FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Spy Gear

You’re a secret agent. At least you carry a lot of secret agent gear. Let’s say it was 1989, just twenty-five years ago. Who would you say would be likely to carry all this gear:

  • Handheld communicator that could reach anyone from anywhere
  • Location-sensing device that could let you know where you are, plus track others and let others track you
  • Camera the size of a pin that could store thousands of pictures
  • Miniaturized computer more powerful than the most powerful office PC (in 1989 of course)
  • Audio recording device that was totally silent to operate
  • Reader with access to millions of pieces of information
  • Translator that could listen and speak in multiple languages
  • Tiny light to see in the dark or blind someone

That person would probably be a secret agent. In fact, secret agents carried some of that exact same gear during the Cold War. Now, everyone has that stuff — we call it a phone. Back then it was all custom gadgetry costing millions of dollars… today free on contract. And in 1989, if you were caught by foreign authorities with that spy gear, you were toast. Today police in almost any nation will simply smile at you.

Did I just blow your mind?

About the Author

Stuart Sweet
Stuart Sweet is the editor-in-chief of The Solid Signal Blog and a "master plumber" at Signal Group, LLC. He is the author of over 10,000 articles and longform tutorials including many posted here. Reach him by clicking on "Contact the Editor" at the bottom of this page.