Things in the original Star Trek series that came true

I thought some would enjoy contributing here those ideas that Gene Roddenberry envisioned in the original Star Trek series that came true.

Such as:

Personal Communicators (Cell phones)

Plasma displays

Lasers

Computer Voice recognition

Still waiting on the following:

Transporters

Tribbles (sp)

Artificial gravity

[edit on 5-5-2005 by Freedom_for_sum]

Originally posted by Freedom_for_sum
I thought some would enjoy contributing here those ideas that Gene Roddenberry envisioned in the original Star Trek series that came true.

Such as:

Personal Communicators (Cell phones)

Apart from the similarity of a flip phone to the Startrek communicator, I don't think it was as much of a vision... After all, it's a walkie talkie and these were in existence before the ST.

Plasma displays

Is that what they are called in ST?

Lasers

Lasers were invented a long time before ST.

Computer Voice recognition

Existed in rudimentary form at the time the first ST came out.

I guess I meant to say Laser weapons.

As far as the displays: they were flat screen; which I don't believe they had back then since CRT's were used.

Walkie Talkies really didn't apply since they were open-air. In other words, everyone tuned to the same freq could hear the conversation.

I think its more coincidence. I'd still love to own a Tribble though.

Things in the original Star Trek series that came true

How about "none of the physics?" That stuff kills me, I could never watch more than five minutes of the show without being horrified.

Your word envisioned is misleading, for reasons stated.

To add to the list:
Baldness
Tightclothing

I;m still waiting for those green girls, lol

The below link should go nicely with your post.


Mission puts "Star Trek" tech to the test

I think the Flip on Cell Phones is more the creation of GR than the actual ideal of cordless communication.

X

the personal communicator also allowed the ship to locate the surface crew to "beam" them up.... I think thats called GPS... Something that was not around when ST was written.

How about ION engines we have those too

Or what about the "body scanner" although ST example is a handheld do dade. Body scanners today prepare a 3d computer image of the body structures and highlight possible problem areas

How about the low orbit to planet surface shuttle ??? we have one of those now although a bit bigger and little bit more difficult to "fly".

Originally posted by Oblivions void
I;m still waiting for those green girls, lol

Arg, you beat me too it! Definately something I want from Star Trek.

im not a star trek fan, but wasnt antimatter a source of fuel for the ship ?

that is coming true, in small forms.

Ooooooh Amorymeltzer Imma beat you wit muh model Enterprise!
Jk... I broke that thing years ago... playing war with a romulan warbird and klingon battlecruiser teehee

Lets see... phasers yup got those now, "holographic" projections, yup got those now... oh wait we're sticking to TOS.. hmm... uhm... bad acting yup got that... uhm... annoying aliens, yup got those.. warp drive? some of us think we have it... slower than molasses computers, yup got those too.

I'd say we've got a few up on star trek already!

Yes, Star Trek was ahead of it's time. I'm still trying to locate Hary Baites' book that inspired 'The Day The Earth Stood Still' as there are some things that man either knew re UFOs or some falicy that early/later ufologists followed strictly due to details of that movie?

Dallas

Amorymeltzer: Do those things bother you so much that you can't watch Trek? I hope not because there's a lot more beneath the surface.

Star Trek is not about physics. It's about morality and ethics. Each episode could easily be produced as a stage play and it would be excellent edu-tainment. In fact, it is Gene L.Coon who was one of the major engines behind Trek. He wrote most of the best episodes. He created Kahn and he created the Klingons. Roddenberry's genius was in the concept of humans cooperatively exploring the universe.

The thing about Star Trek is that it shows scenarios which are totally absurd to present-day humans but which do lie in our future. What do you do when you encounter a giant, planet eating entity? How would you resolve that problem? Well, if space travel is something you aspire to, you must theorize about problems like this. To me, this is the best element of Trek.

Also, there are many episodes which show how to get out of mental traps. For example, when your reality is being manipulated. How would you know that such was the case? You'd have to methodically probe your environment. That's exactly what the Trek characters do in many episodes. The best part of the aliens in Trek is that they are usually more advanced than the humans. Trek gives humanity the opportunity to view itself objectively, through the eyes of other civilizations.

