simple Internet connection!

Furthermore, there is plenty of evidence that people were willing to pay $250 in 1969 for entertainment alone. For comparison purposes, a 12” diagonal color television cost around $250 in 1969 (adjusted for inflation, this would be about $1,700.00 in 2020). As explained previously, a 24-inch 720p HD LED TV can be found for around $100 in 2020, and an HD Digital TV Antenna can be found online for around $20. Not only does an HD Digital TV antenna substantially improve the quality of television channels, but this means that a time traveler from 1969 would save $130 by using their savings from the past by purchasing a television in 2020. Therefore, if a time traveler from 1969 placed the $130 in entertainment savings towards a $250 investment in a smartwatch and smartphone from 2020, their total additional cost would only be $120—in exchange for a substantially improved television, a smartwatch, and a smartphone in 2020!

There are other factors to consider as well. It is important to note that VCR players were not available until 1972—at that time, a Cartrivision system cost $1,350, which would be equivalent to over $8,000 when adjusted for inflation in 2020. It is easy to see why home video players were uneconomical in the past: the average movie ticket was reasonably priced at $1.42 in 1969, which would be about $9.99 when adjusted for inflation in 2020. Today, however, a Blu-ray/DVD player can be purchased for around $70, and used Blu-ray movies from 1969, such as True Grit, can be found online for around $6.00. Therefore, even if we do not adjust for inflation, for a family of four, it is nearly the same price to buy a Blu-Ray movie as it would have been to purchase each family member a one-time movie ticket in 1969. Obviously, it is also possible to rent Blu Ray movies for around $2.00, which means that it is even cheaper for a couple to watch a movie multiple times at home for less money than a movie ticket might have cost them in 1969. In fact, many public libraries offer DVD rentals for free, which easily covers the $70 fixed cost of a Blu-ray/DVD player.

It’s actually surprising how well films from 1969 have held up in value in comparison to the devices that they are viewed on—it’s even more surprising how well they have held up in value when one considers the relatively insignificant modern price of cameras in 2020—let alone the digital equivalent of “film”. The most basic Kodak M12 movie camera (super 8mm) cost around $30 in 1969—an inflation-adjusted equivalent of over $200 in 2020; however, if someone desired a 1.9 zoom lens that created a sharper and brighter image, the M20 model sold for $100—an inflation-adjusted equivalent of over $700 in 2020. Furthermore, to view the film in 1969, one often paid $60 for a projector—an inflation-adjusted equivalent of over $400 in 2020. It is also important to note that the film cartridges for these devices, which were purchased separately, could only film approximately 2.5 minutes at 24 frames per second—once this was done, it cost even more money to process the film!

Even though this type of movie quality might appear nostalgic and artsy in 2020—it’s also rather grainy and unfocused in comparison to what can be shot on a budget smartphone in 2020. In many ways, a modern budget camera on a Samsung Galaxy A10 has more capabilities than the upgraded Kodak M20 model that sold for $100 in 1969. Not only is the image quality of the camera on a Samsung Galaxy A10 superior in some respects, but more importantly, the footage can be instantly reviewed, and it does not cost anything to delete and reshoot scenes! Furthermore, it is phenomenally easier to edit digital movie footage that is taken from a smartphone than it would have been to edit film in 1969! Also, a smartphone can instantly share videos on the Internet in a way that was completely unavailable in 1969. And since we have already established that a time traveler from 1969 could buy a Samsung Galaxy A10 for less than the price of a simple wristwatch in 1969, it is therefore fair to say that a time traveler from that era could own a much better movie-making device than they likely owned in 1969—without particularly meaning to buy one!

It is also important to note that a budget laptop in 2020 would only further multiply the benefits of a smartwatch, a smartphone, and even a television to a time traveler from 1969, and that such a laptop would be affordable with the camera savings of a time traveler from 1969. After all, in 1969, a portable typewriter alone cost around $50 (adjusted for inflation, this is $350 in 2020). Let us say that the time traveler from 1969 took the $100 that they would have spent on a Kodak Instamatic M0, the $60 that they would have spent on a super 8 mm film projector, plus the $50 that they might have spent on a portable typewriter—and that they put this $210 towards a used laptop computer that could be found on Ebay in 2020

A fairly used HP ProBook 745 G2 can be found for around $155 in 2020—with free shipping. 

The first benefit that such a laptop brings to the table is a large amount of storage space: such a laptop should contain a 128 gb SSD, which is about four times more space than a Samsung Galaxy A10e. Nevertheless, even though an enormous amount of video footage could be stored on a 128 GB hard drive—in comparison to 8 mm film in 1969—the storage space on a laptop can be massively expanded. A 1,000 GB (1 TB) external hard drive can be purchased for around $50, which could hold an unimaginable amount of video footage in comparison to what could be held on 8mm film in 1969—it would also provide a way for the most important footage to be backed up and kept in a safe place! Furthermore, not only does a laptop provide a way for a movie maker to store a massive amount of footage in comparison to what might have been available in 1969, but this footage can easily be organized in digital folders—and it is easily accessible. Not only this, but a simple HDMI cable could hook a laptop up to the 24-inch 720p HD LED TV that was mentioned earlier—and this is far easier than setting up a projector—especially in various lighting conditions!

Even then, we are only beginning to discuss the benefits of a portable laptop.

After all, a script is obviously necessary in order to create a great movie.

In 2020, one can easily download free office productivity software, such as LibreOffice 6.4: one of the programs in this software package is an extremely advanced word processing program—especially in comparison to what was available in 1969. In 1969, it would have been necessary to create an outline before one began typing up a lengthy document, as a great amount of planning was necessary before a serious amount of typing occurred. Even then—assuming one had their thoughts in order--one needed to be careful when typing, as it was rather difficult to edit a typed document. On a word processing program, however, it is phenomenally easy to edit documents; therefore, an outline itself can be transformed into becoming the main document! This is not to mention the fact that minor edits can be made so quickly and easily that typos are now practically irrelevant—as long as they are spotted; however, it is also much easier to spot typos, thanks to spell-checking programs!

