About Ages Without Apps

Ages Without Apps is a history channel about the ingenious, odd and surprising ways people got things done before modern technology: how they kept cool, lifted water, cut stone, dyed cloth and survived winter.

Each video is short and told in plain words. Every video has a written page here with a summary, key facts and the sources behind them, so you can read more or check the claims yourself. Where the evidence is thin or disputed, we say so.

The channel is faceless: the focus is on the history and the old pictures, maps and artworks that show it. Images come from public domain and open access collections, with dates shown on screen.

New videos are added regularly. The best way to catch them is to subscribe on YouTube.