The heroes are essentially communists/socialists although high-tech ones. The flaw in Trek is that money is never discussed. They just "dealt" with it at some point in their past. The Trek world emerges after civilization (of our day) is decimated many times over. The series is not about "how" humanity unites, it deals with what we would do if we ever could unite.

As for what has come true, I think the villans of Trek have been emulated pretty well in our 20th century. The tech isn't happening because space is closed off to humans and so we are all down here, crawling on our bellies, so to speak. Humans could have been in space eons ago if it weren't for mental viruses that keep us grounded.

[edit on 5-5-2005 by smallpeeps]

Originally posted by smallpeeps
Amorymeltzer: Do those things bother you so much that you can't watch Trek? I hope not because there's a lot more beneath the surface.

Oh, I know that, most definitely, but it's like taking a great movie (star wars) and putting a terrible actor (hayden christianson or whatever). It worsens the movie, except I can deal with bad acting. I can't deal with blatantly wrong physics, of which there are tons. You are right, however, to point all the underlying motives of the show, and it really can teach us a lot about how we think and react and interact with a space lifestyle.

I just can't bear to watch a show that, while perfectly simulating bledding in a zero-gravity environment, let's you hear explosions in space.

Oh comeooooooon! Now how entertaining would it be if the shuttlecraft carrying the captain and a bunch of delegates just went *flash* with a little silent lightshow when it exploded?! Boooorriiiing!
It's movies and TV maaaan! It's supposed to tell us how to think.. got nothin to do with accuracy!

Originally posted by apc
It's movies and TV maaaan! It's supposed to tell us how to think.. got nothin to do with accuracy!

I know, I know, I know. Something about it really ticks me off more than it really should, I don't know why.

On the topic (woah!) a lot of the things in 2001 came true, like coffee machines and stuff (all I remember off hand).

Then again, no hibernation chambers, although we do have a HAL - Just move all of HAL's letters forward one...

Don't forget doors that automatically open when you stand in front of them. I had a professor once say they were amazed watching ST growing up that doors could actually open when you stand in front of them. Now, we get upset when we have to manually open doors.

Originally posted by Amorymeltzer

Things in the original Star Trek series that came true

How about "none of the physics?" That stuff kills me, I could never watch more than five minutes of the show without being horrified.

Your word envisioned is misleading, for reasons stated.

To add to the list:

Baldness
Tightclothing

Hehe, reminds me of a Star Trek: Voyager episode where Ensign Kim is panicking because there is "100 kilopascals of stress" on the hull, and the ship is bouncing and shaking like crazy. Who researches the so-called physics on that show, anyway? Don't get me wrong, I love Star Trek, but surely it could be a little bit more realistic? Unless the ship is made out of cardboard, I don't think 100kPa is going to be a problem, especially as seeing that is atmospheric pressure

Originally posted by Dallas

Yes, Star Trek was ahead of it's time. I'm still trying to locate Hary Baites' book that inspired 'The Day The Earth Stood Still' as there are some things that man either knew re UFOs or some falicy that early/later ufologists followed strictly due to details of that movie?

Dallas

Harry Bates’ 1940 novella Farewell to the Master and the central character in the sci-fi classic The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

A great story and yet vastly different from the film, worth the read if you can get it... maybe...

I can help... a little...

Farewell To The Master

Another thing they had were A.Is, we now have A.Is, albait they are not as advanced as say the ships computer, or further along in StarTrek history, DATA, but we do have them.

WARP drives, though we dont have them (maybe the gov. does, but I dont know), there is a theory for one, in fact the way it works in the show is very close to how the theory works, warping space to create a warp bubble, and having the bubble of space traveling faster than light, instead of the ship.

Nuclear misiles, well, we did have them at the time, but the StarTrek ones are more like our modern day ones.

Particle beam weapons, they had them in the show, I dont know if there are working ones in real life, but they are able to be made.