How people survived without smartphones 115 years ago
No Fortnite or FaceTime
In a little more than a decade, the smartphone has evolved from a digital novelty reserved for gadget geeks to an indispensable technology for the masses.
Today, we take for granted the ability to look up information instantly, snap a picture whenever we want, or hail a cab at anytime of the day with the tap of a button.
None of these were possible 115 years ago -- when the South China Morning Post was first established in Hong Kong. (Abacus is a unit of the SCMP, which turns 115 today. Happy birthday!)
So what was the 1903 equivalent to all the things we take for granted on our smartphones?
Take a photo
Handheld cameras existed back in 1903. But to the dismay of Instagrammers, pictures took an entire day to develop. (Also, there were no filters. That sepia look? That’s just… a photo.)