Furthermore, LibreOffice 6.4 contains a presentation program that is similar to Microsoft Powerpoint—in 2020, this can be used to create storyboards much more quickly and professionally than would have been available to an amateur filmmaker in 1969. For instance, a paper medium was often used for a storyboard in 1969, which meant that one had to acquire paper first—let alone physical writing utensils: pencils, markers, etc. Even though these methods still offer certain stylistic and artistic advantages in 2020--if one wishes to use a physical medium in order to draw a storyboard by hand, a smartphone camera can easily digitize the image today, which can thereafter be easily organized in the form of a digital slide show. In any case, stylistic considerations aside, from the standpoint of the need for purely functional labels (such as scene one, scene two, etc.), a laptop keyboard and mouse can create utilitarian indicators much easier than writing utensils could have in 1969. It would have been especially difficult for an amateur movie maker in the past to instantly resize physical images to fit onto a fixed paper medium size, despite the fact that this feat is easily accomplished on free presentation software in 2020.

Also, a basic slide projector in 1969 was $60.00—an inflation adjusted equivalent of over $400 in 2020—which would have been an additional cost beyond an 8mm film projector, as slides are a completely separate format. For the same cost of a slide projector from 1969 (we are not even going to account for the time and money that a time traveler from 1969 might have been spent acquiring paper and drawing materials, especially once these amounts are adjusted for inflation), a digital drawing tablet can be purchased on Ebay in 2020, such as a used $60 Wacom Intous model.

With a digital drawing tablet in hand, the advantages of a laptop become even greater in 2020—not only for storyboard creation—but for drawing in general! It is important to realize that there is freely available, yet powerful graphics editing software in 2020, such as GIMP 2.1. With this type of software—and a drawing tablet-- it can be much easier to create a physical drawing than would be possible with physical materials. 

To begin, it is much simpler to undo digital mistakes. It is also far easier to select various brush sizes and colors than it is to try and find a writing utensil of a certain size—let alone of a certain color. Digital layers can be created and deleted with software, and large digital areas can be filled with color with only a simple click—in fact, the entire background of an image can instantly become a desired color! External images can easily be imported, resized, rotated, cropped—and even digitally transformed with the algorithm of a sophisticated digital filter! 

And yet, as far as the particular creation of a storyboard is concerned, it is important to note that a storyboard isn’t meant to be a complete work of art! Generally speaking, a storyboard is a means to an end; therefore, it is certainly fair to say that a drawing tablet and freely available graphic-editing software from 2020 would present a time traveler from 1969 with substantial advantages in regards to storyboard creation in and of itself! 

We could continue to discuss the advantages of using technology in 2020 in order to create scripts, storyboards, and physical drawings—let alone entire movies—in comparison to what was required in 1969; however, once again, that is not the main point of this discussion. 1969 was simply the halfway point in order for us to somewhat understand the relative lack of technology that was present in WW1: even though it would be possible to write volumes on the advantages of the technology of 2020 in comparison with that of 1969, it is much more practical to summarize some of the major breakthroughs for our purposes herein.

After all, the 1960s are often thought of as a time of phenomenal artistic and technological revolution, which means that it is possible to write volumes about the amount of change that occurred within this decade alone! This entire book is more of a short summary of a century, and therefore, for now, it makes more sense to provide a broad perspective of the exponential changes that have taken place since 1918. Therefore, let us not spend too much time discussing how much technology has changed since the end of the 1960s, even though far more could be said.

Instead, let us simply move back in time to 1965.

At this point, the Vietnam War seemed winnable. On March 8th, 1965, 3,500 marines were deployed to secure a U.S. airbase in the country. Officially speaking, these were the first American combat troops on the ground. Yet, at that stage in history, the technology that was available to them was even more primitive than it would have been by 1969!

A relatively affordable 21-inch color television from Sears cost $288 in 1969: this was at a time when the minimum wage was only $1.25 an hour! Adjusted for inflation, such a basic color television would have cost over $2,300.00 in 2020! Nevertheless, by July 1st, 3,600,000 households had access to a color television in the United States.

Despite such a large number of televisions, even though the color television revolution would begin in 1965—it is important to keep in mind that many television shows were still in black and white at the beginning of the year. In June of 1965, 50% of the shows available on CBS were still in black and white, and only 33% of the shows available on ABC were in color! The majority of the shows on NBC were in color by 1965; nevertheless, even two popular shows on NBC were still aired in black and white (I Dream of Jeannie, and Convoy). Therefore, if a time traveling US marine from 1965 landed in the year 2020--rather than in Vietnam--they would have been even more astounded at modern television than a time traveling lieutenant colonel from 1969 might have been!

One of the lowest paid enlisted ranks in the military—an E-1 with under 2 years of service—only made $93.90 a month by September 1st of 1965. In 2020, an E-1 with under 2 years of services makes $1,732.94 a month. For the sake of argument, let us say that a basic solider only has 10% of their gross income available as discretionary income, as “necessities” might mean different things to different people. Let us also say that a basic soldier is never promoted—even though this would be incredibly harsh for a solider. As harsh as this may seem—it would be far more harsh for a soldier living in 1965. In other words, let us say that a basic solider from 1965 would only have around $9.40 a month to spend on entertainment—versus $173 a month for a basic solider in 2020.

In times of war, time is of the essence, and an LG Rebel 4 is able to keep track of time in miraculous ways in comparison to what was available in 1965. 

After a single month, a solider from 1965 could afford a basic alarm clock with their relatively small amount of discretionary income: a Westclox alarm clock from 1965 cost $5.98. 

After a single month, a basic soldier in 2020 could buy a smartphone with their discretionary income. In fact, there are even cheaper smartphones on the market than the Samsung Galaxy A10e, and the author of this document happens to own one: in 2020, an LG Rebel 4 with 16 GB of storage can be purchased—brand new—for only $40!

The alarm clock on an LG Rebel 4 is much better than what was available on a Westclox alarm clock from 1965. Whereas one alarm at any given time might have been possible from a mechanical alarm clock, a basic solider can easily set multiple alarm times on an LG Rebel 4—and these alarms can even be set to repeat on specific days throughout the week! Yet, the alarm clock feature on an LG Rebel 4 is even more useful than a basic bedroom alarm clock in other ways! 

