Old Tech, as called by people of the Traction Era, refer to technology used before the Sixty Minute War, especially by the Ancients. Most technology seen throughout the quartet is significantly less advanced than that of old tech, and therefore most people of the traction era have no idea how most of the scavenged old tech is operated. It is mostly seen in a partially degraded state ever since the Sixty Minute War destroyed most scientific and technical knowledge of its operation, and then buried in the ground.
Tin Foil (presumably gifted to the 'Consumer Gods' - not a very good impression of ancient consumerism in the Traction Era.
If not looted for historical artifacts already, rubbish bins and tips were also seen as religious ritual centers, also presumably giving the rubbish to these 'gods'. This theory is also completely false from an Ancient point of view.
Skyscrapers (possible existence was put forward by Nimrod Pennyroyal in a story about the Dead Continent, in twisted, rusted girders and ancient concrete rocks. Later also seen in an ancient recording of the Sixty Minute War, specifically on San Francisco. Their glass curtain walls can also be clearly seen on the front plates of traction London.)
Oil platforms (used as watchtowers in the FUel Country, but their role was later taken over by Oil-Drilling Cities.
MEDUSA - a large weapon used in the sixty minute war by the Americans. Later rebuilt by Magnus Crome in St Paul's Cathedral to destroy all the traction cities (and more obstacles) that stood in London's way. This weapon self-destructed due to an energy overload/incorrect input.
Slow Bombs: rocket-boosted asteroids, some were clearly used to bomb South America - evident by the craters in Nuevo Maya. One strike made a crater in the Alps as well. The nuclear strikes ended up fusing vast land masses into Blast-Glass.
Chemicals - According to a debunked story written by Professor Nimrod Pennyroyal, the bombed area of New York had nearby poisoned pools, either from Old-Tech chemical/s or algae blooms in crater lakes.
Computer Keyboards (mistaken for tiles or static words by Fever Crumb, before she presses the keys HELLO, in that order. Later also seen scrapped and reused by Tom Natsworthy for the MEDUSA control systems as well.)
Computer Screens (found under pre-traction London, also encountered in plentiful numbers by Fever Crumb. Later equivalents included Goggle Screens, with a similar function but different shape, and far worse resolution. They were also known as 'fools mirrors', before being found out as windows and then electronic screen displays.)
Other screen devices (film only), including: phones, televisions and laptops. (See the 'Hall of Ancient Technology' clip linked.) There was also some Old-Tech pictured in the Traction Codex, but it was slightly different. (see below gallery.)
Much of these electronic devices are dismissed (or worn as) as useless jewelry (for example, today's 'brick phones' - early 2000s mobiles), not knowing how they work.
Some functions (whether it be their ideas or operation,) were known to have survived, such as the 'set-a-light' (satellite) dishes still being known to transmit homing beacons, similar to ODIN's control, or current radio communications for airships.
Other computer parts are seen scrapped, including processor and memory chips, circuit boards, and other pieces. They were seen so damaged or clogged that nobody knew how to fix or operate them. According to IWOME:
the Ancients somehow stored all their books, letters and other information inside their machines, and that their knowledge was lost with them when their civilization fell.
Books and other recordings (somehow surviving the Black Centuries - Ancient film, before the creation of video was also mentioned in the Traction Codex/IWOME, possibly depicting classic sci-fi films (the Ancients are shown to use powerful energy weapons, similar to thesuperweapons seen in the series.).
'Eye-Pods' (really I-Pods - they stored hundreds or thousands of songs on 'tiny little gramophone records' - possibly a small electronic part?)
Several pieces of electronic technology common throughout the 21st century (pre-tractionism). From left to right: 'set-a-light' (satellite) dishes, 'fools' mirrors' (computer screens), 'seedies' (CD's), and 'ancient celluloid' (film reels).
The Tin Book of Anchorage was made of TIn due to the scarcity of paper in the Black Centuries. However, canned tins were popular, and were stamped into sheets to be etched with the words and binded.
Vehicles[]
Vehicles, although not really seen (and rarely even mentioned), could count as Old-Tech.
