# If you were sent back to 1800 and could only take one machine what would it be? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 15, 2004, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-sent-back-to-1800-and-could-only-take-one-machine-what-would-it-be/279921 "2004-12-15T03:58:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2004, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-sent-back-to-1800-and-could-only-take-one-machine-what-would-it-be/279921/61 "2004-12-19T16:14:40Z")
> [@chaoticdonkey](#): > > I can’t believe no one’s said it! > > A money… whatever they’re called… press? Then I could make money and be rich! And it wouldn’t even be counterfeiting! Wouldn’t that cause hyperinflation? Over in merry old England 1800 would be the heart of the industrial revolution, and in the north, that means textiles. Since the spinning mule came about in 1779, I’d take one of [these](http://www.sultex.com/index/multiphase_weaving_machines.htm). As well as a [book](http://www.netcomposites.com/netcommerce_features.asp?635) illustrating how to use the thing. I’d be very wealthy very quickly. ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2004, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-sent-back-to-1800-and-could-only-take-one-machine-what-would-it-be/279921/62 "2004-12-19T16:57:18Z")
I would take a Poloroid camera, if film counts as a “part” of which I have an endless supply. In New York City in the 1800s, I bet I could make a comfortable living taking Poloroid portraits. Also, to mess with history, I would strictly caution all my customers that you must NEVER shake a Poloroid while it is developing, but rather hold it completely still. Take that, Outkast! I’m also going to print out and bring a copy of this thread, so I can find all you Dopers with your machines in 1800. 🙂 Perhaps the US Army could take out a single tank, but could they take out a tank _and_ a Poloroid camera? Well, yes, probably. But you see my point. Nevermind dictatorship, I think oligarchy is the ticket for world domination in 1800. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2004, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-sent-back-to-1800-and-could-only-take-one-machine-what-would-it-be/279921/63 "2004-12-19T19:28:07Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > A pair of shortwave radios. (One would be useless, obviously). Then I’d hire someone to take one of them to the other side of the Atlantic. Instataneous communication between the US and Europe would be of enormous value. 1. Shortwave radios are recievers and cannot communicate with each other. 2. Thats _two_ items. I would bring [this](http://www.alienware.com/product_detail_pages/Area-51m_7700/area-51m_7700_features.aspx?SysCode=PC-LT-AREA51-M-7700&SubCode=SKU-DEFAULT) , fully loaded with as many encyclopedias and tech manuals as it would hold. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2004, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-sent-back-to-1800-and-could-only-take-one-machine-what-would-it-be/279921/64 "2004-12-20T13:45:52Z")
**Czarcasm** , and a lot it can hold. 200 Gigs of info. How much is that in terms of written words or pages? What an awsome machine, I’m tempted. Max out all the options and you can get the thing for only $4,461.00. What a bargain! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2004, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-sent-back-to-1800-and-could-only-take-one-machine-what-would-it-be/279921/65 "2004-12-20T15:16:48Z")
In a Numerical Analysis class in grad school, I saw a video entitled, “What If Kepler Had a Computer”. The video postulated that it would have _hurt_ his work rather than helped: recall that planetary orbits were thought by many to be circular. Kepler eventually showed they were elliptical. But a computer would have allowed him to substitute number crunching for visualizing, essentially papering over the differences between the circular and elliptical models, and to falsely conclude that the orbits were circular. Sumpin to think about. > [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > I read a short story one, I think it was in _Omni_ magazine, about a guy who took a very special calculator back in time to give to Isaac Newton. The story was written in the early-'80s, so it wasn’t a computer; but it was a very powerful scientific calculator. It was powered by a small nuclear power module that would explode after six months. This would allow Newton to use it without running out of power, for a sufficient time to make even more incredible advances than he made historically and would ensure that no one else found the calculator after it was discarded. > > Brilliant plan, eh? Except the guy made a mistake. The first time he demonstrated the calculator to Newton, by doing a simple division problem with very large numbers, the result happened to be six hundred sixty-six. Newton thought he was the Devil. I don’t remember if Newton killed him, or just ran him off; but the calculator was thrown into the river. Six months later there was an explosion, which people attributed to something demonic. ---
**Author:** ![TheMadHun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@TheMadHun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMadHun)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2004, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-sent-back-to-1800-and-could-only-take-one-machine-what-would-it-be/279921/66 "2004-12-20T15:28:54Z")
I’d take a movie camera. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2004, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-sent-back-to-1800-and-could-only-take-one-machine-what-would-it-be/279921/67 "2004-12-20T23:48:07Z")
I think a helicopter is much better than a tank if you want to take over the world. A tank will eventually get surrounded and led into a pit of some sort. However, if you ally yourself with a preexisting military power, and are able to keep the helicopter secret from outsiders, and fly only at night, you should EASILY be able to conquer the world via occasional attacks deep behind enemy lines. And it will be made all the scarier by the fact that no one will have any idea what the heck is going on. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-were-sent-back-to-1800-and-could-only-take-one-machine-what-would-it-be/279921.md?page=3)