Unplugged

For popular music to become unplugged, it would stop being what we consider "popular music". To be completely unplugged, no technology whatsoever, all we would be left with is a cappella singing as all instruments can be considered technology, but that takes the question beyond the necessary bounds. Even if we exclude instruments from technology and look at music sans microphone, amplifier, and recording equipment, we still wouldn't have popular music. Without the microphone, Bing Crosby cannot croon, thus no proximity effect, just operatic singing. Without amplification, the bass cannot be heard as individual instruments blend back into the overall sound. The electric guitar, so necessary to popular music according to Theberge, cannot exist and the genre with it.  Besides, without recording equipment, there is no way to spread music for it to become popular.
Without technology, classical music, large jazz bands, and singer-songwriters all playing in small venues would come closest to what we might consider popular music, but certainly nothing that we see today could ever come into existence without electronics.

What is Popular Music?

Popular music is incredibly difficult to pin down, as it is not exactly a static genre. For one, it encompasses more than just one specific kind of music. Country western, rap, r&b, folk, opera, and so many other genres have been looped into what is generally referred to as "pop" music. And it has changed over the years; what was considered popular music in the '20s would be scorned today by pop enthusiasts. For example, while Taylor Swift would never be played on a rap station and JayZ certainly not on a country one, often both can be found on the pop stations.

I think one way to describe it would be as music that is widely available and enjoyed by a variety of listeners. It may not always be good music, and not everyone may like it, but it is certainly not a facet of our society that can be overlooked.