I recall somebody said that being made of stainless steel and concrete, the most likely item to be stared at in awe by a fur-wearing 20th generation removed relative of a survivalist was the Gateway Arch in St. Louis.
Just imagine some dark ages retreads, wandering the then-empty prarie, and encountering a gleaming 630 foot arch.
A post on Metafilter broaches the subject of what would be left of us "after", and what would be needed to build again. I think it's attempting to go for the big picture, as opposed to the "diesel generator and a quality axe" picture. What is it that you value of your culture and your technology that makes it worthwhile to maintain and perhaps fight your way back to?
The battery is not that advanced as technologies go. I suspect you'll see a market pricing preference for DC powered devices among the elites attempting to access our optically stored electronic data, mostly to access manuals for operating things like oil pumps and portable water purification plants. As in 10 boxes of shotgun shells for one portable dvd drive. Power would equal knowledge, this time.
Of course, all techs will be slaves to Isaac Hayes, and haunted by the realization that they are played by Harry Dean Stanton, but there's that whole Adrienne Barbeau thing going for you, which is probably more than the rest of the guys in the garbage gladiator pit bleachers will ever get.
Posted by dglynn at August 18, 2003 02:01 PM