8 Sep
2016
8 Sep
'16
10:03 a.m.
What role did Star Trek play in the rise of small computers that are
so ubiquitous today? This science fiction series prognosticated many
things but how many actually happened or am I expecting too much from
a television show of 50 years ago?
Happy computing!
Murray
8 Sep
8 Sep
10:21 a.m.
On Thu, Sep 8, 2016 at 11:03 AM, Murray McCullough
<c.murray.mccullough at gmail.com> wrote:
What role did Star Trek play in the rise of small
computers that are
so ubiquitous today? This science fiction series prognosticated many
things but how many actually happened or am I expecting too much from
a television show of 50 years ago?
When we get to the point where the computer tells you, "this unit must
survive", be afraid. Be very afraid.
10:25 a.m.
On Sep 8, 2016, at 1:03 PM, Murray McCullough
<c.murray.mccullough at gmail.com> wrote:
What role did Star Trek play in the rise of small computers that are
so ubiquitous today? This science fiction series prognosticated many
things but how many actually happened or am I expecting too much from
a television show of 50 years ago?
A few examples are the PADD (iPad and other tablets) and the Communicator (Mobile
Phones).
10:38 a.m.
On 09/08/2016 10:25 AM, Peter Cetinski wrote:
A few examples are the PADD (iPad and other tablets)
and the
Communicator (Mobile Phones).
Maybe, but the computer "brain" IIRC was always shipboard. Dick Tracy
had the 2-way wrist radio decades before.
Perhaps in years to come, the tricorder may become a reality.
--Chuck
10:49 a.m.
On Sep 8, 2016, at 1:38 PM, Chuck Guzis <cclist at
sydex.com> wrote:
On 09/08/2016 10:25 AM, Peter Cetinski wrote:
That reminds me of another one. Amazon's Alexa and Apple?s Siri are not quite there
yet but are very similar to the voice-interactive main computer from the Enterprise.
A few examples are the PADD (iPad and other
tablets) and the
Communicator (Mobile Phones).
Maybe, but the computer "brain" IIRC was always shipboard. Dick Tracy
had the 2-way wrist radio decades before.
10:12 p.m.
It's funny you bring up Alexa and Siri. I read an article a few days
ago about how Majel Barrett, the voice of the ship's computer from TOS
to the first reboot movie (and Gene Roddenberry's wife) recorded a
phonetic library shortly before her death. I know that Google at one
point had a speech system called "Majel." I don't know if it is
related, but it would be pretty cool if it was...
On Thu, Sep 8, 2016 at 1:49 PM, Peter Cetinski <pete at pski.net> wrote:
On Sep 8, 2016, at 1:38 PM, Chuck Guzis
<cclist at sydex.com> wrote:
On 09/08/2016 10:25 AM, Peter Cetinski wrote:
That reminds me of another one. Amazon's Alexa and Apple?s Siri are not quite there
yet but are very similar to the voice-interactive main computer from the Enterprise.
A few examples are the PADD (iPad and other
tablets) and the
Communicator (Mobile Phones).
Maybe, but the computer "brain" IIRC was always shipboard. Dick Tracy
had the 2-way wrist radio decades before.
10:31 a.m.
The only "computer" related thing I can think of is the scene from
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, where Scotty works on the Macintosh
trying to show transparent aluminum.
In my own humble opinion it is one of the best scenes ever from a Star
Trek movie or show.
10:46 a.m.
On Sep 8, 2016, at 1:31 PM, Christian Liendo
<cliendo at gmail.com> wrote:
The only "computer" related thing I can think of is the scene from
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, where Scotty works on the Macintosh
trying to show transparent aluminum.
In my own humble opinion it is one of the best scenes ever from a Star
Trek movie or show.
?Hello, computer!?
10:34 a.m.
On Thu, 8 Sep 2016, Murray McCullough wrote:
What role did Star Trek play in the rise of small
computers that are
so ubiquitous today? This science fiction series prognosticated many
things but how many actually happened or am I expecting too much from
a television show of 50 years ago?
ALL of our computer science, science in general, medicine, transportation
is BASED on Star Trek.
That's why we speak into the mouse. And use so much transparent aluminum.
We would certainly never have bothered to develop mobile phones without
copying them from Star Trek. It's a good thing that Star Trek kept us
from following the dead-end of "clamshell"
portable computers!
