In Honor of Spock-- 10 Devices from Star Trek We Use Today
It's hard to remember back to 1966, the year that the TV show Star Trek debuted. The Vietnam War was at full throttle, with the nightly news showing body bags of our beloved young men, (and women). Up to 200,000 people showed up to protest the war, to bring our beloved men and women home again.
Heavy weight champion, Muhammad Ali, (formerly known as Cassius Clay), formally declared himself to be a conscientious and refused to go to war. Miranda Rights suddenly became important, after the Supreme Court overturned a conviction, based on the defendant not having been informed of his right to council, and to not testify against himself. Ronald Reagan became the governor of California.
The Mini-skirt first became popular, and for the first time in hundreds of years, women of the western world's knees were bared. A giant 25" color TV cost $859.00. Jacqueline Susanne's book, "The Valley of the Dolls" was published. Telephones were analog, with dials, a look that had not substantially changed for the past 100 years-- and many places had their own phone systems. Simon and Garfunkel released the hit album, "The Sounds of Silence", and Pampers developed the first disposable diaper.
Remember that the world back then had no personal computers, there was no internet, no calculators, and no microwave ovens in homes. Coffee pots perked. The milkman still delivered milk every morning to the back porch. The newspaper had both a morning and evening edition. Mail was delivered in the morning and in the afternoon, and stamps cost $.04.
Into this age of complex innocence, the first Star Trek episode aired. It wasn't a big hit, at the time. The cast seemed nice enough, but the show was a bit too futuristic for many. What seemed to be impossibly futuristic then has actually become commonplace. Come with me on a journey to the past, and marvel at our present!
Cell Phones -- The communicators of Star Trek, with their flip phone design, enabled the crew to communicate with one another and with their ship. At the time, all of us had clunky dial phones-- even the so-called "princess" phones were clunky. The thought that we could just flip a small machine open and talk was quite an innovation! Inventor Martin Cooper has stated that it was Captain Kirk's gold communicator that inspired him to design the first mobile phone.
Automatic Doors -- In the world of 1966, anyone entering a store had to physically open a door-- there were no automatic doors. The invention of the electric eye and the laser beam, has enabled inventors to put automatic doors nearly everywhere. A sensor notes your presence and opens a door-- just like aboard the Enterprise .
Universal Translator -- Not quite as wonderful as the one depicted on Star Trek, with Google Translator and Skype translator, many languages of the world are somewhat understandable with the click of a button. It IS kind of fun to translate things and try to understand what they mean... And a lot more convenient than carrying around dictionaries.
Viewscreens -- The large view screen on the bridge of the Enterprise , seemed, at the time, to be a futuristic marvel! But today's large, room-sized HD TVs have added enormously to our viewing pleasure, and include surround sound and a whole host of extra features that even the Enterprise crew would have enjoyed!
Tricorder -- Dr. McCoy's tricorder is now actually in use. Although not as sophisticated as that found on Star Trek, doctors can place a small sensing device on a patient's forehead and get readings of heart rate, temperature, oxygen level and a complete ECG reading.
Speaking to a computer -- One of Star Trek's greatest promises was that one could speak to a computer and get an immediate, understandable result. We're not quite there, yet, but we're getting close. Applications like Siri, Google Now, and Cortana offer a reasonable facsimile of actually speaking to a computer-- and it's getting better, every year.
Transparent aluminum -- In the movie, Star Trek, The Voyage Home , Scottie offered the formula for transparent aluminum to a company in exchange for materials to modify the Enterprise . Today, transparent aluminum is produced by a company called Surmet and is called ALON.
Hypospray -- Dr. McCoy injected his patients with all kinds of medications, but he didn't use a needle, calling the medical practice barbaric. (I must agree!) Instead, Dr. McCoy used a hypospray-- a device that injected fluids through the skin, into the patient. This technology, although expensive, is in use today, and it is called jet injectors. They do cause less pain than regular needles!
Crew Locator -- in 1966, the thought that someone in a space ship could find a human being on the planet below was fantastic! Yet, we do much of the same today-- via GPS locators.
Space Travel -- Last but not least, in 1966, mankind was still very much a stranger to space travel-- as most of us realistically are. Yet, there are plans to launch people into space and send them to Mars on a one-way mission. Could, perhaps, Star Trek have done its part in helping us to keep our dream alive?
Thanks for coming by!
Tags
Who is online
52 visitors
Thank you, Leonard Nimoy and, to all the crew of the Enterprise-- thank you for your years of vision, wisdom, humor, and creativity.
I hope you enjoy this article!
The article that inspired this is found here .
