Hmm, I honestly believe that magic should make development faster, not slow it down. I mean, with magic available you don't have to worry at all about scarcity; magic is a virtually infinite source of energy, so the most basic problem of economics and industry is solved. Technology is about making life and work easier, more comfortable and making money (and in some rare cases it is for humanitarian reasons or scientific curiosity), so imo there's no logical explanation to why the people of Skyrim have no heating system for example, or Tamriel is not powered by electricty, or why there are no fridges to keep food from spoiling. They are still using horses to travel around in a world where teleportation is available; I mean, why hadn't yet some greedy mage invented a teleportation system and made trillions of Septims with it? (and let's not forget: most people in Tamriel are indeed driven by money)

When you really think about it, the only reasons why technology wouldn't advance in Tamriel is because those people are either lazy, stupid or completely stoic - except that most of them are not (well, the Greybeards and the Psijic Order are completetely stoic though). Hence, the solution has to be some sort of Deus ex machina: a curse or some powerful godlike being that simply doesn't allow that world to develop technologically. 

So yeah, like I said earlier, suspension of disbelief, it works for me. Lorkhan doesn't allow Nirn to develop; kinda silly really, but it makes sense in that universe, so I see no problems with that. 

Yet we still see people freezing to death, dying from diseases, food getting spoiled, houses being lighted by torches and oil lamps, etc. You are absolutely right by saying those people have the means to sort out all of those problems, but they are just not doing it; and that makes no sense. 

But that contradicts your previous statement. 

I would assume that the average joe can't actually use magick or they just have no knowledge of how to do so. Sure our characters can always use a couple of basic spells from the start of the game, but they are by no means average, they are the Hero and the Hero can be anything. The fact that there are various places dedicated to teaching magic and that the novices we see in the College of Winterhold are clearly all adults, it would appear that for the average person learning to use magick is incredibly difficult to do or that it can take years. You might counter that with our character being able to do it by just reading a book once, but again the player is the Hero, the exception to the rule.

Speaking of the Hero being the exception, in the Elder Scrolls everyone has their "fate" and it is only the Hero that is able to change their's (Other then being the Hero) and through their actions the fates of those around them. So maybe the average joe is fated to not be able to use these basic spells.

Motivation. Why develop technology when you don't want or need to?

[blockquote][b][url=/profile/Tysoyaha]Tysoyaha[/url] said:[/b]

Examine lightning>discover electricity>create electronics

Examine shadows>discover conflict>create shadow magic

[/blockquote]

I'm sorry, don't mean to be rude but you are missing the point of what drives people to create things. Humanity creates stuff to solve problems, to make life easier and more confortable; on a personal level, people create things either to make money or to satisfy their curiosity. That is the case in both our reality and TES universe. "Ordinary people in Tamriel are afraid of magic", well, most people in our world were scared shitless of electricity once it was introduced, but then they got used to it because it made life so much easier. Probably it was the same case with fire thousands of years ago. My point is that it just makes no sense people would not make use of the magic at their disposal to solve very basic problems.

[blockquote][b][url=/profile/Henson]Henson[/url] said:[/b]

Motivation. Why develop technology when you don't want or need to?

[/blockquote]

Say that to guy dying from some disease or poisin; or the one whose house burned down because the oil lamp fell over some linen; or the one freezing to death because didn't have enough friewood to his fireplace, and so on... sorry, but those people are far from having their needs satisfied, the standards of living in Tamriel are pretty awful.