Star Trek A Look Back in the Growth of Technology

[SGOS]

I watched a number of episodes back when the series first aired, but was not a huge fan.  It's mostly new to me now.  I've been watching episodes from the first season (1987).  That's less than 30 years ago, but the sets, acting, and especially the special effects are surprisingly dated.  I don't remember it that way, so I'm thinking it must have used the state of the art when it first aired.  The progress of Hollywood in the last 27 years surprises me, even though as a viewer, I've been a part of the transition. 

Most of the change is due to scientific advancement.  I guess 27 years is a fairly long span of time for the advancement of modern technology relative to the last 100 years, but 200 years ago appears like a fairly stagnant time in human growth.  And a thousand years ago, it seems like absolutely nothing would advance in a 27 year time span.

Just an observation that strikes me as odd for some reason.

[SGOS]

Along the lines of Hollywood advancements, I found a clip of an interview with the guy that plays Caesar in the Planet of the Apes.  Apparently, he doesn't just wear a highly realistic ape costume.  They film him in human form, and he wears some kind of head gear that holds a specialized camera a foot in front of his face.  It appears that this captures his human like facial expressions, which are then over laid with digital ape features.  Who thinks up such specialized technology?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XM9Pvfq1KhE

[Solitary]

I think computers have revolutionized everything. I still can't believe in just the past ten years how good the graphics are on computer games, and in a lot of movies you don't even realized a lot of it is computerized, starting with the Titanic. I'm still waiting for virtual reality games. I went to a trade show twenty years ago that had a display to watch using the technology used on the Apache helicopters. The man there told me to watch it to the end to see what it is really like. It was just like reality except for very faint lines running horizontally. But what got to me is how it effected my feeling and emotions. When you fell using a hang glider you felt it, and skiing on a 6,000 foot cliff edge in the Alps scared the crap out of me. You actually get vertigo when looking down from a high place. Solitary   

[Shol'va]

Andy Serkis. He's Gollum from LOTR, just in case anyone missed it. He is really good at what he does.

[stromboli]

William Shatner did a show some time ago about how Star Trek predicted everything from cell phones (communicators) to hand held computers, etc. I have a different view, because when Star Trek came on I was an avid reader of sci-fi and had a pretty good idea what was state of the art back then. Nothing put on the screen in the early episodes was really epically new or really that innovative.

Roddenberry was sued at least once for "borrowing" not only ideas but plot lines. Some of the later characters, the Borg being the primary candidate, are very similar to Saberhagen's earlier "Berserker" novels, which are way better. Roddenberry wrote and produced westerns prior to Star Trek; if you check the plot lines, you'll see some basic western themes in them.

I give Star Trek credit for putting technology and the concepts of humanity in a cuture context into the lexicon, but personally think it is overrated.

[Green Bottle]

William Shatner did a show some time ago about how Star Trek predicted everything from cell phones (communicators) to hand held computers, etc. I have a different view, because when Star Trek came on I was an avid reader of sci-fi and had a pretty good idea what was state of the art back then. Nothing put on the screen in the early episodes was really epically new or really that innovative.

Roddenberry was sued at least once for "borrowing" not only ideas but plot lines. Some of the later characters, the Borg being the primary candidate, are very similar to Saberhagen's earlier "Berserker" novels, which are way better. Roddenberry wrote and produced westerns prior to Star Trek; if you check the plot lines, you'll see some basic western themes in them.

I give Star Trek credit for putting technology and the concepts of humanity in a cuture context into the lexicon, but personally think it is overrated.

I loved the original series when i was younger but looking at it now well, its so old.... the next generation was excellent and also voyager , not so much deep space nine, could never get into it as much  dunno why but i watched every episode same with enterprise, again not as good as tng or voyager but ok i thought. also seen all the movies and the worst of the lot has to be The final frontier, thot it was shite, shite storyline just crap altogether................

[Nam]

I watched a number of episodes back when the series first aired

In 1987? I think you need to go back a couple of decades.

-Nam

[stromboli]

In 1987? I think you need to go back a couple of decades.

-Nam

Right. First episode aired in 1966.

[Nam]

Right. First episode aired in 1966.

Then the cartoon series in '73 then TNG.

-Nam

[Hydra009]

William Shatner did a show some time ago about how Star Trek predicted everything from cell phones (communicators) to hand held computers, etc. I have a different view, because when Star Trek came on I was an avid reader of sci-fi and had a pretty good idea what was state of the art back then. Nothing put on the screen in the early episodes was really epically new or really that innovative.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure he never originated those concepts, but his show did popularize them.  And it's pretty eerie how similar a lot of trek technology is to real world devices:  tablets, comm badges, touchscreen computer monitors, optical head-mounted displays (aka google glasses), video conferencing, etc.  Still waiting on that holodeck, though.

[Nam]

Spaceship at warp speed then holodeck.

-Nam

[Hydra009]

Spaceship at warp speed then holodeck.

-Nam

Au contraire.  Holodeck is priority #1.  Spaceships give you access to a neverending series of suns and lifeless rocks within a staggering amount of more or less empty space.  Holodecks give you access to the ultimate entertainment center with virtually unlimited possibility.  Think about it:  Holo-novels.  Historical simulations.  Adventure.  Training.  R&R...

If holodecks were invented irl, they would be the final invention.

[SGOS]

In 1987? I think you need to go back a couple of decades.

-Nam

I had to reread my OP to understand the confusion.  I didn't specify I meant The Next Generation series.

[SGOS]

Holodecks give you access to the ultimate entertainment center with virtually unlimited possibility.

You could specify to the Holodeck to create a combination TV, Playstation, Stereo set up and use the holodeck to watch the Superbowl on Television.

[Hydra009]

You could specify to the Holodeck to create a combination TV, Playstation, Stereo set up and use the holodeck to watch the Superbowl on Television.

You could specify to the Holodeck to create a Superbowl set on Qo'noS with cheerleaders from Risa and fire-breathing dragons circling overhead and cast yourself as the QB.