Diskovery


^Cby Jay Wilbur

Whenever I watch Star Trek, both the original and The Next
Generation, I always get a bit jealous over all the neat toys
they get to play with.  Of course the warp drive and transporter
technology are great, I get all worked up about the items I
think might really exist and have an application I can use now.
Back in the original series they had those great communicators
and pen-and-paper based computers.  In ST-TNG they've done away
with the clamshell communicators and gone with a lapel pin deal.
All of these items are either available or being worked on
today.

The good old clamshell communicator from the original ST has
found its way into telephone service--cellular telephone service
that is.  Some of the most sophisticated, lightest and most
compact of the new cellular phones use ST's clamshell design.

Pen based computers are like electronic clipboards.  You write
on them and the computer turns that information into computer
data.  Star Trek fans have seen these electronic clipboards many
times.  Every time Yeoman Rand handed Captain Kirk a document
that needed signing, it was on a pen based computer.  Today you
can buy pen based computers from over a dozen different
manufactureres.  It seems that Star Trek's glimpse of the future
was more like a crystal ball technology forecast.

ST-TNG is no different in it's technology forecasting.  As any
Trekker worth his weight in dilithium can tell you, the
clamshell communicator is gone.  The new crew of the Enterprise
wear these great little lapel pins that maintains contact with
the ships computer.  The user need only tap his pin to locate
another crew member or initiate a session with the ship's
computer.  This little device is GREAT!  This little device is
also reality at a special place here on Earth--Xerox's
Palo Alto Research Center (PARC).

PARC is a place that defines the next steps in computer
technology years before we users get to play with it.  In the
late seventies and early eighties the gang at PARC were working
on a point-and-shoot mouse-based interface.  Steve Jobs saw that
point-and-shoot interface on a visit to PARC and the seed for 
the Macintosh interface was planted.  It's apparent the PARC 
helps to develop tomorrow's technology today.

At PARC they have a device called The Active Badge (originally
developed by Olivetti Cambridge research laboratory) that clips
onto your shirt, much like those security ID badges currently
worn by employees of large companies.  The Active Badge contains
a small microprocessor and an infrared transmitter along with
batteries to make it all run.  By placing infrared receivers
connected to the office computers in each room, the wearer's
calls can automatically follow him, doors can automatically open
and computer workstations can set themselves to the user's
preference without any user intervention.  While the size and
application of PARC's Active Badge and ST-TNG's lapel pin
differ, it's easy to see that it's on its way to being one and
the same.

Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek and Star Trek-The Next Generation
have not only given us a glimpse of a future filled with hope
and adventure, but he's also given us a glimpse of where
technology is headed.  I often wonder if he knew just how right
he was about the impressive devices he created as props for the
show?

^R-J