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Yes you have read correctly. I've been wondering which is really better for some time now. So I figured I'd get the oppion of the people. By which I mean the two to three people that will probably post on this thread. Before you post few a couple of my facts or maybe use some of your own.

Magic
Pros: Magic has incredible devestating powers, from conjuring armies of demons and angels to warping the world itself. Even a low level mage can topple a few soldiers with a magic missle or scroll of fire ball. Magic also includes druids who can talk to animals and treants to possibly get them to fight along side them. Also with magic comes necromancy. Every dead soldier out on that battlefeild, whether yours or your enemies is another blank canvas for a master necromancer to paint a bloody picture or sorrow and death. With every casualty the necromancers army would simply grow stonger. Also magic requires no ammo short of simply cheap spell components. Magic is tough cutomer but it has it's flaws.

Cons: All those incantations and summoning can take a while. Even a magician who can cast with but a thought would have some delay between spells to pick and choose the right ones and focus their energies. In that time a lone nobody soldier could pump a master magician to lazy to put up a shheild full of led. Also magic takes much time to master where as you give a man a gun and he'll kill sometihng just by pulling the trigger and waving it back and forth.

Technology. The blood that keeps a country going.

Pros: Technology can do many things. While not as versatile as magic is it can cause destrouction with the best or them. Wether it's dropping a bomb on it's foes or putting holes in their skulls technology shines it's metallic glow on the battlefeild in a way that cannot be ignored. Technology also requires less training than magic and is far easier to master. With masters of magic come expert marksmen, pilots, leaders, and scientists. Technology is far better in the short run than magic. Magic can also be unperdictable and hard to control where as technology is often easy to use and anyone can be trained to use and kill with it. Technology can do many of the things magic can do as well. Fly, create massive explosions, and kill from great distances. Tech has weaknesses to.

Cons: Technology requires steel and iron, chemical components and other materials to produce it. Also they rely on factoriers to create weapons, were as a mage can pick up a stick and with minimal effort turn it into a wand of magic missle or lighting bolt. Tech also requires vast sums of money to keep a war going, where as magicians can summon up gold or other valuable materials to pay for supplies. Some less moral magicains may even simply cast an illusion to pay off their debts. Also tech has it's limitations while magic can be shaped and molded into whatever the magician weilding it wants it to become.

So in light of this information, or any you may have, to come to your final decision.

I voted magic, mostly because summoning army-smashing fireballs with a few quick words is a blast.

Magitechonlogy, however, is where it's really at.

True but then, neither do the Hulk or captain america. People still debate about them though. Though your point is a valid one. Magics true power changes from book to book and game to game. Though I was specifically referering to the generic magic described in D&D. I realize this thread is bit unothadox for this forum but I wanted to see what the peoples thought.

Then let's see how they handle effectors. twisted

This is somewhat off-topic, but the books "Eragon" and "Eldest" depict magic in an interesting way. I highly recommend those books.

Yes they do, though as I stated before I was refering more to the generic form of magic in D&D.

What about magic that doesn't affect you directly, for example, the creation of a massive boulder mere inches above your head? And what if it is done without the victim noticing before the spell is complete?

That's a very good point. If the victim believes that magic put this boulder over his head, then he will surely be crushed.

But again, if the apparent victim does not believe in magic, then there is no boulder.

However, a being with the magical prowess to conjure a massive rock mere inches over the head of someone surely has a penchant for strategic thinking.

The magic user might anticipate that his foe does not believe in magic and have an ally physically suspend and then drop the boulder, thereby taking advantage of the non-believer's sense of security.

Stealthily lifting a giant rock over someone's head would require mirror's 'n' s**t plus some sort of hydraulic lift and quite a bit of prep time.

Meaning that even the magic user would depend on technology to pull the win.