For one, a smartphone is easily portable, and one does not even need to remember to constantly wind it up in order to maintain the time! As discussed previously, a quartz watch was not available until 1969; therefore, the digital clock and battery of an LG Rebel 4 would be incredibly useful to a basic solider in that time period, as it takes less effort to plug an LG Rebel 4 into a power source than it would have to regularly wind a mechanical watch. In fact, there were electric watches that did not need to be wound in 1965; however, they were not as accurate as a digital watch, and they were rather expensive: a popular Timex electric watch in 1965 cost $39.95 (over $320 in 2020, once adjusted for inflation)--certainly, a basic soldier could not have afforded a Timex electric watch with only 10% of a single month’s gross income.

Furthermore, it is incredibly easier to use the digital timer and stopwatch features on a basic smartphone than it would have been to use a mechanical watch for such purposes in 1965.

Yet, not only is an LG Rebel 4 an extremely useful and portable time-keeping device, but it is important to remember that an LG Rebel 4 can do far more than make noise at any given time—it is even possible to display an extensive message on a smartphone along with an alarm!  Furthermore, these reminders can be set for days, weeks, months—and even years in advance! In this regard, the LG Rebel 4 functions as an extremely sophisticated appointment book and planner! However, unlike a traditional planner, an LG Rebel 4 contains a practically unlimited amount of “pages”: it has an enormous amount of storage space for simple text entry, and older messages can even be deleted with ease. In order for someone to reuse a planner, they would need to constantly keep track of a sharpened pencil and eraser—and it would take a great amount of time in order to erase what was written, which wouldn’t be a great idea, as pencil markings on paper are particularly prone to smudging. Paper is also problematic in humid environments—even though the LG Rebel 4 is not marketed as a water-resistant device. it is substantially more water resistant and durable than paper!

Also, in order to write on a physical notepad—especially when on the move—two hands are often required. Not only is there an audio recorder on an LG Rebel 4, but an audio recording can even be used along with an alarm for a future reminder! A photo can also be taken with the camera on the LG Rebel 4, which can also be inserted as a future reminder with an alarm! It’s not necessary to write down the amounts of bills that might be received in the mail—much less notifications about upcoming events that might be posted on a wall—a quick photo is all that is necessary with a basic smartphone.

The contacts list on an LG Rebel 4 would have also been extremely better than what might have been possible with an organizer from 1965. On a smartphone, contacts are grouped alphabetically—and automatically—when they are entered, and one can simply type the first few letters of a name into a search bar in order to locate the individual. There is also an easy way to enter an individual’s email address in a smartphone, despite the fact that email would not have even been available as an option in 1965. It is not necessary to have cellular service in order for these features to be incredibly useful!

And yet, a basic smartphone provides even greater benefits!

Obviously, if a basic solider from 1965 only possessed $9.40 of a month’s worth of discretionary income, they wouldn’t have been able to immediately afford the most basic Super 8mm camera that was available at the time; however, even the video camera on an LG Rebel 4 is superior to a Kodak M12—in most respects. Firstly, the camera on an LG Rebel 4 can shoot a video at 30 frames per second—a Super 8mm film could only record footage at 24 frames per second. Secondly, despite the fact that a Kodak M12 recorded videos at a slower speed, it could only record a scene for 2.5 minutes before the film cartridge needed to be replaced; conversely, the camera of an LG Rebel 4 can record a substantially longer 9 minute scene, and there would still be plenty of storage space available for other needs! Thirdly, the footage of an LG Rebel 4 can be watched instantaneously, and the much lengthier scenes can be retaken numerous times, if necessary, as it is easy to delete unwanted footage at no extra charge. Fourthly, the LG Rebel 4 camera has zoom capabilities, and the brightness can be adjusted, which was not possible with the very basic Kodak M12—an LG Rebel 4 also has a flash light that can be turned on incredibly easily. Finally, it is important to remember that Super 8mm film was unable to record sound in 1965, which means that an LG Rebel 4 video camera is substantially more useful for creating certain types of material on its own—such as an instruction video! 

And yet, we still are not done explaining the benefits of a smartphone!

As was explained during the discussion of the early 1970s—since basic electronic calculators (let alone scientific calculators) did not exist in 1965, the calculator application on an LG Rebel 4 would have made a basic soldier from that time period incredibly useful to their commanding officer. This would have been especially true if the solider was part of an artillery brigade, as trigonometry is an extremely useful subject for calculating the range of projectiles, and as the precision of an electronic calculator would have made a substantial difference when estimating long ranges. 

In fact, before scientific calculators were portable, they were even more expensive! The first electronic calculator with scientific functions was the Hewlett-Packard 9100A. Nevertheless, the Hewlett-Packard 9100A was more of a programmable calculator than a basic scientific calculator in and of itself; however, since there was nothing more basic that was available at the time, it was the bare minimum cost that was required in order to electronically calculate trigonometric functions. In fact, even this machine was unavailable in 1965, as it was not released until 1968! However, even by 1968, despite the fact that computers had become cheaper than they were in 1965, this original “scientific calculator” cost $5,000 (adjusted for inflation, this amount is equal to $37,000 in 2020)!

And yet, we still aren’t done explaining the benefits of a simple $40 smartphone in 2020 in comparison to what would have been available to a basic soldier after a month in 1965!

After all, we haven’t even begun discussing the Internet of 2020!

An advertisement from the Bell System in 1965 states, “For only $12, plus tax, for the first three minutes, you can call almost anywhere in the world.”

Adjusted for inflation, an international call from 1965 is equivalent to $98 in 2020!

It’s rather obvious that a basic solider in the US military wouldn’t have been speaking over the phone with their friends and family members very often—if at all—in 1965; today, however, it’s free to speak with international friends on social networks from a local library. If traveling to a local library seems inconvenient, once again, a cup of coffee in 2020 isn’t $12—let alone $98! 

