Nadrek wrote:So... why does no-one in a remote country ask for a phone, an HF radio (multi-thousand mile range, and can be quite small and low powered, with naught but a wire antenna), or a globe/world map?
Do you mean in the Naruto-verse, where radio technology, while small, is apparently limited to only short range communication? Perhaps all of the jutsu being thrown around generate em interference that makes long range radio communications useless. The summons being called could be disrupting the fabric of space-time, creating ripples that cause even more interference. After all, even in an emergency where every minute counted, Sunagakure sent a messenger bird to Konohagakura. A coded transmission between the two asking for immediate help could have been sent with little fear of interception or decryption, as long as it was a code that was rarely used and combined cyphers with word substitution.
Electricity is apparently widely available, but there are no cars. The most advanced form of motorized transportation shown is a steam engine in one of the OVA's. It is possible that this is a world with little to no access to fossil fuels, slowing down the development of transportation and industry on a large scale. Combined with the interference listed earlier, this could help explain many of the otherwise anachronistic elements of the series. There may be only a few generators in places with natural energy sources to harvest(like a solar plant in Suna, a wood burning or hydroelectric plant* in Konoha, wind turines in wind country, etc.), with places too far from these generators just having to deal with life without electricity.
Also, it is very common for crossovers such as this to ask for a map and see that the map depicted in anime and manga bears no resemblance to any terrain on Earth. In this particular fic, the Hokage specifically states that he has never even heard of China or Japan, even from the farthest travellers.
*Or, given that the country is called the land of fire, there may be volcanoes and geothermal vents providing geothermal power.