Half a century ago, the National Safety Council was actually quite pissed
off at Star Trek for refusing to have seatbelts on the bridge command
chairs.
5:05 p.m.
They never really show acceleration and deceleration onboard a spaceship
affecting the crew so why bother with seat belts (that would be a pain for
the actors to use)? Besides what good would they do if you actually hit
something large in space at the speed of light.
Handheld phasers would be cool if somebody comes up with a batter that hold
crazy amounts of energy and would not short out in your pocket.
-----Original Message-----
From: Fred Cisin
Sent: Thursday, September 08, 2016 1:34 PM
To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts
Subject: Re: 50 yrs. of Star Trek!
On Thu, 8 Sep 2016, Murray McCullough wrote:
Half a century ago, the National Safety Council was actually quite pissed
off at Star Trek for refusing to have seatbelts on the bridge command
chairs.
---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus
5:14 p.m.
On Thu, 8 Sep 2016, TeoZ wrote:
They never really show acceleration and deceleration
onboard a spaceship
affecting the crew so why bother with seat belts (that would be a pain for
the actors to use)? Besides what good would they do if you actually hit
something large in space at the speed of light.
If you were going FTL, then you would just pass through it, without
noticing.
In ST:TOS, they command crew on the bridge were often thrown around in
battle scenes, etc.
Handheld phasers would be cool if somebody comes up
with a batterY that
hold crazy amounts of energy and would not short out in your pocket.
Surely, the Star Trek phasers didn't need anything more than an LR44!
7:20 p.m.
On 09/ 8/16 07:14 PM, Fred Cisin wrote:
On Thu, 8 Sep 2016, TeoZ wrote:
Personally, I think the thing we have to look forward to from the bridge is
explosives in the equipment consoles. Sad about the fatalities, but there is
always a cost to pay.
They never really show acceleration and
deceleration onboard a spaceship
affecting the crew so why bother with seat belts (that would be a pain for the
actors to use)? Besides what good would they do if you actually hit something
large in space at the speed of light.
If you were going FTL, then you would just pass through it, without noticing.
In ST:TOS, they command crew on the bridge were often thrown around in battle
scenes, etc.
Handheld phasers would be cool if somebody comes
up with a batterY that hold
crazy amounts of energy and would not short out in your pocket.
Surely, the Star Trek phasers didn't need anything more than an LR44!
7:26 p.m.
On 09/ 8/16 07:05 PM, TeoZ wrote:
They never really show acceleration and deceleration
onboard a spaceship
affecting the crew so why bother with seat belts (that would be a pain for the
actors to use)? Besides what good would they do if you actually hit something
large in space at the speed of light.
Handheld phasers would be cool if somebody comes up with a batter that hold
crazy amounts of energy and would not short out in your pocket.
Thats why I have no personal plans for a battery/electric car at any point in
the near future. Batteries truly need to make a quantum leap forward before I
would be sold on them. I have never been a big fan of asian automobiles, but
Japan seem to be leading the world with hydrogen powered vehicles as things
stand right now. Till some big leap forward appears in batteries, or something
else, I'm personally hitching my horse wagon behind hydrogen power.
Jerry
9:39 p.m.
So your waiting for BMW or Mercedes to come out with the Hindenburg line of
hydrogen powered vehicles?
I hope before I die somebody comes out with a nuclear powered car that can
do 300,000 miles per reactor replacement.
-----Original Message-----
From: Jerry Kemp
Sent: Thursday, September 08, 2016 10:26 PM
To: General at classiccmp.org ; Discussion at classiccmp.org:On-Topic and
Off-Topic Posts
Subject: Re: 50 yrs. of Star Trek!
Till some big leap forward appears in batteries, or something
else, I'm personally hitching my horse wagon behind hydrogen power.
Jerry
---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus
9 Sep
9 Sep
8:36 a.m.
On Thu, Sep 8, 2016 at 8:26 PM, Jerry Kemp <other at oryx.us> wrote:
Thats why I have no personal plans for a battery/electric car at any point
in the near future. Batteries truly need to make a quantum leap forward
before I would be sold on them.
BEV's are practical today. Much safer than gasoline. Range is adequate.
I have never been a big fan of asian automobiles, but
Japan seem to be
leading the world with hydrogen powered vehicles as things stand right now.
