Classic tricorder

[CorporalCaptain]

That's a good retcon:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accelerometer
"Accelerometers are used in tablet computers and digital cameras so that images on screens are always displayed upright."

It accounts for Scotty, Chekov, and Palamas holding their tricorders funny in "Who Mourns..."

With accelerometers, you can hold it any way you want.

Actually, it makes more sense to hold it that way than any other way, because of how the straps are.

Whether it should be mounted in a different way on straps is a different issue, of course. But, yeah, nowadays we expect our phones to know how they're oriented and readjust their interactive displays accordingly. On the other hand, the tricorder had a few physical controls....

 

[Ronald Held]

Did I miss any posts that suggest Spock can interpret the acoustic signal in the field?

 

[Mytran]

Did I miss any posts that suggest Spock can interpret the acoustic signal in the field?

There was this suggestion:

Well--if I want to display the status of the health of the holder--the sensor will point towards you, after all. Turn it the other way, and listen to the sounds. My guess is that Spock was picking up on a symphony of sounds unheard by us.

Which would be fine for Spock's personal device, but not for the other mere humans on board ship

 

[starbuck]

spock also looks like he was pushing buttons where there would be none to push

 

[Kor]

At times he was also seen turning the little round things on the communicator, even though they're buttons and not dials. He must know something we don't know.

Kor

 

[Timo]

It's easy to assume those things are both buttons and dials. I mean, why wouldn't they be?

It takes a bit more to start believing that underneath that soft Corinthian leather surface there are further buttons that Spock can push. I mean, it should be easy to have some there, nicely safe from dirt and all. There could be a whole QWERTY board in there, or whatever. But why are they unmarked?

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Mytran]

The Star Fleet Technical Manual was happy to label them as both buttons and dials; that's childsplay engineering.
http://www.cygnus-x1.net/links/lcars/blueprints/sftm/02-04-01.jpg
Alternatively some of them could instead be those "rocker switch" type things that you got on older phones (before everything went touchscreen) and functioned similar to joysticks

 

[KirkusOveractus]

CHEKOV: I have no idea what I'm doing.

He was trying to get the little BB into the clown's nose.

 

[UssGlenn]

At times he was also seen turning the little round things on the communicator, even though they're buttons and not dials. He must know something we don't know.

It's easy to assume those things are both buttons and dials. I mean, why wouldn't they be?

Right, we've never seen a "real" communicator, only 20th century recreations, so if the characters twist them then they must also be dials.

 

[Kor]

Because those little chrome dots are too freakin' tiny to use as dials.

Kor