And it is not as if extremely cheap international voice communication is the only function of the Internet in 2020! Once again, black-and-white television was still fairly common near the beginning of 1965; therefore, it is fair to say that the videos on YouTube in 2020 would be unfathomable in comparison to what was available on the airwaves in the middle of the 1960s! In fact, it would have cost a coffee shop owner a substantial amount of money in order for them to display multiple color televisions for guests to watch in 1965, and the sound from the various television sets would have been invasive to the ears of others—unless a coffee shop happened to be rather large; even then—assuming such a coffee shop existed—their selection would have been limited to a few channels.

In any case, Starbucks did not even exist until 1971!

For the sake of argument, however, let us say that a few coffee shops might have existed with a handful of color televisions in 1965, and that they were fairly accessible to a large percentage of the population in 1965. Despite the implausibility of this argument, it is certain that the television programs would not be nearly as educational as YouTube. PBS wasn’t launched until 1969, and whatever is available on a television channel at any given time isn’t necessarily something that one might be interested in learning. Today, for instance, one can simply search for Algebra I videos, and they will likely discover entire channels that are dedicated to mathematics, including the Khan Academy.

The Khan Academy has already grown so much within the past twelve years that the founder has been able to finance his own dedicated website (www.khanacademy.org), and this website allows students to solve an enormous amount of problems after watching videos on a wide range of subjects. The website even keeps track of the progress students have made, and they can earn badges and achievements. In some respects, this is even better than a math book, as it is easier for learners to stay engaged, and as they can ask other users questions when they are confused: it is also cumbersome to haul physical books back and forth. Most importantly, the website is freely available to users!

Nevertheless, the Khan Academy was originally founded when it was even more difficult to create online content than it is today! In fact, there are an unimaginable amount of other educational channels from various YouTube creators in 2020, which are better than the Khan Academy at teaching subjects besides mathematics: for instance, foreign languages are best learned from native speakers. Many native speakers are available on YouTube who are willing to teach Americans the basics of their language—such as Vietnamese. It would have been difficult, if not impossible, for an American in 1965 to learn basic Vietnamese at a small community college—even though the United States was at war with Vietnam! In fact, it can be difficult to enroll in Farsi courses at large community colleges in the United States of 2020—it is even more difficult to find specific courses on Dari and Pashto—despite the fact that the US has been at war in Afghanistan for nearly 20 years! And yet, even though languages are best learned by listening to them over and over again, which YouTube is phenomenal at, it is certainly doubtful that very many basic soldiers from 1965 could have learned basic Vietnamese for free at their local library. After all, compact cassette players had only been introduced in the United States by Philips in November of 1964, and prerecorded music cassettes were not introduced in the United States until 1966—despite the fact that early cassettes were not the high fidelity tapes that were invented in the 1970s. However, even if it had been possible to listen to a tape recording of Vietnamese at a public library in 1965—it helps a great deal to be able to see pictures and actual words on a screen, especially when learning the accents and spellings of words in Vietnamese.

Furthermore, after one understands the basics of a language that they may have briefly studied on YouTube in 2020, they can thereafter use the Internet to find websites in most foreign languages in 2020—including Farsi! This could help someone understand a language far more naturally in 2020 than would have been possible with a simple language dictionary and a fairly limited amount of cassette tapes—at best. What is more, Google translate is also available in 2020, which is far superior to a language dictionary. Even if one might not understand the Persian alphabet in 2020, in order to discover the meanings of words, it is possible to simply copy and paste text into Google translate. It’s even possible to watch the BBC in Farsi in 2020—there is an entire BBC Persian channel that is dedicated to the language. In fact, since it does not cost anything to speak with people internationally, it is even possible to chat with others in their native language for practice—once someone becomes fairly comfortable with the basics. To reiterate, not only is all of this information now available for free at public libraries in 2020, thanks to the widespread use of Wi-Fi, but it is even more conveniently available for the price of a cup of coffee all over America! 

Much more could be said in regards to the potential of the Internet in 2020, but it is important to remember this: up until this point—we have simply been mentioning the benefits of a phone that can be purchased for $40 in 2020! In our example, this was only the amount that has been paid out-of-pocket from a basic soldier’s discretionary income of $173 in 2020, which we derived from 10% of their gross income. In comparison, this was in contrast to the $9.40 amount that might have been available to a basic soldier in 1965. To summarize, we have discussed how a solider from 1965 could barely afford a basic alarm clock with such a small amount of discretionary income at the time, as a Westclox alarm clock from 1965 cost $5.98, whereas we have also discussed the overwhelming amount of benefits a simple $40 LG Rebel 4 phone would bring to a soldier in 2020.

However, this is still only the tip of the iceberg.

At this point, the basic soldier from 1965 would have $3.50 left in discretionary income; the soldier from 2020 would have $133 left in discretionary income. 

Let us say that AT&T gave the soldier from 1965 a military discount, and that they could have purchased residential phone service for $3.50—even though it cost $5.67 for such in 1965: once this was paid for, the soldier from 1965 would have been completely out of discretionary income.

On the other hand, with $133 left in their pocket, a soldier from 2020 could purchase a pay-as-you-go Tracfone plan for $20 a month: this would include unlimited talk & text, 1.0 GB of data at 4G LTE speed, and no contract. It is also important to note that any unused data from such a cellular plan will carryover to the next month—if it is unused. Despite the fact that this type of data plan might seem insufficient to many Americans in 2020, it would be unbelievable to a basic soldier living in 1965!

After all, with only basic residential service at their disposal—even with a military discount—a basic soldier in 1965 would not have been able to make long-distance phone calls! It is also important to realize that a basic solider from 1965 would have needed to be at home in order to use their service!

In contrast, with such a “simple” cellular plan, a basic soldier in 2020 could make unlimited long-distance calls from home—to anywhere within the entire United States—and they would be able use their phone from practically anywhere that is near human civilization!

In fact, as a quick side note, the first cellular phone was not available until 1983 in the United States, and even by then, the device had a talk time of only thirty minutes; it also took ten hours to charge—furthermore, the first cellular phone still cost $3,995, which would have been over $9,900 in 2020 when the price is adjusted for inflation! As far as the cost of the first cellular plan itself was concerned, Ameritech initiated the first commercial cellular service in the U.S. in 1983, which cost $50 a month--plus 40 cents per minute from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and 24 cents per minute off-peak. 