Till some big leap forward appears in batteries, or something else, I'm
personally hitching my horse wagon behind hydrogen power.
Every time someone with any credibility says something good about using
hydrogen as a fuel I have to remind myself that I have looked at the
numbers and it is impossible to make hydrogen a practical fuel for
automobiles. The economics of production, transportation, storage and
conversion are insurmountable. Why Toyota and Honda are convinced
otherwise is a total mystery.
Hydrogen has only one plus as a fuel. It has the highest energy per unit
of mass. It makes OK rocket fuel when compressed and chilled to a liquid.
Note that the most common rocket propellant is LOX and Kerosene, not LOX
and Liquid Hydrogen. This is purely for economic reasons.
For cars this is a reasonable summary of the issues:
https://www.carthrottle.com/post/engineering-explained-5-reasons-why-hydrog…
The only issue with BEV's other than initial cost is you can't take road
trips in them (except for Tesla). Otherwise they make ideal commuter cars
assuming you have a place to charge at home or at work. Cost to operate is
currently 1/5 that of gasoline and when gas goes back up to its record
levels it will be 1/8th the cost.
--
Doug Ingraham
PDP-8 SN 1175
7:55 a.m.
On Thu, Sep 8, 2016 at 11:34 AM, Fred Cisin <cisin at xenosoft.com> wrote:
On Thu, 8 Sep 2016, Murray McCullough wrote:
And use so much transparent aluminum.
Transparent aluminum exists. It is called sapphire. Sapphire is the
crystalline form of aluminum oxide. If you recall, Apple was thinking of
using it for the touch screen face of the iphone.
--
Doug Ingraham
PDP-8 SN 1175
11:39 a.m.
On Sep 9, 2016, at 10:55 AM, Doug Ingraham <dpi at
dustyoldcomputers.com> wrote:
Transparent aluminum exists. It is called sapphire. Sapphire is the
crystalline form of aluminum oxide. If you recall, Apple was thinking of
using it for the touch screen face of the iphone.
Ah yes, but can you make in sheets 60 feet by 10 feet by 1 inch thick and withstand the
pressure of 18,000 cu ft of water? :)
1:23 p.m.
On Fri, Sep 9, 2016 at 12:39 PM, Peter Cetinski <pete at pski.net> wrote:
The answer is probably yes, but not for anything like a reasonable amount
of money or in a reasonable amount of time. It would probably take a
couple of years to grow a crystal that size. There was a company making
the ovens used to make billets of sapphire about 18 inches in diameter and
a foot tall from which they would cut out the pieces they would need with
presumably a diamond saw. These billets would take something like a month
to grow so you would need a lot of them to make your screens in the multi
million quantities. And these billets had imperfections you had to work
around. In 1986 it would probably have taken Mr Scotts technical know how.
--
Doug Ingraham
PDP-8 SN 1175
On Sep 9, 2016, at 10:55 AM, Doug Ingraham
<dpi at dustyoldcomputers.com>
wrote:
Transparent aluminum exists. It is called sapphire. Sapphire is the
crystalline form of aluminum oxide. If you recall, Apple was thinking of
using it for the touch screen face of the iphone.
Ah yes, but can you make in sheets 60 feet by 10 feet by 1 inch thick and
withstand the pressure of 18,000 cu ft of water? :) 
1:36 p.m.
On Sep 9, 2016, at 1:23 PM, Doug Ingraham <dpi at
dustyoldcomputers.com> wrote:
On Fri, Sep 9, 2016 at 12:39 PM, Peter Cetinski <pete at pski.net> wrote:
The answer is probably yes, but not for anything like a reasonable amount
of money or in a reasonable amount of time. It would probably take a
couple of years to grow a crystal that size. There was a company making
the ovens used to make billets of sapphire about 18 inches in diameter and
a foot tall from which they would cut out the pieces they would need with
presumably a diamond saw. These billets would take something like a month
to grow so you would need a lot of them to make your screens in the multi
million quantities. And these billets had imperfections you had to work
around. In 1986 it would probably have taken Mr Scotts technical know how.
Actually it actually *does* exist and is reasonable to manufacture. Here?s the
article:
http://www.nrl.navy.mil/media/news-releases/2015/transparent-armor-from-nrl…
It?s basically a sintered process where the ceramic is formed (this particular one is
called spinel)
and the process is to put the powder in a press, raise the temperature and evacuate the
air.