Wheeled vehicles[]
cars and trains were once considered hybrid settlements - a 'strange cross' between a Traction City and a Static Settlement. The trains especially, were mistaken to be entire suburbs on rails.
This insight may be either from the way they start and stop, or when people get in and out, despite them moving on special paths (roads and tracks, of course,) between static buildings.
Trains were re-invented in India to carry people around (similar to the Traction Fortress), between stations (like their Ancient counterparts. It was short-lived, however, as the rails were eaten, leaving the trains and their stations isolated.)
Toy vehicles, later on were thought as tiny driveable cars, used similarly for 'minature[ly modified] Ancients'.)
Wheels were a reinvented technology used on Cittamotore.
THe car hubcaps were once imitated on Cittamotore, on its wheels. They were believed to be a status symbol among the Ancients (liekly arising from the variety of cars present in Ancient times, and the difference between vintage/more 'modern' types of cars.
A 'skate-rover' (another Ancient wheeled vehicle) was seen in a highly dilapidated state, which was also a bad selection of Ancient tractionism, when the amount of wheeled vehicles in Ancient times is seriously considered.
These ideas of transport were later revived with the advent of Tractionism (including, then eventually, underwater and air cities), though using the cities as a permanent, rather than temporary, place to 'live'.
The Bug was also a vehicle used in the Traction Era, their form of a so-called ground-car. For example, references to parked and flattened bugs may be referring to ancient cars. see below for more information.
Plenty of cars travelling on the Orbital Moatway - today's London M25.
Scrapped cars seen alongside a fan's traction New York City.
An IR train. Extension of the ideal that 'mobile neighborhoods' travelled on metal rails - for real in India, in the rear carriages.
Although these vehicles are used in the traction era, they have no mention of their Ancient counterpart - the cars that used to go around static cities.
These bugs look like actual VW Bugs. Perhaps it is a coincidence, or a trademark product placement.
Across the Earth[]
Air transport was only remembered very vaguely, having been forgotten for almost 10,000 years - for example, planes were seen as scattered pieces of wreckage in the Ice Wastes' mountains, but were only attempted in the last days of the Green Storm War. Even then, they were similar more to airships than actual gliding planes. Only Fever Crumb at least made a decent attempt at flying a plane, but its interest did not last very long.
Similar to their Ancient counterparts, early flight such as airships and Hot Air Balloons was commonly used in the Traction Era, even being applied to entire cities. Traction-era airships were described to have been better than any that the Ancients created, having undergone all the years of specialisation.
Before this, numerous attempts failed, for example, prototype ornithocopters - 'flapping' flight, and the Green Storm's recreated aeroplanes), and falling satellites such as ODIN were noted as having fallen from the sky.
Eventually, any form of vehicular transport in the Ancient world was mistaken to be a moving city - including surface and undersea vessels, as well as space transport (think boats and ships, submarines, rockets, as well as other vehicles such as satellites, even believing that they settled other planets (technically true, to an extent, like the Moon/asteroid usage.).), so traction-era people did not get a good idea of Ancient tractionism - or their transport, by extent.
Satellites in space finally saw the Earth when ODIN was activated. Magnus Crome also thought of using the Earth itself as a 'traction' planet.
The MoonFest was supposed to have been based off an ancient (21st-century) lunar base, or at least some form of evidence of moon exploration in space. There were even possible mechanical moons used before/for the War!
The traction-era form of a groundcar was a Bug, but the revealing of a minature vehicle, when the city itself moves as a form of transport, was met with much skeptisicm. They were not given much right-of-way, and their numbers were severely limited, a huge difference compared to Ancient roads.) Said roads were only used as defensive walls and outer boundaries, if they circled then-major settlements such as temporary towns.
Most other ancient technology shown, was from the 20th century - rarely was any recent 21st century technology featured (even in the film), considering that the series was written only by 2001.
For example, televisions (older models) and film reels were featured first, but newer devices such as tablets and computer monitors (only coming to common use by 2010, long after 2006) were only included in later releases of works such as IWOME book, and the 2018 film.
'Newer' old-tech would be featured in later books as well, such as [in]direct mentions of screens and airplanes, mostly in the later Fever Crumb Series.