Let us return to our discussion of 1965, however. Even though we have established that a basic soldier at the time could have only dialed local numbers--given the discretionary income parameter that was establish (despite some leniency on the behalf of AT&T)—their situation would be even worse from a technological perspective than it might appear on the surface! 

We have not even discussed the fact that digital voicemail was unavailable in 1965; in fact, even though answering machines were theoretically possible, they were actually discouraged by the phone company, and they would have been extremely expensive for a consumer. We often take the voicemail capabilities of our phone for granted in 2020, as we usually have our phones with us, and as we can easily screen our calls with caller ID. However, as was previously mentioned, a basic soldier from 1965 would have needed to be at home in order for them to be able to answer an incoming call—and they could only hope that it was someone that they actually wanted to talk to! If a basic soldier in 1965 wanted to make an outgoing call while they were away, they would have needed to find a payphone, which would have cost $0.10 for a local call (adjuster for inflation, this would be $0.80 for a single call in 2020); nevertheless, even if they found a payphone, they could only hope that the right person would be available if someone else happened to answer the phone! Of course, a basic soldier from 1965 certainly couldn’t speed dial their contacts by quickly pulling up a name and touching the screen.

Today, not only is it easy to listen to digital voicemail recordings, let alone delete them, but text messages allow us to send and receive messages at times when we aren’t even able to talk on the phone—let alone at times when we aren’t even at home.

Furthermore, even a basic pay-as-you-go data plan includes at least 1 GB of data per month, which accumulates—this could be used in emergency situations when a library or a Starbucks is unavailable to a basic soldier in 2020. 1 GB of data would have been an unbelievable amount of storage in 1965—IBM wouldn’t create a 1 GB hard drive until 1980! A PDF of the entire Bible can be searched for and downloaded by using less than 10 MB of data, or less than 1% of 1 GB. Imagine how long it would take to transmit the Bible by voice transmission over the phone in 1965! It is even possible to download images as part of a PDF: a version of the Bible with over dozens of photographs can be downloaded for under 30 MB. Not only can a picture be worth a thousand words, but in many instances, words might not be enough! 

What is more, when a business is dialed in 2020, it is likely that the employee is using a computer, or that one is nearby. Even generic office software on a budget machine would be enormously powerful in comparison to what was available in 1965; however, many medium-sized businesses that did not exist in 1965 often utilize customized software in 2020! When a large corporation is called in 2020, it is probable that the person on the other line is not really a person, but a machine, as voice recognition software and touch tone phones allow us to accomplish relatively simple matters without ever needing to speak with a live representative. Despite the fact that automated systems might be aggravating, especially when poorly implemented, they allow firms to keep their costs down—this benefits consumers in competitive markets—especially when it is not practical to have maintain live representatives, such as late at night. Of course, all of this is not to mention the fact that many people—and businesses, especially—are able to accomplish matters that would have required a phone call in 1965 over the Internet, which further reduces wait times when representatives are needed in order to assist those who might have trouble accessing a computer. 

And yet, up until this point in our discussion of the differences between what would be available to a basic solider in 1965 versus a basic soldier in 2020, we have not even begun to discuss what else could be done with the remainder of the discretionary income of a soldier from 2020! Thus far, even though the basic soldier from 1965 would be out of a month of discretionary income, we have shown that the basic soldier from 2020 would still have $113 leftover!

With this amount of leftover savings, and some patience, it is possible to purchase an even older laptop than the HP ProBook 745 G2 that was mentioned in an earlier part of this text (that particular laptop cost $155, and it had a 128 GB SSD); however, an even older laptop that might cost $100 could be found on Ebay, such as a Dell E6400, which should contain an 80 GB SATA hard drive. 

Even though this is a seemingly small amount of storage space for a laptop in 2020—despite the fact that SSD storage is also much faster than a SATA hard drive, 80 GB would still be an enormous amount of storage in comparison to how much video footage could be held on 8 mm film—and it would be stupendously faster to access data on a SATA hard drive than it would be to access 8 mm film in 1965. This means that a basic soldier in 2020 could begin shooting an entire full-length motion picture with only a month’s worth of discretionary income in 2020, as they could simply move the video footage from an LG Rebel 4 over to the laptop with a simple USB cable!

A basic soldier in 2020 could easily download LibreOffice 6.4 on a used $100 laptop, as the hardware requirements of LibreOffice 6.4 are incredibly low, which means that a basic soldier in 2020 would also obtain the previously discussed benefits of a word processor for writing a script; furthermore, as discussed, they could immediately create basic storyboards with the presentation program.

And yet, even though a basic soldier in 2020 might not have enough money leftover for a television in 2020, they could watch video on the 14” LCD screen of a $100 laptop. After all, even though a 14” screen is rather small, a laptop is much closer to one’s face than a television would have been in 1965, and in many respects, the image quality is even better on the LCD screen of a used $100 laptop from 2020 than it would have been from a much more expensive television from 1965! Once again, it is important to note that when the Vietnam war began--many shows on television were still in black and white: they were certainly not available in 480P!

Also, a used $100 laptop in 2020 is equipped with a CD/DVD optical drive. Even if a basic soldier in 2020 might not have a desire to create movies, most libraries in 2020 offer free DVD rentals—this would have been astounding to a basic solider at the start of the Vietnam war! It is not as if it is a requirement for people to spend a massive amount of time on the Internet in a public library in 2020, despite the fact that someone from 1965 would have found it to be immensely informative in comparison to other options that were available at the time. 

After all, privacy can be extremely valuable.

In fact, the DVD offerings of public libraries in 2020 are inconceivably larger than the offerings of movie theaters in 1965, despite the fact that many of the movies from this time period are classics. After all, there are plenty of classic movies that would not be released until later years, which have substantially influenced the film industry. Here is a brief list of movies that were not even available in theaters—or anywhere else—in 1965: The Jungle Book (1967); 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968); Planet of the Apes (1968); Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969); Patton (1970); Dirty Harry (1971); Fiddler on the Roof  (1971); The Godfather (1972); The Exorcist (1973); American Graffiti (1973); Blazing Saddles (1974); Jaws (1975); Rocky (1976); Star Wars (1977).

