[MrQ1701]

Originally Posted by kevin

And in fact, cell phones were developed over a decade before Motorola launched the StarTac clamshell phone which started to resemble the communicator/tricorder.

Are you simply ignoring the fact that the designers of the Startac phone have mentioned Star Trek and the flip communicator as inspiration for it's design?? I have NOT claimed any technology in particular would not exist without Trek. But I do give credit where credit is due.

[kevin]

Originally Posted by MrQ1701

True. No argument from me. But you are ignoring the fact that Trek HAS inspired many people. THAT is my point.

But not everyone - that is my point.

I believe it is possible that Trek inspired this invention. Must EVERY article that mentions any new technology mention the inspiration from which it came?? What is that saying??? "lack of evidence is not evidence".... or something like that. Because the Bible does not mention dinosaurs, then they must NOT have existed!! (I'm not trying to start a bible debate, just making a point)

It might be possible but if you are going to use the article to stick in a dig because you want to, it would be preferable if you could actually prove your initial assertion.

Otherwise it's just hi-jacking for your own satisfaction.

[kevin]

Originally Posted by MrQ1701

Are you simply ignoring the fact that the designers of the Startac phone have mentioned Star Trek and the flip communicator as inspiration for it's design?? I have NOT claimed any technology in particular would not exist without Trek. But I do give credit where credit is due.

No - simply equally ackowledging that it was more a design influence in the evolution of existing technology.

[horatio]

Yep, superimposed upon what already existed.

Let's take warp drive. The little I know about theoretical physics is that the folks who have taken a look at it have come to the conclusion that warping space demands exorbitant energies. In other terms, they have taken a look at it and said "not feasible".

Let's take beaming. Teleportation is hardly a Star Trek invention, but the folks who experiment with quantum teleportation probably think about Trek's beaming from time to time. Most likely it has virtually no impact upon their research priorities though.


I think that Trek has rather inspired people to do a certain job. Jimmy Doohan has often talked about fans who have written him that they decided to become engineers because of him, Goldberg has been inspired by Nichols' character and I am sure there are also some doctors out there who have been influenced by McCoy.
And there are lalso ess life-chaning inspirations in Trek. The one or other guy might have picked up a Shakespeare or Gilgamesh copy because of Trek.

[MrQ1701]

Originally Posted by MrQ1701

You know... the guy or gal that has worked so hard to bring this type of technology to fruition was probably inspired by Geordi LaForge. I wonder if NuTrek will inspire anyone to do anything important. Seems doubtful

What definition of "probably" means "was" or "for certain"???

I also wonder why stating that Trek has inspired many people somehow implies that EVERYONE must have been inspired by Trek??

[kevin]

Originally Posted by horatio

Yep, superimposed upon what already existed.

Let's take warp drive. The little I know about theoretical physics is that the folks who have taken a look at it have come to the conclusion that warping space demands exorbitant energies. In other terms, they have taken a look at it and said "not feasible".

Let's take beaming. Teleportation is hardly a Star Trek invention, but the folks who experiment with quantum teleportation probably think about Trek's beaming from time to time. Most likely it has virtually no impact upon their research priorities though.


I think that Trek has rather inspired people to do a certain job. Jimmy Doohan has often talked about fans who have written him that they decided to become engineers because of him, Goldberg has been inspired by Nichols' character and I am sure there are also some doctors out there who have been influenced by McCoy.
And there are lalso ess life-chaning inspirations in Trek. The one or other guy might have picked up a Shakespeare or Gilgamesh copy because of Trek.

Indeed, lots of people derive their inspirations from different sources and employ them to different degrees.

Probably a lot of people chose to become medical staff watching shows like 'St Elswhere' and 'er', or were inspired to change their lives maybe because of experiences that characters had.

Any sufficiently popular and influential TV series can have this effect. It is not unique to Star Trek, merely to certain fields of study moreso than others. It is important to remember that Star Trek has had influences, but that in the world of sci-fi, it is also not the sole influencer.

[MrQ1701]

Originally Posted by kevin

No - simply equally ackowledging that it was more a design influence in the evolution of existing technology.

Did I ever claim the influence was anything more than in design?? I never claimed cellphones were invented because of Trek.

[kevin]

Originally Posted by MrQ1701

What definition of "probably" means "was" or "for certain"???

I also wonder why stating that Trek has inspired many people somehow implies that EVERYONE must have been inspired by Trek??

When it's used to imply that no-one will be influenced by any new Trek.

[horatio]

I don't see any scientific inspiration in the previous ten Trek movies. It might have inspired some people to read Melville, Shakespeare or learn Klingon, but that's hardly world-changing. Especially the latter is not.

As usual, Trek lives on TV. Movies are just the little extras, the 13th salary, the cream on the cappuccino.

[Captain Tom Coughlin]

I watched TOS reruns as a kid on TV, but it was really the movies that brought me in!