Smartphones and tablets in fantasy settings

>enchanted mirrors of crystal and steel, some which fit in a palm, others the size of a large tome save for quarter-inch thickness
>through these portable mystical foci, man can divine information from an akashic library, communicate through the other side of the world, capture and immortalize memories through sound and imagery, and work many more sorceries provided one has the savvy (and, at times, the coin)

I cannot be the only one who thinks that smartphones and tablets would hardly be out of place in a high fantasy, high magic setting, can I be?
I am not talking about modern fantasy settings. I am talking about high fantasy settings with magic-based smartphones and tablets added in, maybe with outright computers too.

Imagine wizards sliding through page after page of digital spellbooks, and tracing glyphs and magic circles with styluses. The strongest of magicians conjure great structures and demiplanes with modeling-like programs ( youtube.com/watch?v=fzQ6gRAEoy0 ).
Some of these devices could even be like familiars or psicrystals, with their own hyperspecialized intelligences to assist their users in various tasks.

Non-spellcasters can find as many uses for these devices as we would in our world. Rapid communications, capturing images and video, and social media could all change the face of a world (and obviate some types of magic, counterbalancing spellcasters' specialized uses of smartphones and tablets).

Not all of them need to have interfaces of glass in fantasy. Some of them could be tiny little crystals, bones, or other baubles that project "hard light" illusions that can support a moderate amount of weight, effectively simulating sci-fi holographic interfaces. They could even project styluses or keyboards of illusory "hard light."

The Cryptomancer RPG does something like this, but does not go all the way with the metaphor, and focuses mostly on the hacking themes.
How would you imagine such devices could be used in a fantasy setting?

Woah woah woah, slow down a second.

If you're going to fluff out magical tablets and smartphones, fluff out magical computers first.

...

This sorta easiness to handle and distribute information changes the structures of society so deeply that it's hard to still be medieval when you have it. Most high magic setting ignore the deeper applications of magic, so you still grow crops the normal way, even if you do so in a floating field, or in sight of a magic flying city guarded by automaton dragons. You blacksmith still uses hammer and tools and even smithing automatons are just humanoids with hammer hands that smith in the tradional way rather than industrial machines...People still have horses although teleport is a thing, and non mage merchants still exist although they'd never be able to compete with magical merchants in terms of amount and speed of goods moved.

So magical tablets are a bit like that. They'd render libraries useless, and medieval equivalents of schools and universities too since you can just comune through them to find spells. Mix that with the fact that people with them also can use spells like teleport, and basically your setting is a magiocracy where anyone without magic is just...eh.

Which might work for some people but i find boring.

Nobody said anything about medieval.

>I'm not modern fantasy settings. I am talking about high fantasy settings with magic-based smartphones and tablets added in

He means any period except for our modern age. And what I said is true for any period except our modern age. You are technically correct that nobody specified medieval, but the general content of the post still applies to other answers from 'stone age' to 'turn of the century' timelines.

Artificial life forms that are just brains in jars designed to maintain multiple psychic links with other such structures and translate data into ones and zeros to distribute via mundane means of electrical signals and accessible via terminal devices made using low level but permanent scrying spells

Manifested false souls enchanted into a mechanical calculator with a viewing portal and input keyboard.

I'm imagining the magical force is much like a mesh network.

All sentient beings are essentially part of s massive non centralised mesh network the grows in complexity the more people are joined to it

The devices allow mundane people to do what trained Mage technicians can do normally

> Smartphones and tablets in fantasy settings
What are crystal balls for 500, Alex?

Oh, and of course, such an insignificant item in western fantasy as MAGIC FUCKING MIRRORS, YOU FUCKING COCKSUCKING MORON WHORE, LIKE, HOLY FUCKING SHIT, YOU ARE DUMB.

>magic mirrors and crystal balls

Sure thing grandpa your only 5 generations behind the times when we've innovated magic item tech to the point you can were a band around your ear that can effectively blend multiple spells at once such as hd hard light displays and psychic encoding to stave off mind hackers.

>he doesn't use a magic mirror covered with the "bleeding edge" alloy
Magic-humanities-fags, everyone. Only a dummy can fall for the meme terms such as "psychic encoding".

magic mirrors are for necromancers and sycophants besides I have my degree in psychic networking thank you and know a thing or two about mind hacking.

Especially hand-mirrors.

Enjoy trying to mind-control my skeletons, while they work for me FOR FREE, faggot.

>memster trying to spin his meme magic
I won't clap my hands and say that I believe, user

I don't need to. Once I've studied your Unique Mental Signature I'll just delete all those licences you have for them. Enjoy riding dirty on your PhD bitch ass course shagger.

Armies would be using them as a poor man's radio - we would see decentralized formations of the type occurring within and after World War I where combat would be determined by small units of highly trained professionals (most likely knights), leaving the foundations for modern chains of command, notably defeating the pike and shot line formations that were the original cause of the knight's demise.

bump

The only problem would be that someone would make that kind of tech, then everyone would just use it to argue with strangers and look at cats.

Everyone needs to see the selfie of me and my crew with the dragon we just killed. We also have a video of the whole thing so we can promote our names.

...

Complete with personal AI!

Unless it's a clasisst setting where only the rich could even afford the iMirror

>tablets and smartphones
Tablets and smartphones are dogshit though. If you weren't constrained by the design requirements in a mundane world, and had magic why would anyone do something so simple as a touch screen interface that you hold? Why not use fucking telepathy to project information directly into the mind and understand the user's thoughts. Actually augment reality for the user's benefit, all that far out shit. Magic cuts through real red tape like butter, why would you ever constrain yourself to mimicking the design flaws of the real world?

>They'd render libraries useless
Why? People still use libraries even today.

>Mix that with the fact that people with them also can use spells
I thnik OP assumed that everyone can use the tablets and smartphones.

Because you are assuming that magic and mages are omnipotent while that rarely is the case in most fantasy outside of theoretical, high-level D&D.

That being the case wouldn't then the idea of them having just enough magical leeway for tablets and smartphones seem just as contrived and really just an excuse to bring in real world equivalents?

Sometimes you just want to have your magical tablets, man. It's a nice aesthetic and not everything has to be hard sci fi. Besides, "crystal tablet connected to the repository of knowledge" is a bit simpler than directly connecting and manipulating something as complicated as minds.

Look, the problem is that at this point, we can either argue specific mechanics and constructions, or we can build towards specific mechanics and constructions, or we can just faff around with our dicks out and do nothing of merit.

Personally, I'm inclined towards the last option.

As far as inclining the world towards certain tech "levels," the most logical way of doing that would be to have the magic items run off the mana/spellpower of the registered user. So sure, your spiffy-keen psionic interface lets you recall any spell you see, and control the floating gems that absorb hostile evocations and act as portable foci for conjured spiritual hands or eyes; but grandpa can't run all that crap, or even focus on it, so he's using the jitterbug hand-mirror with a spirit minder included. It lets him communicate, and can act as a focus for certain applications, like the invisible servant which presses his suits and picks up things that fall behind the couch, but it's nowhere near what it could be.

He's happy with it though.