How far are we behind?

[Deks]

Well at least we know the comm-badges of the 24th century permeate subspace. Voyager was talking with Janeway and Chakotay (who were stuck on 'New Earth' after being bitten by a mosquito) even after being how far away exactly?
Weeks?

Then again, who knows what they had stashed in their cabin? Probably the badges just contacted the interstellar transceiver in the hut, which then contacted the starship.

Similarly, when Picard contacts Starbase 74 across interstellar ranges in "11001001" by slapping his commbadge, he's probably just contacting the ship's transceiver which then contacts the starbase. He might not entirely trust his ship's computer and especially its more humanlike interface functions at that plot point...

OTOH, the away team does stay in contact with the ship for a rather long time in "The Schitzoid Man". Or then it doesn't, as the communications could well be one-way at that point...

Lots of ways to interpret the evidence. And lots of ways to downplay future technology, or then to adorn it with futuristic functionalities that the original writers never thought of.

Timo Saloniemi

The only issue I probably see is that the technology by itself is in fact quite superior and capable of doing what I mentioned but it's the writers who often dumb it down for the sake of the drama (even though it could be adapted to suit the more advanced technology).

The novels have a tendency of using technologies as they were envisioned ... at least most of the ones I read for example.
It's a shame the serialized versions don't do the same and as a result many things suffer.

Yes there is lots of ways to interpret the evidence, but we got a distinctive impression that while they were on New Earth, aside from the communicators and a shuttle (which was mentioned as being left for them but would presumably be not powered up unless they would be able to leave the planet) they had nothing else to contact Voyager with.
Both Janeway/Chakotay never expected Voyager to return for them.

 

[Cyke101]

I believe lots of things depicted in Star Trek are possible; I'm skeptical of time travel, though.

 

[kv1at3485]

I personally feel rather disillusioned. The future I was promised when I was a little girl is far from what we have today. The 21st century has so far been quite an anticlimax. I don't think we'll ever have a star-trek-esque existence.

If it's any help, head over to your public library and pick some stuff off the scifi shelf. The real scifi stuff, not the stuff that claims to be scifi but runs fast and loose with logic like ST does.

If you want to stay on the more mundane side, look for Bova's Grand Tour.

If you're willing to forgo the trope that technology doesn't affect culture and society, start looking into things by MacLeod and Stross. The tech singularity probably won't happen in 50 years but, as they say, the truth will be stranger than the fiction. And those two write pretty strange stuff as it is.

And if you really want to go to the deep end, and see why ST is really nothing special, look for Banks.

Just by going through those one quickly realizes that we're still no better at predicting the future than the people with crystal balls from antiquity. But unlike those soothsayers, at least there are some authors who've actually put some thought into it.

 

[RobertScorpio]

I personally feel rather disillusioned. The future I was promised when I was a little girl is far from what we have today. The 21st century has so far been quite an anticlimax. I don't think we'll ever have a star-trek-esque existence.

If it's any help, head over to your public library and pick some stuff off the scifi shelf. The real scifi stuff, not the stuff that claims to be scifi but runs fast and loose with logic like ST does.

If you want to stay on the more mundane side, look for Bova's Grand Tour.

If you're willing to forgo the trope that technology doesn't affect culture and society, start looking into things by MacLeod and Stross. The tech singularity probably won't happen in 50 years but, as they say, the truth will be stranger than the fiction. And those two write pretty strange stuff as it is.

And if you really want to go to the deep end, and see why ST is really nothing special, look for Banks.

Just by going through those one quickly realizes that we're still no better at predicting the future than the people with crystal balls from antiquity. But unlike those soothsayers, at least there are some authors who've actually put some thought into it.

A very good list of authors there Mr. 3485. I have read some of most of them...and I totally agree. Sadly, I don't have as much time to read any more (kids). But back in my college days, reading was all I did. And reading SCIFI while stoned? There is no better way. (Though I do not condone the use of drugs in anyway shape or form..unless, of course, you're going to become President of the USA someday)



Rob
Scorpio

 

[Timo]

Yes there is lots of ways to interpret the evidence, but we got a distinctive impression that while they were on New Earth, aside from the communicators and a shuttle (which was mentioned as being left for them but would presumably be not powered up unless they would be able to leave the planet) they had nothing else to contact Voyager with. Both Janeway/Chakotay never expected Voyager to return for them.

Yet there'd probably be other people to contact besides the Federation crew. Tuvok wouldn't have much reason not to leave behind as much gear as he possibly could, not when the Voyager was apparently already largely recovered from her first-season ordeals and was capable of manufacturing things like extra shuttles and torps again...

And the unseen shuttle would almost certainly have a comm system capable of relatively long ranges, one that wouldn't necessarily require firing up the warp core every time an outside transmission queried for a permission to get received. Kira's much humbler shuttlepod in "The Search" was supposed to have interstellar communications, too - and getting them working didn't seem to require powering up the main engines or anything.

That's perhaps one of the less interesting implications of Treknology: that military personnel would have good access to cutting-edge technologies. What is perhaps futuristic is the staggering amount of hardware they can dedicate to the smallest project, and the callousness with which they can abandon such hardware when it serves human interests, quite regardless of cost.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[USS KG5]

or a Third world war, though we did come damm close in 1983.

And during the Cuban missile crisis.

Suppose it's still possable for one to be caused by some bizzaro Russia-China allaince, but I don't see how it would benfit them.