Obviously, it would be far too time consuming to list the incredible amount of movies that are missing from the aforementioned list, but it’s easy to forget how many groundbreaking films have been released since 1965, even though these have substantial influenced on our collective consciousness! These creations inspire us, and they provide us with basic concepts that we are able to use—in order that we might be able to create even more complex films in 2020. 

Of course, there are some antiquarians who might suggest that such an abundance of movies has harmed our imaginations, as people do not read books as often, but it is not as it books have disappeared since 1965—far from it! Even children’s books have become much more widespread. Dr. Seuss published a number of books after 1965—all the way up until 1990. A number of staple children’s books from other authors had not been written by 1965: Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? (1967); The Very Hungry Caterpillar (1969)--every Berenstain Bears book in the series, (except for the first two)—and countless others that are beyond the scope of this discussion. And yet, despite the fact that children’s books are obviously important, as they are the first stepping stones to literacy, it is not as if children have been the only beneficiaries of new literature since 1965. Obviously, the entire Harry Potter series had not been released by 1965. Beyond these, Stephen King’s career had not yet begun in 1965, and Michael Crichton’s was only about to begin. Anne Rice did not see Interview with the Vampire published until 1976. John Gisham’s career began in 1989, and Tom Clancy’s began in 1984. In any case, it is not my intention to list every popular author since 1965, and there are many more books that are not as popular, despite the fact that avid readers might consider them to be superior to some of the works of these authors; however, it would certainly take a basic soldier from 1965 a great amount of time in order for them to catch up to the popular literary culture of 2020, as many of these author’s works have also been released as motion pictures.

Beyond fiction, however, there are numerous historical works of nonfiction that have been published since 1965, which we shall not discuss. It should also be readily apparent that an enormous number of textbooks have been written since 1965, as schools often require students to purchase newer and newer editions: it is arguable that many of these editions only offer incremental improvements, but in any case, even an outdated edition of a calculus textbook in 2020 could be decades ahead of what was available in 1965—despite the fact that many people do not even understand the basics of calculus in 2020—let alone the much more detailed and advanced understanding that a newer edition textbook might teach; therefore, even an older edition of a calculus textbook would be far better than nothing!

Indeed, while we are on the subject of mathematics, textbooks, and literacy in general, it is important to realize that computers have not simply become much more powerful since 1965: numerous programming languages have been created over the past few decades—let alone a much larger amount of books that teach people how to program such computers!

As a matter of fact, the first programming language that was relatively easy for many university students to decipher was Dartmouth BASIC—this is what Microsoft would eventually transform into Microsoft BASIC in 1975; however, by the summer of 1965, only forty simultaneous college students were able to use the Dartmouth Time Sharing System, and since the first version of BASIC was not even running until May 1st of 1964, it is not as if there were a variety of books on Dartmouth BASIC available at most major libraries across the United States a year later—even if someone had been wealthy enough to attend an Ivy League school.

Today, there are a variety of other programming languages available, and many of these have specialized functions, despite the fact that they are relatively simple to learn—even in comparison to Dartmouth BASIC. In fact, a much more advanced and easier to use version of BASIC is still used in 2020 in the form of Visual Basic, and there are an enormous number of books available on the subject.

Recently, Python has become a popular programming language, as it was specifically designed to be as easy to learn as possible: the most recent major revision, Python 3.0, was released in 2008; therefore, even Python 3.0 is far more established than Dartmouth BASIC would have been in 1965—by extension, there are far more books available on Python 3.0 than there would have been on Dartmouth BASIC in 1965.

JavaScript was not available until 1995, which is a language that allows web browsers to be capable of executing far more advanced programming functions than could be provided by HTML and CSS; yet, even HTML was not available until 1993. A basic understanding of HTML would give a basic soldier in 2020 the ability to create their own dedicated website, which would allow them to express themselves and their artistic creations far above and beyond what might be available through a social network alone; yet, these books are easily available in public libraries in 2020!

For relatively advanced computer programmers, C++ is available in 2020; yet, even C++ was not released until 1985, despite the fact that it powers an enormous amount of the software in the modern world. Beyond C++, the C programming language was not available until 1972—a computer programmer that understands the C programming language could help design entire operating systems, despite the fact that it is relatively difficult to learn in comparison to Python—let alone HTML.

Many other programming languages are also available in 2020; however, they are beyond this discussion, as the few that have been mentioned are simply some of the most popular.

In any case, thanks to computers, it is now much easier to locate books at a public library than it would have been to use a catalog system in 1965—especially given the much larger number of books that are now available, which include computer programming books! In fact, a basic soldier in 2020 does not even have to be at a library in order to browse what might be available for them to pick up: most public libraries in 2020 maintain substantial online catalogs, which provide a list of the materials that might be available for massive library districts—let alone those at a local branch! Even if a basic soldier in 2020 does not have Internet access at home, they could easily view such a catalog at Starbucks. What is more, most public libraries even have eBooks available, which means that it might not even be necessary for a basic soldier in 2020 to travel to their local library in order for them to freely access an entire book on a specific subject—they could simply visit their closest Starbucks! 

For comparison, in 1965, if someone wanted to see whether or not a book was available, their only option might have to call the library and ask; however, this would have put an incredible strain on the human resources of the library—if it was even possible. In fact, human labor is not even required in order for someone to check out books in 2020—as automated checkout is now available! Thanks to computers, libraries have far more money to spend on actual materials for their patrons!

In any case, let us return to the main point of our discussion. This work is not about the differences in technology between 1965 and 2020. We could continue to discuss the massive differences between 1965 and 2020, even though we have already covered this year more than prior historical years thus far. It is difficult to fathom exactly how much the world has changed since 1965; nevertheless, 1965 was only the halfway point of the very important decade of the 1960s!

Chapter Three:

As primitive as the technology of 1965 might seem to an individual in 2020—the world of 1960 was even less sophisticated!