Love this article, thanks for posting! Amazing how science fictions minds of yesterday become science realities of today. I await the transporter...hope they hurry before it's really time to "beam me up"!
The wall sized tv is at least as old as Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury...
The Matter replicator. Not realized yet in today's technology but the basis of all material production. Just go to the panel and punch up the computer record for a thanksgiving meal with all the trimmings and Voila' it's right there.
Need a new suit of clothes? punch in what you want and voila' it's in your hands.
The basis of everything needed to live life in startrek including the transporter.
The cloaking device? In space it would result in invisibility. Already here in experimental form. Figure in another 20 or so years it will become the camouflage of anything and everything you want to look like it's not there.
Science Fiction has in many ways been a look into the future.
...and the story goes,... that the pilot episode , The Cage, did not air because Roddenberry's wife was the number two in command of the Enterprise. The NBC Execs did not feel the world was ready for a woman to be in a command role (second in command of the Enterprise) on TV. so the pilot was redone with Captain Kirk in charge of the Enterprise and Mr. Spock next in command. Gene's wife assumed the role of Nurse Chapel. My how times have changed....
BTW Start Trek was the first TV show to actually show the first interracial kiss on TV.....
Me, too, Lynne! It would certainly revolutionize travel-- but it would be SO expensive, at first...
But fun!
Thanks so much for coming by-- it's always good to see you!
Did Ray Bradbury first write about it?
I bet there are many ideas that weren't necessarily original-- and today, some of today's science fiction, like that show, "The Dome", is something I read of long ago! It was called a "spin-dizzy".
Good to see you, Brolly!
Yes, it has... I wonder if the new 3-D printing is the forerunner of the Replicator?
Thanks so much for coming by!
I don't know that we have really "advanced" that far... We still haven't had a woman VP.
Majel, wasn't that her name? And yes, I've read a lot about how the kiss between Uhura and Kirk was so ground breaking. AT the time, I didn't think that much about it.
So glad you came by, and thanks! It's good to see friends!
Thanks for coming by, Mickey... I was feeling lonely, what with Spock and all...
I loved Scotty, too-- in fact, I loved them all. Still do!
Oh golly, in 1966, there may have been electric typewriters in the office, but not at home. Life was very different! The moon shot seemed very iffy-- certainly not a sure thing. Star Trek's optimistic version of the future made us all happy and look forward to the future, not dread it.
No, but think of it, A cashless, employmentless, servantless society? Worth not measured by wealth but by value.
Interesting concept.
Unfortunately, it couldn't replicate anything live.
Very much amazing, but not as far into the future as you might think Flamey. The series came out, with the Hypospray included, in 1966. In 1969, part of my induction into the US Navy was a series of inoculations. Guess what was used to give them; YEP. We were told to lean into the spray gun or it would rip a big slash in our arm. It worked. The injections were given quickly and relatively painlessly (big change from the square, rusty needle that was previously used by the US military).
A gay asian helmsman, Lets get all the minorities included...
Checkov was good,
Bester was better.
My dad's "yearbook" of his time in the military has pictures of those guns! They looked like laser guns. He said it wasn't painful, but afterwards, the shots made your arms sore. there are all kinds of those things, now... Just looking up pictures was a fun thing!
Thanks for coming by to see me, TTGA!
And they all got along...
One of the funniest moments is when Chekov and, was it Uhura?, were looking for the "nuclear wessels"... I think it was The Voyage Home .
I liked the diversity, too! Everyone knew their own language, but everyone spoke English, too. No need for a universal translator!
Who was Bester? Was he played by the guy, whose name I forget, who ended up playing a preacher in another long-running series, and is now in trouble for abuse of under-age girls? Was he the fellow in the movie that fell in love with Veeg'r?
I didn't know that George Takei was gay until just a few years ago... At the time, I don't remember it being an issue, but, of course, it could have been, and I was just unaware of it. A lot of actors were gay, but we didn't know it, at the time. Like Rock Hudson. It was kept quiet.
Thanks for coming by!
They were all good, but that cast was just magical, I think!
Neat idea, isn't it? It would take a lot of the bitterness out of the current problems...
I love Earl Grey tea! Yep, I agree!
Good to see you, Feronia!
And more fun?
Thanks for coming to read this, Flame! I love your new avatar!
OUCH.
I think they made them work their arms, to work the soreness out, or something...
Of course, this was in 1961, no telling what they did or what shots they gave them!
Daddy only knew of one, the tetanus shot. Makes you wonder, though. Daddy's been dead for 30 years-- I don't think they gave him anything that killed him, but you never know, exactly, what they did back then.