Well it wouldn't. Contrary to popular belief Russia and China want a nuclear war just as little as the West - both might have different political systems but neither want the total destruction of civilisation.

A more limited nuclear disaster, like a single device detonated in a major city by terorrists, is more likely these days, but still very unlikely.

 

[maryh]

I found the following quote interesting:

The greatest challenge faced when they first decided to take on the movie?

J.J. Abrams: This may not be a fair answer, but there were two greatest challenges: the first was getting a handle on the vision of the future. The fact that most of the tech that we use in our everyday lives seems modeled after — and actually more advanced than — TOS, made it tricky to find a way to make our movie's world far more advanced than where we currently are, and yet also consistent with the original show.

This is quite true in some respects. Some of what STTOS envisioned seems technologically behind by today's standards, and that show was supposed to be hundreds of years in the future. Makes me wonder if the most recent ST technology will seem dated in a decade or so already. If that be the case I'd say we are doing pretty good.

After seeing my cell phone example got shot down so easily, and then not being able to come up with any other examples, I think JJ is wrong. The Enterprise terminals and interfaces don't seem to be as sleek as ours and they didn't use DNA to identify people, but beyond that we don't seem to have caught up yet. Even the voice recognition technology used to interact with the computer seems to be superior in TOS.

On another board they were discussing how Christopher Pike got injured. One of the replies said:

"..his sole means of communication is a flashing light with an accompanying beep: once for yes, twice for no.

That's bugged me when I've caught that episode in recent years, too. Stephen Hawking is in a similar predicament (except nowhere near as disfigured), yet he can talk and write through a computer.

It's funny how in some areas (like space travel) we're nowhere near Star Trek-level technology and might never be, but in others we're way ahead of it.

Ever notice the few closeup shots of their communicators? Cellphones are WAY cooler than that."


Just thought it was an interesting and similar discussion.

 

[Timo]

Stephen Hawking is in a similar predicament (except nowhere near as disfigured), yet he can talk and write through a computer.

Oh, that's not really particularly implausible. Stephen Hawking's brain is intact. Christopher Pike's brain might be fried in a manner that precludes him from using language, even though he can understand it, and can express himself through outbursts of positive or negative emotion. Happens all the time in the real world.

...Another case of TOS technology really being needlessly primitive even for the 1960s, but of a late 20th or early 21st century viewpoint actually changing that into a strength and an added degree of realism. Back in the 1960s, specific brain damage like that wasn't common knowledge. Today, it's prime material for tear-jerking soap plot twists.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[erastus25]

Stephen Hawking is in a similar predicament (except nowhere near as disfigured), yet he can talk and write through a computer.

Oh, that's not really particularly implausible. Stephen Hawking's brain is intact. Christopher Pike's brain might be fried in a manner that precludes him from using language, even though he can understand it, and can express himself through outbursts of positive or negative emotion. Happens all the time in the real world.

But in the actual episode they say that is brain is undamaged. Losing the ability to produce language would be a pretty big deal - you'd imagine McCoy would mention it.

In reality, the beep thing was created for dramatic effect (i.e. so Pike couldn't tell Mendez what was happening to stop Spock). I find it to be rather lazy writing more than anything.

 

[stew123au]

Technology wise we already have transporters. Alhtough they only transport sub atomic particles. Prototype cloaking devices are already in play with the military. Lasers and particle accelerator type weaponery are already here. More powerful phasers ? Why not.

It's culturally that we are no where near Star Trek. It seems at times that it would take something like the Vulcans to force us to get our act together.

 

[Nardpuncher]

I remember when I fist saw Star Trek III in the theatre I thought it was the 28th century ( I was 11 at the time and hadn't been exposed to much Trek, not that we really knew when it was supposed to happen anyway back then.)
I do think Trek would be better off set farther in the future.

Anybody remember that one rumour that Trek XI would be set in only 2018?!

 

[Timo]

But in the actual episode they say that is brain is undamaged. Losing the ability to produce language would be a pretty big deal - you'd imagine McCoy would mention it.

Well, of course the writers dropped the ball here. But I don't think it's down for good, not from the 21st century point of view.

It's not said that Pike's brain is undamaged. Instead, this is said:

"His mind is as active as yours and mine, but it's trapped inside a useless vegetating body."

This could easily mean that the speech centers of his brain are fried while the rest remains active as ever.

In reality, the beep thing was created for dramatic effect (i.e. so Pike couldn't tell Mendez what was happening to stop Spock). I find it to be rather lazy writing more than anything.

The whole thing should theoretically be considered lazy writing, as it is but a vehicle for using some expensive footage that would not otherwise see the light of the day. However, IMHO the end result actually is one of the best "clip shows" of television history. The framing story makes basic sense: it utilizes a main character who has been established to be secretive to a fault, exploits the popular and already once-used courtroom drama format from a sufficiently different angle, and keeps the events moving at an even pace despite the lengthy pieces of footage inserted in between.

We get essentially all of the original story of "The Cage", including important mood bits, thanks to the two-hour format. The format is further justified by the cliffhanger; no matter how forced the idea of a Starfleet death penalty may feel in the first half, it starts to make sense as the result of the second.

It's thus IMHO well worth the effort to rationalize Pike's now-iconic beeping code as a plausible future ailment/cure combination, rather than just a dramatic device or outdated medical fiction.

Timo Saloniemi