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The computer's voice: how did they get it wrong?

A computer voice on a ship full of push buttons, blinking crystal lights, and 1960's hippie lighting? No, that's just wrong.
 
Steven Hawking kept his early mechanical voice emulator's signature "accent" long after he could have upgraded to something more closer to natural speech (of course because it had become such a part of his persona).
I really love that we all just decided to treat that as Stephen Hawking's voice.
Like when he was a guest star on Futurama: the dialogue was written by someone else and read by a machine, but it goes on his IMDB page under "actor".
 
The match cut from the bone to the [nuclear bomb] satellite...
Ah, someone else who realizes those were not space stations or comm' satellites, but rather orbiting nuclear platforms, a segue from the first weapon to the ultimate weapon. Admittedly, I didn't "catch" that the first time I (partially) saw the movie (as that was the day my father died, nor when I finally saw the whole thing on HBO around 1980 or 81. I read an article about about the film's symbolism, and upon learning that element, I had a "Bill, you idiot! That makes so much sense! Why didn't you 'get' that?!" type moment.
 
Now we only need the scene where a character in-universe notes how oddly Kirk's computer is speaking. "I always set mine to purring female, Jim. Is there something you aren't telling me?"

We never heard Pike's computer speak, now did we? So the second season of DSC is no threat to continuity here...

Timo Saloniemi
 
Now we only need the scene where a character in-universe notes how oddly Kirk's computer is speaking. "I always set mine to purring female, Jim. Is there something you aren't telling me?"

We never heard Pike's computer speak, now did we? So the second season of DSC is no threat to continuity here...

Timo Saloniemi
Interesting! Perhaps the voice "style" is a choice ... if so, does that mean Kirk picked a metallic voice for the computer?
 
I wouldn't want to own a robot that looked like a life-like CPR mannequin, so I'm not sure how I'd feel about owning a computer that talked to me in a normal, Human voice. I probably wouldn't like it, so that's fine having computers talking as they do in TOS. I'd rather it, to be honest, so I never took exception to it being used that way, on the show. It's also mildly annoying, which wouldn't encourage too much chatting with it, in the first place. It's a machine you talk to only when absolutely necessary and even then -- keep it brief! Say what you gotta say and turn it off ...
 
I'm not keen on the way Siri talks to me now.
Its too familiar. I don't know her.
Perhaps there's a revolution in 280 years time that puts computers back in their rightful place. As tools. Not telling me what to do in a cheery voice.
 
I'm not keen on the way Siri talks to me now.
Its too familiar. I don't know her.
Perhaps there's a revolution in 280 years time that puts computers back in their rightful place. As tools. Not telling me what to do in a cheery voice.
That's okay, I tell her to do inappropriate things.
 
My favorite robot voice is probably the robot from Lost In Space. [flailing hooks] "Danger Will Robinson!" [/flailing hooks]
 
Who's to say that a future computer voice system wouldn't sound like that? How many of us will still be here to say, you got it wrong there guys?
JB

Agreed. Right now the trend is to make everything feel "familiar". There might be a backlash between now and 300 years from now over too much familiarity. I gather its fornicating creates contempt. :D :guffaw:
 
I want all my devices to sound like original BSG Cylons... just so I never forget the danger. :D

I once felt the urge to create a borg-style sound sample for my answering device, something containing: "Your message will be assimilated".

Then I thought it through a bit more thoroughly and decided against it. Still would have been fun, though :)
 
...now the trend is to make everything feel "familiar". There might be a backlash between now and 300 years from now over too much familiarity.

So, maybe not a full scale Butlerian Jihad as in Herbert's Dune universe, but more along a minor Janitorial Recourse.

(Sound of crickets in the forum)

Uh, I'll just let myself out.
 
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