In just five years further back in time from 1965, even university students at top engineering schools were barely be able to use computers—much less the general student population of Ivy League Schools! The PDP-1 is often credited as being the machine that inspired the hacker culture at MIT; however, it was not available for use at MIT until 1961. The first video game that was played at multiple computer locations—Spacewar!—was developed on the PDP-1 computer; nevertheless, this game would not be released until 1962. The PDP-1’s computing power was roughly equivalent to a 1996 pocket organizer, with slightly less memory; therefore, it is fair to say that a basic soldier in 2020 would possess significantly more computing power in their pocket with only a month’s worth of discretionary income than what was available to engineering students at one of the most prestigious electrical engineering schools of America in 1960!

Also, besides the lack of computing hardware in 1960, it is important to remember that Dartmouth BASIC wouldn’t have been available, either. The most cutting-edge programming language at the time was possibly COBOL, as it was not released until 1959. Nevertheless, COBOL is rather notorious in the programming community as being a language that is to decipher and rather archaic to use—it is often a chore to find programmers in 2020 who are able to use COBOL fairly well. With that being said, it is certainly easier to learn COBOL in 2020 than it would have been to learn it in 1960! It is not as if there would have been a large textbook market available for COBOL students at the time—let alone an enormous amount of programs with documentation that were available for use as examples. In fact, the COBOL language was far more difficult to use in 1960 than it would be by 1965: a significant amount of work was required before the language could be interpreted unambiguously—at least in comparison to the ambiguity that would existed in 1960! 

In fact, given the lack of programming languages that were available in 1960, it shouldn’t be surprising that it was not even possible to earn a degree in computer science at the time. The first computer science department in the United States wouldn’t be formed at Purdue until 1962; therefore, if there would have been a lack of computer programming books in 1965—it is fair to say that the shortage would have been far more extreme in 1960, and that is is highly doubtful that the vast majority of public libraries had much information on the subject that far back in time!

Indeed, let us return to the subject of libraries, as movies are a relatively popular subject in comparison to computer programming. It is important to note that most public libraries of 2020 hold even more important films in comparison to 1960 than they hold in comparison to 1965! In fact, some of the most iconic films in theatrical history were released shortly after 1960: West Side Story (1961); One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961); Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961); Dr. No (1962); The Longest Day (1962); To Kill a Mockingbird (1962); Cleopatra (1963); The Sword in the Stone (1963); Goldfinger (1964); From Russia With Love (1964).

In fact, although far more movies than this released in the early 1960s, it is important to note the James Bond movies in particular, which is why the list contains a relatively heavy emphasis on such films: these movies are often critically acclaimed to be some of the best James Bond movies of all time. Not only did these movies change the film industry, but they stimulated our collective imagination in a way that we have become fascinated with the potential of militaristic intelligence, technology, and above all—individuality.

Indeed, the most critically important device that James Bond often relies on is his sophisticated watch—despite the fact that smartwatches are relatively recent technology. It is doubtful that anyone in 1960 would have imagined James Bond with the type of smartwatch that a basic soldier in 2020 could have at their disposal with only a month’s worth of discretionary income. 

In fact, since the composition of this work was begun a few weeks ago, the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active that was recently $150 has now dropped in price to $120 on Amazon. 

Technology has already changed since this brief analysis began!

It is now possible to say that after a single month on the job, a basic soldier in 2020 could purchase a decent smartwatch and a compatible smartphone with only 10% of their gross income! As a result of this fact, we can even say that when James Bond was first conceived as a possible film around 1960 (Dr. No is based on a book from 1958)--MIT had a less powerful computer available for their top engineering students at the time than a basic soldier from 2020 could easily have on their wrist (let alone in their pocket)! After all, the PDP-1 had computing power roughly equivalent to a 1996 pocket organizer, and a little less memory—this is much less computational power and storage capability than what is available in a Samsung Galaxy Watch Active on its own!

Of course, if a smartwatch by itself would have seemed extraordinary in 1960, the multiplier effect of a smartwatch—connected with a smartphone—connected to the Internet of 2020 would have seemed even more extraordinary! 

After all, even color television was uncommon in 1960! In fact, if there had been color television broadcasts in 1960, only 500,000 Americans owned color televisions by the time of the conception of the original James Bond. 

It certainly would not have been easy to watch color television at a coffee shop in 1960—let alone at a public library. In fact, it is important to realize that the actual number of public library locations that are available in the United States is far higher in 2020 than in 1960. 

For instance, it is fair to say that James Bond is often associated with casinos; however, if he had visited the Las Vegas of 1960, the number of libraries that would have been available to him would have been abysmally small.

The Lied Library at UNLV was not opened until 2001, which was well after 1960; yet, it contains more than one million volumes, and over 250 computers that students may access—in addition to being part of the campus wireless network. Obviously, given the state of technology at MIT in 1960, this library would have seemed unimaginable to the original James Bond. Furthermore, UNLV has a well established Department of Computer Science, and additional computer labs are available for students (according to their website, UNLV maintains a total of 50 computer labs—with around 1,500 computers that are available for academic use).

Beyond this, since 1960, the public library system of Las Vegas has exploded in size—as has the city in general. For instance, libraries often require librarians to manage them, and librarians often possess a graduate degree from a university: the first group of students with master’s degrees from UNLV did not exist until 1967, and some of the oldest branches of the Las Vegas–Clark County Library District were not built until 1967; therefore, it is fair to say that it would have even been difficult to find the relatively few books that were available at the time in the Las Vegas of 1960.

And yet, not only do the many branches of the Las Vegas–Clark County Library District offer DVDs for rent in 2020—in addition to many books that were unavailable in 1960—but furthermore, despite the fact that music has hardly been mentioned up until this point, it is also important to note that the Las Vegas–Clark County Library District provides its patrons with an option to download 13 million songs in 2020, including Sony Music’s catalog of legendary artists. The Beatles had not even released their first album by 1960—that would not occur until 1963; therefore, it is far to say that the music selection of the Las Vegas–Clark County Library District in 2020 is even more substantial than anything that was available in London in 1960—despite the fact that music is especially prone to antiquarian tendencies, as there are still advantages to vinyl records in 2020.

This comparison of the world of 1960 to the present world would seem surreal enough if we ended the discussion here, but there is still much more to consider! Even though libraries are much more abundant in 2020—it also much easier to travel by automobile in 2020 than it would have been in 1960. Certainly, it is far easier to travel to Las Vegas in 2020 than it would have been in 1960!

