Q; Why does Data state at the beginning of the show that Angel One's technology is similar to that of mid-twentieth century Earth when, er, it clearly ain't?
A; We might assume here that Data's claim about Angel's technological status neatly illustrates once again that he only knows what he's told. Someone somewhere obviously glitched up a report on the subject, hence the unexpected disintegrator beam. Data, it must be observed, is not always right in his pronouncements. Mind you though, there is a rather prominent microwave uplink perched atop one of their highest buildings, so maybe they were similar to us in some respects. Then again, beaming back to reality for just a mo., this shot appears in several shows as a background, and not just in TNG. I seem to recall it pops up in Voyager also.
Tasha may be seen to be fidgeting about in the transporter beam again.