Personal transporters---what??

[NCC-73515]

Transporters are magic. The way they supposedly worked never made any sense.

Magic wands make perfect sense within the fictional constraints of Harry Potter. That does not mean that the word salad of Star Trek teleportation makes any sense at all in terms of real physics and science.

E=mc2 is word salad for some, actual science for others. What about it "never made any sense"?

To be fair, cell phones today can do amazing things from streaming television to performing calculations, to personal banking and shopping to photography but are also easily breakable if stepped on. I could see future tech being relatively robust and water resistant but not made to be stomped on by the heel of a boot.

VOY Time and Again. An explosion that destroyed the whole surface of a planet left the combadges that were close to the center of the explosion still functional enough to send signals. Compare planetwide destruction to stepping on them.

 

[fireproof78]

VOY Time and Again. An explosion that destroyed the whole surface of a planet left the combadges that were close to the center of the explosion still functional enough to send signals. Compare planetwide destruction to stepping on them.

Different type of forces? Heat vs. directed physical force.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Could be. I mean, is it a self-contained personal transporter or is it a remote control button for a transporter that is elsewhere?

It is a true personal transporter. Completely self-contained.

 

[Ghel]

VOY Time and Again. An explosion that destroyed the whole surface of a planet left the combadges that were close to the center of the explosion still functional enough to send signals. Compare planetwide destruction to stepping on them.

That is 900ish years earlier and different technology. A WWII walkie talkie is also more robust than a modern cell phone even though we are more advanced now.

It's even possible the communicator/transporter is a relatively disposable and easily replaceable device.
(And if we are talking about one of these being unrealistic, it would probably be the Voyagers communicators being capable of surviving an explosion rather than Discovery's devices not being designed to be stomped on.)

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

I think the 32nd century Combadge version of Transporter is using a different method of "Transporting" than the one we're used to in the 22nd-24th century. The 22nd-24th century version literally disassembles and reassembles a target person or object on a atomic level.

Given the VFX for 32nd century transport, it reminds me of the Folded-Space Transporter. The only downside with the original version was that it was slowly lethal to Humanoid biological tissue over repeated use. But I'm sure with 900 years of R&D, they can figure a way around it to protect the Biological matter using it.

And with Folded-Space Transporter, you move around via "Dimensional Shift" which is a different principle and seemingly more energy efficient way of transporting.

As far as usage, I wouldn't be surprised if the badge had short range electronic telepathy to read the users minds / actions / intent and function from there.

 

[NCC-73515]

That is 900ish years earlier and different technology. A WWII walkie talkie is also more robust than a modern cell phone even though we are more advanced now.

It's even possible the communicator/transporter is a relatively disposable and easily replaceable device.
(And if we are talking about one of these being unrealistic, it would probably be the Voyagers communicators being capable of surviving an explosion rather than Discovery's devices not being designed to be stomped on.)

You'd imagine the casing getting harder or staying the same, but not getting weaker XD

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

You'd imagine the casing getting harder or staying the same, but not getting weaker XD

Modern Walkie Talkies also don't have the weight of a giant brick respectively.

Design goals are totally different with modern day Walkie Talkies.

 

[ITDUDE]

Now, this feels like TrekBBS. Arguing that one magic tech doesn’t work like another magic tech should.

 

[UssGlenn]

. Compare planetwide destruction to stepping on them

Did you consider that Starfleet might want to give their officers the ability to destroy their advanced technology? We've clearly seen scenerios where that has been the correct tactical choice, and Starfleet with know that.

 

[Jackson_Roykirk]

...it would probably be the Voyagers communicators being capable of surviving an explosion rather than Discovery's devices not being designed to be stomped on.

Maybe it's Terran boot heels that are the real advanced tech here.

 

[fireproof78]

Did you consider that Starfleet might want to give their officers the ability to destroy their advanced technology? We've clearly seen scenerios where that has been the correct tactical choice, and Starfleet with know that.

Good point. Maybe the compression activates a small self destruct.

 

[Tim Thomason]

My presumption is that the tricom badge contains a little doodad, not necessarily microscopic but near enough, within the device that it first transports to the desired location (a preset home, other standardized work locations, or a quickly scanned nearby locale), then once at that location, the doodad transports the tricom-wearer to its spot, materializing in such a manner to envelop it within the tricom (or just being transported inside when complete). A two-step process, but mainly both the tricom shell and the transporter doodad have transporter capability and both transport each other along the way.

These two or three transports are done in quick succession (microseconds) so as to appear almost instantaneous to our eyes.

 

[Vger23]

1000 years ago: “Smart Phones—-What???”

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Now, this feels like TrekBBS. Arguing that one magic tech doesn’t work like another magic tech should.

...and how either or both violate "teh canon"?

 

[fireproof78]

...and how either or both violate "teh canon"?

It's Discovery-it all violates it.

 

[Shawnster]

Logically, the 4 people standing closest to the person saying 5 to beam up should be the ones who want to go. And the people on the ground would know that the transporter operator would assume that. I don't know if we see that idea get obviously violated anywhere.

Exactly. And targeting sensors possibly provide a God's eye view of the away team, even if it is just a grouping of dots.

We know the sensors can lock onto a specific individual like Droxine or Spock on the Romulan ship

 

[Timo]

We see relatively little of the transporter operator's POV in Trek. Yet from "The Cage" on, he or she seems to enjoy access to sensor data: "There is a canyon to the left".

The weird thing is that such a visual apparently is only briefly glimpsed by the operator, and is turned off by the time the audience gets a look at the console. It would appear intuitively useful to constantly monitor the target site and information superimposed on that view, rather than eyeballing the transportees. But apparently not. Perhaps the trained eye can spot signs of trouble in the glimmering of the transportee, and for this reason the operator keeps his or her eyes locked on the platforms while operating the sliders.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Deks]

We see relatively little of the transporter operator's POV in Trek. Yet from "The Cage" on, he or she seems to enjoy access to sensor data: "There is a canyon to the left".

The weird thing is that such a visual apparently is only briefly glimpsed by the operator, and is turned off by the time the audience gets a look at the console. It would appear intuitively useful to constantly monitor the target site and information superimposed on that view, rather than eyeballing the transportees. But apparently not. Perhaps the trained eye can spot signs of trouble in the glimmering of the transportee, and for this reason the operator keeps his or her eyes locked on the platforms while operating the sliders.

Timo Saloniemi

Is it also possible the devices are beaming information directly into the users brain or eyes so that they only occasionally need to use the actual live display?

 

[Kzinti]

It's probably telepathic... You know... Like Holodeck interfaces now...

https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Neural_interface + 800ish years of tech development

 

[Timo]

It's just that if telepathic interfaces existed, there would be nonverbal communication, too (even if rudimentary, such as "Now!"). But there never is - the characters still speak, whisper, nudge and wink in a tight spot. Excusable on occasion, but in a contemporary action flick it would be inexcusable for characters not to utilize, say, their mobile phones.

Timo Saloniemi