The result is a clear crystal that has better properties than glass. The size of the
piece is only
limited by the size of the press.
TTFN - Guy
On Sep 9, 2016, at 10:55 AM, Doug Ingraham
<dpi at dustyoldcomputers.com>
wrote:
Transparent aluminum exists. It is called sapphire. Sapphire is the
crystalline form of aluminum oxide. If you recall, Apple was thinking of
using it for the touch screen face of the iphone.
Ah yes, but can you make in sheets 60 feet by 10 feet by 1 inch thick and
withstand the pressure of 18,000 cu ft of water? :)
6:58 p.m.
On Fri, 9 Sep 2016, Guy Sotomayor Jr wrote:
Actually it actually *does* exist and is reasonable to
manufacture. Here?s the
article:
http://www.nrl.navy.mil/media/news-releases/2015/transparent-armor-from-nrl…
It?s basically a sintered process where the ceramic is formed (this particular one is
called spinel)
and the process is to put the powder in a press, raise the temperature and evacuate the
air.
The result is a clear crystal that has better properties than glass. The size of the
piece is only
limited by the size of the press.
>> Ah yes, but can you make in sheets 60 feet by
10 feet by 1 inch thick and
>> withstand the pressure of 18,000 cu ft of water? :)
THAT would be a big heated vacuum press
9:21 p.m.
On 9/9/2016 7:58 PM, Fred Cisin wrote:
On Fri, 9 Sep 2016, Guy Sotomayor Jr wrote:
But where will you get the whale?
Ben.
Actually it actually *does* exist and is
reasonable to manufacture.
Here?s the
article:
http://www.nrl.navy.mil/media/news-releases/2015/transparent-armor-from-nrl…
It?s basically a sintered process where the ceramic is formed (this
particular one is called spinel)
and the process is to put the powder in a press, raise the temperature
and evacuate the air.
The result is a clear crystal that has better properties than glass.
The size of the piece is only
limited by the size of the press.
>> Ah yes, but can you make in sheets 60
feet by 10 feet by 1 inch
>> thick and
>> withstand the pressure of 18,000 cu ft of water? :)
THAT would be a big heated vacuum press
9:37 p.m.
Thank ${deity} we still have those.
On Fri, Sep 9, 2016 at 9:21 PM, ben <bfranchuk at jetnet.ab.ca> wrote:
On 9/9/2016 7:58 PM, Fred Cisin wrote:
--
Ian S. King, MSIS, MSCS, Ph.D. Candidate
The Information School <http://ischool.uw.edu>
Dissertation: "Why the Conversation Mattered: Constructing a Sociotechnical
Narrative Through a Design Lens
Archivist, Voices From the Rwanda Tribunal <http://tribunalvoices.org>
Value Sensitive Design Research Lab <http://vsdesign.org>
University of Washington
There is an old Vulcan saying: "Only Nixon could go to China."
On Fri, 9 Sep 2016, Guy Sotomayor Jr wrote:
Ben.
Actually it actually *does* exist and is
reasonable to manufacture.
Here?s the
article:
http://www.nrl.navy.mil/media/news-releases/2015/transparent
-armor-from-nrl-spinel-could-also-ruggedize-your-smart-phone
It?s basically a sintered process where the ceramic is formed (this
particular one is called spinel)
and the process is to put the powder in a press, raise the temperature
and evacuate the air.
The result is a clear crystal that has better properties than glass.
The size of the piece is only
limited by the size of the press.
Ah yes, but can you make in sheets 60 feet by 10 feet by 1 inch
>> thick and
>> withstand the pressure of 18,000 cu ft of water? :)
>>
>
THAT would be a big heated vacuum press
But where will you get the whale?
9:21 p.m.
On Sep 9, 2016, at 6:58 PM, Fred Cisin <cisin at
xenosoft.com> wrote:
On Fri, 9 Sep 2016, Guy Sotomayor Jr wrote:
?and if someone decided they needed it, it would get built. To ?cure? some of the
composites
on the 777X, Boing is building 3 autoclaves that are 28 ft wide and 120 ft long so it?s
not
outside of the realm of possibilities.
