I got a kick out of the recent multi-part series Omega Section / TrekCore blog postings about the TOS computer props. It really was neat seeing them. TOS' makers treated the idea of a "desktop PC" like a big, desktop-mounted mechanical calculator from a bygone era.
I noticed in ENT's "In a Mirror, Darkly" part 2, that while the Starship Defiant's sets were clearly an attempt to recapture/revive the TOS atmosphere, there were some interesting, if subtle, alterations. IIRC, the "desktop monitor" prop in the captain's quarters, and the triangular monitor on the Briefing Room conference table were both resized. Both captured the essence of what the actual TOS props looked like, but both seemed redesigned for 21st-century computing sensibilities.
I was wondering if anyone had ever tried to do the same thing with the "PC" props as well. One logical question comes to mind about the very notion of TOS-era hardware: what does a futuristic computer on a starship look like? With smartphones evolving as they are, it not unreasonable to regard a tricorder of a kind of multi-function machine with a built-in computer of sorts; same goes for other field equipment like the hand-talkie communicators.
But just what are those TOS breadboxes with all the blinkies that people keep talking to... and getting Majel Roddenberry's voice to report from??? Are they just uber-desktop minitowers? Is that what a starship's "computer" is, a series of networked minitowers? Or are they something more than that? Could those breadboxes be servers? If so, what would Chief Humbolt's refrigerator-sized machines be? Would that room on Starbase 11 be their idea of a server farm?
These kind of questions naturally come up when I review a topic like this.
If we assume, for sake of argument, that a breadbox machine is an actual field-equipment-issue desktop PC, then how should it be re-imagined/revised for "In a Mirror, Darkly" part 2, assuming they needed to show one in the story? Would it still be breadbox-sized, or would it have to be resized or otherwise reshaped in some way? I think about that, and the image I imagine would be shaped like a somewhat larger version of the briefing room's table-top intercoms, only with a beige body and blinkies instead of a big speaker grille. Maybe they would be portable, so the I.T. crew could carry one into a ship's room, set it on a table, and have it automatically connect to the ship's LAN, power, and the room's A/V systems.
Another, perhaps cheesier design might be to re-scale the TOS breadbox to a fraction of its size.
Any other ideas? Has anyone ever tried to use computer artwork to envision something like this?
I noticed in ENT's "In a Mirror, Darkly" part 2, that while the Starship Defiant's sets were clearly an attempt to recapture/revive the TOS atmosphere, there were some interesting, if subtle, alterations. IIRC, the "desktop monitor" prop in the captain's quarters, and the triangular monitor on the Briefing Room conference table were both resized. Both captured the essence of what the actual TOS props looked like, but both seemed redesigned for 21st-century computing sensibilities.
I was wondering if anyone had ever tried to do the same thing with the "PC" props as well. One logical question comes to mind about the very notion of TOS-era hardware: what does a futuristic computer on a starship look like? With smartphones evolving as they are, it not unreasonable to regard a tricorder of a kind of multi-function machine with a built-in computer of sorts; same goes for other field equipment like the hand-talkie communicators.
But just what are those TOS breadboxes with all the blinkies that people keep talking to... and getting Majel Roddenberry's voice to report from??? Are they just uber-desktop minitowers? Is that what a starship's "computer" is, a series of networked minitowers? Or are they something more than that? Could those breadboxes be servers? If so, what would Chief Humbolt's refrigerator-sized machines be? Would that room on Starbase 11 be their idea of a server farm?
These kind of questions naturally come up when I review a topic like this.
If we assume, for sake of argument, that a breadbox machine is an actual field-equipment-issue desktop PC, then how should it be re-imagined/revised for "In a Mirror, Darkly" part 2, assuming they needed to show one in the story? Would it still be breadbox-sized, or would it have to be resized or otherwise reshaped in some way? I think about that, and the image I imagine would be shaped like a somewhat larger version of the briefing room's table-top intercoms, only with a beige body and blinkies instead of a big speaker grille. Maybe they would be portable, so the I.T. crew could carry one into a ship's room, set it on a table, and have it automatically connect to the ship's LAN, power, and the room's A/V systems.
Another, perhaps cheesier design might be to re-scale the TOS breadbox to a fraction of its size.
Any other ideas? Has anyone ever tried to use computer artwork to envision something like this?
) it's a tad more radical, to reflect more current technological capabilities, while trying to maintain a recognizable resemblance to the original: 
