So, I've been looking up the stuff for the upcoming TV series Revolution. In it, the writers and who all expect you to believe that the removal of electricity sends civilization back to the stone age, without critical technological innovations in transportation or firearms. Cars don't work, and neither do guns or trains.
Seriously, what the fuck? There are a number of points where this is absolutely asinine, but here I will list only a few. Feel free to add your own.
(1) Up until 150 years ago, electricity was a novel thing, used for parlour tricks and the like. The telegraph was a huge innovation in the use of electricity, as was the light bulb. Steam power was the way to get around, from trains to riverboats to ships of the line. Assuming electricity sends us back 10,000 years is simply not true, and is really just a poorly researched idea on the writers part. Steam power will work just fine.
(2) Even assuming electricity goes bye-bye, diesel engines still work just fine. Does everything get harder? Sure does, but using a diesel engine (which does not require electricity to function) to mechanically power whatever you need (or just to get around) is still viable. Can you get around the colder areas of the Earth as well? No, so that's an issue, but one I doubt will be addressed.
(3) Firearms do not use electricity, nor do they require it in their construction. Hydraulics work still, they just require a different power source than an electric motor. So contruction and manufacturing still work, just not as well or as efficiently. (Firearms, as used for warfare, are thousands of years old.) So making and reloading firearms works just fine.
Anyone else see some issues with the show's conceit?