Untrue. The US entered the war with what is wildly regarded as the best rifle of the war.The Rifle M1 designed by John Garand was adopted as the standard service rifle in 1936. and on their entry into the conflict the US was the only belligerent that issued a self loading rifle to the general troop. well, except for Uncle Sam&#x27;s Misguided Children, they always seem the be last in line to get new toys and were still using the 1903 springfield as the standard service rifle.Unless you are talking about guns in the strict military sense(artillery) in which case I have no idea how advanced US artillery was at the start of the war.

This understates civilian firearms development that was cutting edge. Notably the Thompson gun and BAR. Of course the US then kneecapped the industry with the NFA. The 1911, while being an old design lasted for many more decades as well.

A notable exception is the B-17, in use before the US entered the war. It’s the symbol of the US strategic bombing effort in pop culture, with a bunch of films centering around it. The B-29 only seems to get any notice because of the Enola Gay, and the B-24 Liberator is practically invisible in culture despite its large role.I think it’s because the B-17 raids were so dramatic. Airspace still heavily contested, the Allies still figuring out how to use air power.

The popular image of WWII is of the late-war technology. We have forgotten that when the US entered the war it did so with gun tech that was already forty years old, tech that was regarded as oldschool during the previous war.

This advertisement was published shortly before Smith-Corona started production of 1903A3 rifles.<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.americanrifleman.org&#x2F;content&#x2F;the-smith-corona-model-1903a3s&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.americanrifleman.org&#x2F;content&#x2F;the-smith-corona-mo...</a>

I think a properly modular system, similar to the ATX computer case, would be a practical 50 year computer, even if no single part lasts that long.The ATX motherboard form factor was developed in 1995 by Intel. Today motherboards are still made by AMD and Intel that meet that size. Previous attempts to make a modular cell phone by Google&#x27;s Project Ara ended in 2017.<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;hackaday.io&#x2F;project&#x2F;177716-the-femtotx-motherboard-standard" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;hackaday.io&#x2F;project&#x2F;177716-the-femtotx-motherboard-s...</a> If a system reuses even 10%, that still reduces the waste that goes into manufacturing a new replacement, such as a system fan or chassis.

That was a good read, thanks for posting! I suspect in 50 years it will become much clearer what the 50 year computer is. The leading edge still moves at a blistering rate, but computing devices are so widespread now that eddies full of slower moving technology are inevitable. I’m not sure the 50 year computer will happen on purpose, either. Just as likely, a community forms around some gadget that was made for another purpose, and in its afterlife it turns out to have been unusually well designed. Consider the surviving typewriters. Typewriters used to break down all the time. We had typewriter repairmen. The typewriters that remain were lucky: well designed, well maintained, well kept. A lot of bad typewriters are rusting in landfills.

<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;ploum.net&#x2F;the-computer-built-to-last-50-years&#x2F;index.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;ploum.net&#x2F;the-computer-built-to-last-50-years&#x2F;index....</a>

Orders had to be typed. In 1943 or 1944 a Liberty ship carrying only typewriters went down in the English channel.

Thanks, my mistake. I’ve corrected it. In my initial draft, I wanted to convey a sense of &quot;enduring innovation&quot; so I used that term symbolically as a placeholder. It went right past me during the final edits.

&gt;What&#x27;s fascinating is that Smith-Corona is still in existence today. Wikipedia provides a great overview of how they have managed to adapt through several millennia of innovationDid they mean &quot;decades&quot;? (English is not my native language)

I know the article is new; but given the title is straight from the Ad it would be clearer suffixed (1942).

We'll buy back your Typewriter for Uncle Sam