Comments on: The Star Trek Influence on the Palm OS

An article in the San Francisco Gate takes a look back at Star Treks influence on modern gadgetry. Among one of the primes examples, is the influence of certain Trek designs on the Palm OS and Treo Communicator.

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D'oh.

hoodoo @ 3/15/2004 11:54:53 AM #

First post! lol.

No wonder I feel like such a geek using my Treo 180. The flip lid always makes me feel quite conspicuous using it on the subway, now it will be even worse since it was ** officially ** inspired by the Star Trek communicator.

RE: D'oh.

Gar @ 3/15/2004 5:20:36 PM #

... and we all had so much fun popping the lid open with a flip of the wrist when the Palm III was first introduced.

-----------------
My wife has to sell a lot of candles (www.ccandles.com) to buy her new Palm.

RE: D'oh.

Token User @ 3/16/2004 3:27:02 PM #

Who with a Kyocera 7135 hasn't enabled the "sound on opening" feaure, and made "Dolphin" the default sound?
Can you open the device ever again without saying "Kirk here..."?

~ "Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed." - DV ~

Palm Shmalm, it's cell phones that are the "communicators"

Strider_mt2k @ 3/15/2004 5:21:04 PM #

You're talking Palms, but referencing communicators.

What you should be referencing is the Tricorder!

RE: Palm Shmalm, it's cell phones that are the

elo @ 3/16/2004 5:27:16 PM #

Uh, no, that's a communicator. Tricorders were much larger and worn on a shoulder strap.

The design influence for the first Treo's was definitely the communicator.

elo

RE: Palm Shmalm, it's cell phones that are the

Token User @ 3/16/2004 6:36:02 PM #

Tricorders were much larger and worn on a shoulder strap.

... much like my Apple Newton MP110 :)

~ "Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed." - DV ~

RE: Palm Shmalm, it's cell phones that are the

Strider_mt2k @ 3/17/2004 7:02:56 PM #

I stand duly corrected on that one.

I was thinking more along the lines of function.

Also, it seems that you CAN actually use the energy cells from several Palm handhelds to refuel a shuttlecraft.
My bad.

(Just don't dump and ignite it unless you're trying to attract attention while breaking orbit...)

Oops, now I'm thinking Phasers! Doh!

Oh, those days...

mikecane @ 3/15/2004 6:15:39 PM #

"In the first pilot, Mr. Spock used a viewer in a meeting room to display what resembled a primitive PowerPoint presentation to the ship's executive officers."

-- god, that's rich!!

"Rob Haitani, PalmOne designer: I have to say I was most inspired by the vision of racial equality. Remember in those days, Japanese people were portrayed on TV as buck-toothed clowns with thick glasses. But on Star Trek, there were Asian and African American bridge officers, and starships with Japanese names."

-- Rob! I just watched an episode of "Johnny Staccato" on Trio and the Japanese portrayed on that were not stereotyped. And, hey, what about Bruce Lee as Kato on "The Green Hornet?" Plus, we all bloody worshipped Tesuka as kids (Astro Boy!).

"-- Television broadcasters and makers of TVs were still in the early stages of the transition from black-and-white to color, and many households had only one TV. A typical "big screen'' TV of that era measured 23 inches diagonally and was housed in a wooden box."

-- the advent of the NBC Pea****. "The following broadcast is brought to you in living color by NBC!" And, yeah, you had to *polish* the damned wooden box the set was in. And its resolution was pathetic. And it had *knobs*!

RE: Oh, those days...

mikecane @ 3/15/2004 6:19:38 PM #

Oh for crying out loud, Ryan! Your idiotic censorware is blotting out the name of a fekkin *bird*!

RE: Oh, those days...

brad @ 3/16/2004 3:22:02 AM #

Its just poppy****!

RE: Oh, those days...

brad @ 3/16/2004 3:24:55 AM #

What is even funnier it that I just registered for this account on PIC and somehow was sent a link for someone elses account so when I log in I can see someone elese info and my name is now Brad.

RE: Oh, those days...

hoodoo @ 3/16/2004 10:43:07 AM #

Aren't we ****y.

Oh yeah, and Stephen Lea**** is a funny Canadian writer.

RE: Oh, those days...

elo @ 3/16/2004 5:34:33 PM #

The unfortunate thing about overuse of censorware is that, in situations like this, it actually serves to remind the user of a naughty word that isn't being used. It's as if the software itself was swearing at us.

Don't get me wrong - I'm all for cutting out language that is clearly appropriate. But it's hard to miss the irony here.

elo

Paramount sues Palm1!

rcartwright @ 3/15/2004 6:07:48 PM #

I can see it now. Paramount sues Palm1 (and everyone else with a PDA for that matter) for infringing on their communcators "look and feel".

Seriously, thats probably why there were not any such lawsuits. The guy who "invented" the waterbed in the 60s could not get a patent because Robert Heinleien described one to a "T" in a short story in the late 30s.

Life is a great adventure or nothing.

RE: Paramount sues Palm1!

Rumble @ 3/16/2004 9:28:00 PM #

Heinlein geek alert! Heinlein geek alert!

It was called a "hydraulic bed" and it appeared in "Stranger in a Strange Land". Boo-yah!

-Bryan

It's official: New palmOnes next month!

mikecane @ 3/17/2004 9:12:03 AM #

"People can expect new devices, to be unveiled next month, to provide much more in terms of multimedia storage so that they can take their favourite images, music, video and other files with them when they are out and about, as well as giving them a link back to the office or to their e-mail."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3517560.stm