What *is* cool about the process for ?transparent aluminum? is that it?s scalable. To
get
bigger pieces you just need a bigger press. Unfortunately it probably will never be as
cheap as large scale glass making which can be done on a continuous process.
TTFN - Guy
Actually it actually *does* exist and is
reasonable to manufacture. Here?s the
article:
http://www.nrl.navy.mil/media/news-releases/2015/transparent-armor-from-nrl…
It?s basically a sintered process where the ceramic is formed (this particular one is
called spinel)
and the process is to put the powder in a press, raise the temperature and evacuate the
air.
The result is a clear crystal that has better properties than glass. The size of the
piece is only
limited by the size of the press.
>> Ah yes, but can you make in sheets 60
feet by 10 feet by 1 inch thick and
>> withstand the pressure of 18,000 cu ft of water? :)
THAT would be a big heated vacuum press
6:53 p.m.
> Transparent aluminum exists. It is called
sapphire. Sapphire is the
> crystalline form of aluminum oxide. If you recall, Apple was thinking of
> using it for the touch screen face of the iphone.
On Fri, 9 Sep 2016, Peter
Cetinski wrote:
Ah yes, but can you make in sheets 60 feet by 10 feet
by 1 inch thick
and withstand the pressure of 18,000 cu ft of water? :)
Not right now. Stuck on an "Error 53"
noon
On 9/8/2016 10:41 AM, Al Kossow wrote:
On 9/8/16 10:03 AM, Murray McCullough wrote:
I would say that Samuel Harbison's ascii art was impacted. He did a
project to produce ascii
art very early on (I think there is a tape floating around if you have a
spare impact line printer
around) which included a Spock picture. The image I think is dated 1973.
When I went to track him down to get permission to share his tape of
images, I went at it
just looking for the Sam Harbison of the header on the tape images. I
then realized he is the
Harbison of Harbison & Steel which was on the shelf behind me as my main
C programming
reference manual. Duh. He is a very nice fellow and said he had no
objection.
I noted Mike Loewen interviewed him about it some time later and did a
nice web page
about it.
http://i.imgur.com/K9EZq.jpg
http://privatewww.essex.ac.uk/~alien/aaa.html
https://savedparadigms.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/harbison-s-p-steele-g-l-…
http://q7.neurotica.com/Oldtech/ASCII/
What role did Star Trek play in the rise of small
computers that are
so ubiquitous today?
The main thing that comes to mind is how often images or
references to TOS
appear in mid-70's computing magazines.
1:58 p.m.
It's interesting to me that the Enterprise computers were effectively
command-and-control grammars, albeit somewhat freeform regarding the
commands (e.g., "Provide information about such-and-so" with no paramters
as to *what* knowledge). There were only a select few episodes about
self-aware or self-actualizing computers, and ISTR they were all critical.
-- Ian
On Thu, Sep 8, 2016 at 12:00 PM, jim stephens <jwsmail at jwsss.com> wrote:
On 9/8/2016 10:41 AM, Al Kossow wrote:
--
Ian S. King, MSIS, MSCS, Ph.D. Candidate
The Information School <http://ischool.uw.edu>
Dissertation: "Why the Conversation Mattered: Constructing a Sociotechnical
Narrative Through a Design Lens
Archivist, Voices From the Rwanda Tribunal <http://tribunalvoices.org>
Value Sensitive Design Research Lab <http://vsdesign.org>
University of Washington
There is an old Vulcan saying: "Only Nixon could go to China."
On 9/8/16 10:03 AM, Murray McCullough wrote:
I would say that Samuel Harbison's ascii art was impacted. He did a
project to produce ascii
art very early on (I think there is a tape floating around if you have a
spare impact line printer
around) which included a Spock picture. The image I think is dated 1973.
When I went to track him down to get permission to share his tape of
images, I went at it
just looking for the Sam Harbison of the header on the tape images. I then
realized he is the
Harbison of Harbison & Steel which was on the shelf behind me as my main C
programming
reference manual. Duh. He is a very nice fellow and said he had no
objection.
I noted Mike Loewen interviewed him about it some time later and did a
nice web page
about it.
http://i.imgur.com/K9EZq.jpg
http://privatewww.essex.ac.uk/~alien/aaa.html
https://savedparadigms.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/harbison-
s-p-steele-g-l-c-a-reference-manual-5th-ed.pdf
http://q7.neurotica.com/Oldtech/ASCII/
What role did Star Trek play in the rise of small
computers that are
so ubiquitous today?