I-15 was conceived shortly before 1960; however, it was not actually constructed by then. Besides the fact that I-15 itself did not exist in 1960, the service establishments along the older U.S Route 91 were extremely minimal by comparison. To reiterate, it would not have been possible to stop at Starbucks in order to use Wi-Fi in 1960, which is even more useful on a long-distance trip. Furthermore, a substantial number of other restaurant chains and rest facilities would have also been unavailable at the time. For instance, Taco Bell was not established until 1962; yet, many of their restaurants also offer Wi-Fi on the route from Los Angeles to Las Vegas in 2020! Of course, Wi-Fi isn’t the only factor to consider when making a decision on where on may wish to eat and relax, but one of the biggest competitors to Taco Bell—Del Taco—did not exist until 1964! Beyond the many other dining establishments that must be overlooked in this analysis, in order to save time, it is also important to note that an enormous number of auto repair shops and towing services that exist along I-15 in 2020 would have unavailable to assist travelers from Los Angeles to Las Vegas in 1960.

Not only is it faster, much more comfortable, and far more convenient to travel from Los Angeles to Las Vegas in 2020 on the road than it would have been in 1960, but it is certainly safer. Unsafe at Any Speed would not be published until 1965, which revolutionized automobile safety: in fact, a three-point seat belt was not even available as an option in new vehicles until Volvo introduced them in 1959, which means that most used cars on the road in 1960 did not contain such a critical safety feature at the time—that’s without mentioning the fact that airbags were entirely absent in vehicles until the 1970s! It is also worth mentioning that ABS brakes have drastically improved over the years, and they are now a standard safety feature on new vehicles in the United States—let alone on many used cars in 2020! Today, newer vehicles are equipped with radar, and some of the most advanced vehicles on the road in 2020 are even armed with a basic form of artificial intelligence!

Beyond the Interstate, it is even easier to travel to Las Vegas in 2020 by air!

The Boeing 707 was the first widespread jet that is often credited with initiating the Jet Age; however, under 200 planes had been delivered by 1960, and this particular aircraft had only begun commercial service near the end of 1958. Today, over 1,000 Boeing Dreamliners have been delivered, which are much more fuel efficient and comfortable—especially in combination with the enormous improvements in modern airports! In comparison to a Boeing 707, a Boeing Dreamliner has over twice the range. In fact, the initial Boeing 707-120 could only fly 2,800 nmi, despite the fact that this would be improved with the release of the 720B version, which could fly 3,200; however, the more advnaced Boeing 707 would not enter service until 1961. Today, a Boeing 787-9 has a range of 7,635 miles, and it has been available for commercial services since 2014. It is also important to note that a Boeing 87-9 can carry 280 passengers, versus 189 passengers for the older 707-120.

Even the economical and shorter-range Boeing 737 MAX has a greater range (3,515 miles) than the original Boeing 707. It is also important to realize that even though the Boeing 737 MAX seems dangerous, it is a relatively new plane; however, over twice as many Boeing 737 MAX jets have been delivered than the amount of Boeing 707 airliners in service in 1960, and many of the safety issues are being resolved. As a matter of fact, despite the much larger amount of commercial jet aircraft that are available today, the overall number of plane crashes per year has significantly decreased: it is ironic, but part of the reason why commercial airline failures seem so shocking in 2020 is because they are relatively rare in comparison to 1960! 75 airlines crashed in 1960, which resulted in 1,484 fatalities: in 2019, 23 airlines crashed, which resulted in 288 fatalities. 

One of the biggest differences between 1960 and 2020, however, isn’t technological. Obviously, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 had not been passed by 1960, and the Civil Rights Act of 1960 was a brand new idea. More importantly than legislation, however, is the fact that six decades have passed since minorities were granted many more seats at the bargaining table. Multiple generations of minorities have now been able to attend public schools, and it has been proven that it is even possible for a member of a minority to become the President of the United States! Even though it could certainly be said that minorities do not possess equal economic opportunities in 2020, it is also fair to say that the opportunities that are available to minorities in 2020 are substantially greater than they were in 1960!

Nevertheless, despite the fact that much more could be said about the political, economical, and technological advantages of 2020 in comparison to 1960, let us not forget that this entire discussion is not about a comparison of 2020 with 1960—it is a comparison of the modern War on Terror versus WW1. In fact, even though the 1960s were an extremely important decade, it is arguable that many other decades since WW1 have significantly propelled the country forward just as significantly.

Certainly, an enormous amount of change also occurred in the 1950s.

Let us travel another five years backwards in time from 1960.

Before the PDP-1, a far more massive machine existed at MIT: the Whirlwind 1. This machine took up 3,300 square feet of space, as it used vacuum tubes, rather than transistors. Nevertheless, despite the fact that the Whirlwind 1 took up far more space than the PDP-1, it was also somewhat slower—to top it off, it was much more difficult to program. In fact, even though the Whirlwind 1 had been in operation at MIT since 1951, there was not a permanent set of instructions on how the computer should operate—until the Director tape was developed in 1955: this is considered to be the primordial ancestor of operating systems. Interestingly enough, the predecessor to the PDP-1, the TX-O, was basically a transistorized version of the Whirlwind 1; however, even the TX-O would not be loaned to the MIT Research Laboratory of Electronics until 1958, which is where the relative accessibility of the machine would finally help promote “hacker” culture among a wider audience.

Of course, if it was difficult to access and program computers at MIT in 1955, it would have been even more difficult for the remainder of the general public. After all, despite the high cost of hardware at the time—even in comparison to 1960—it is important to remember that the COBOL programming language would have been entirely absent. For that matter, the first high-level programming language, Fortran, was still in early development—the basic manual for Fortran would not appear until 1956. The advantages that Fortran would bring to the table were significant: it reduced the number of statements that were necessary to operate a machine by a factor of 20. Surprisingly, specialized versions of Fortran are still in use today, as it can be an extremely efficient language when high computing performance is required for scientific endeavors, despite the fact that this type of programming is relatively difficult to learn—especially in comparison to a language such as Python.