The main thing that comes to mind is how often images or references to TOS
appear in mid-70's computing magazines.
3:54 p.m.
My physician uses a Palm Pilot type device specifically to look up medication doses and
drug interactions. He knows the fellow who wrote the program, who had the device that was
used in sick bay in mind when he wrote it. The telemetry unit I wore in the hospital last
week is another take off on the same idea. Portable insulin pumps that constantly measure
your glucose levels and deliver insulin accordingly are another. Walkie-talkies and cell
phones, microwave ovens, weighted and magnetic boots, transponders that translate (cell
phone apps) and find your companions (GPS), officers of all genders and varying
races...this list goes on. I am still waiting for the teleportation; that would be my
dream! Then again, it would also be nice to come home at the end of the day and tell the
food production unit on the wall exactly what I want for dinner, and a few minutes later
it is delivered.
4:23 p.m.
On 09/08/2016 03:54 PM, Electronics Plus wrote:
My physician uses a Palm Pilot type device specifically to look up
medication doses and drug interactions. He knows the fellow who wrote
the program, who had the device that was used in sick bay in mind
when he wrote it. The telemetry unit I wore in the hospital last week
is another take off on the same idea. Portable insulin pumps that
constantly measure your glucose levels and deliver insulin
accordingly are another. Walkie-talkies and cell phones, microwave
ovens, weighted and magnetic boots, transponders that translate (cell
phone apps) and find your companions (GPS), officers of all genders
and varying races...this list goes on. I am still waiting for the
teleportation; that would be my dream! Then again, it would also be
nice to come home at the end of the day and tell the food production
unit on the wall exactly what I want for dinner, and a few minutes
later it is delivered.
At my age, I'd be happy with some automation to clean the gutters or
wash the windows.
I worry that we may be headed more toward the "Outer Limits" "Stream of
Consciousness" episode meme.
--Chuck
11:01 a.m.
On Thu, Sep 08, 2016 at 01:03:36PM -0400, Murray McCullough wrote:
What role did Star Trek play in the rise of small
computers that are
so ubiquitous today? This science fiction series prognosticated many
things but how many actually happened or am I expecting too much from
a television show of 50 years ago?
I remember reading, ages ago, that the ubiquitous 'memory tapes' they
were always shoving into techno things on TOS were about the size of a
3.5" disk. And, after they started to become common, I remember thinking
that USB 'thumb drives' were about the form-factor of the chips used in
TNG.
--
Thomas L. Kula | kula at tproa.net | http://kula.tproa.net/
11:32 a.m.
On 09/08/2016 11:01 AM, Thomas Kula wrote:
I remember reading, ages ago, that the ubiquitous
'memory tapes'
they were always shoving into techno things on TOS were about the
size of a 3.5" disk. And, after they started to become common, I
remember thinking that USB 'thumb drives' were about the form-factor
of the chips used in TNG.
...and now we have the form factor memory device that's about at the
limit for ergonomics--the micro SD. I worry that I'll lose one in my
pocket lint or the potato chip crumbs on my desktop...
Ever notice that humans seem to have evolved out of the "snacking" habit
aboard the Enterprise? No dougnuts, candy bars, chips/crisps, soda
cans, etc...
And for heaven's sake, where did they put the head?
--Chuck
2:37 p.m.
From: Murray McCullough
Sent: Thursday, September 08, 2016 10:04 AM
What role did Star Trek play in the rise of small
computers that are
so ubiquitous today? This science fiction series prognosticated many
things but how many actually happened or am I expecting too much from
a television show of 50 years ago?
ST:TOS didn't really envision small computers. Systems like the M1 were
obviously modeled on the mainframes of the day, taken to a logical extreme
in which they were so powerful as to become self-aware. (Compare Mike in
RAH's _The Moon is a Harsh Mistress_.)
The communicators used in the same series actually did influence the
Motorola flip phone design--as stated by the designers at the time that
this device was introduced. They recognized their early adopter audience.
But cell phone technology was in place a decade and a half prior to ST:TOS,
so the development of what became the flip phone was simply an instance of
Moore's Law in action, not a direct influence from the show.
Although a lot of young tech people of the 60s and 70s enjoyed Star Trek,
it was more a matter of world view than any direct influence on technological
developments. The program was not, in the end, about, nor even particularly
friendly towards, technology. Hi tech was simply the milieu within which
stories of interpersonal interactions, one on one or civilization to civili-
zation, could take place. ("Wagon Train to the Stars", as Roddenberry
envisioned it.)
My $0.02.
Rich
Rich Alderson
Vintage Computing Sr. Systems Engineer
Living Computer Museum
2245 1st Avenue S
Seattle, WA 98134
mailto:RichA at LivingComputerMuseum.org
http://www.LivingComputerMuseum.org/
3:49 p.m.
Star Trek:TNG brought us our first view of Apple iPads.
Jerry
On 09/ 8/16 12:03 PM, Murray McCullough wrote:
What role did Star Trek play in the rise of small
computers that are
so ubiquitous today? This science fiction series prognosticated many
things but how many actually happened or am I expecting too much from
a television show of 50 years ago?
Happy computing!
Murray
4:07 p.m.
Star Trek:TNG brought us our first view of Apple
iPads.
Jerry
Except of course in the 24th century the concept of storing more than one
piece of data on the same pad did not exist. So each report had to be on a
separate pad. And of course data could be transferred everywhere except
between pads...
-Ali
4:26 p.m.
On Thu, Sep 08, 2016 at 04:07:45PM -0700, Ali wrote:
Given how things go, this is actually visionary. The guy has to pay
for data, then even if he owns more pads, he has to pay for right to
display the data on another device. Or even better (and so so much
more optimal) he has to buy another copy - after all, if he wants
another pad, he has to pay for it in full, right?
The ship has an atm unit somewhere on board - most probably vis-a-vis
the microgravity john. The unit sends messages back to Earth, and
contains a storage of every data they would want to have, thus they
can pay for it even if the message travels hundreds years back to the
central. The atm unit has data about crew's credits, and anticipation
of future incomes, so they can buy what they can anticipate to afford
- the info will be synced when they go back home, credit line opened
whenever necessary and interest rates added, as if they got it 200
years ago.
They will never come back home, however. After crossing certain line,
it can be expected they would be never able to repay the credit. It is
much better to just run away, so their atm will never sync, or be able
to send msg to Earth and receive the answer with updated rates and
debts.
Another possibility is, they connected a "pad" to the warp drive and
blowed everything up. But this happened _after_ the end of the movie.
--
Regards,
Tomasz Rola
--
** A C programmer asked whether computer had Buddha's nature. **
** As the answer, master did "rm -rif" on the programmer's home **
** directory. And then the C programmer became enlightened... **
** **
** Tomasz Rola mailto:tomasz_rola at bigfoot.com **
Star Trek:TNG
brought us our first view of Apple iPads.
Jerry
Except of course in the 24th century the concept of storing more than one
piece of data on the same pad did not exist. So each report had to be on a
separate pad. And of course data could be transferred everywhere except
between pads...
-Ali
7:18 p.m.
On 09/ 8/16 06:07 PM, Ali wrote:
So true.
Commander Adama never believed in networking
Star Trek:TNG
brought us our first view of Apple iPads.
Jerry
Except of course in the 24th century the concept of storing more than one
piece of data on the same pad did not exist. So each report had to be on a
separate pad. And of course data could be transferred everywhere except
between pads...
-Ali
9 Sep
9 Sep
10:45 a.m.
tor 2016-09-08 klockan 13:03 -0400 skrev Murray McCullough:
What role did Star Trek play in the rise of small
computers that are
so ubiquitous today? This science fiction series prognosticated many
things but how many actually happened or am I expecting too much from
a television show of 50 years ago?
My beginner UX book described an experiment there the theory revolved
around the value of process understanding vs manipulating by rote. To
test the theory they did a Starship Enterprise weapon console mockup
(without the core and the high power laser...)
If you need to fire the phaser , you need to redirect some of the power
which the core deliver from for example antigrav to the weapon.
The by-roote (wrong word, but i'm thinking about how a mariner would be
instructed) method is :
turn this dial from 7 to 4
that from 0 to 3
press that button
The process and system knowledge would mean that the officer would
understand why and why it must be so that the first dial was at value 6.
Including I NEED TO DO THIS 1 tenth second FASTER.
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