The pads in Star Trek....

[ReadyAndWilling]

hey all, i really like those pads that seem to be used in TNG, DS9 and VOY. they seem to be used most frequently on VOY by the Doctor and Janeway. does anyone have a list of episodes or know where i could find a list of where they're used?

i'd appreciate any help.

thanks

 

[Caesar753]

^^
This link might prove useful.

http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/PADD

 

[ReadyAndWilling]

thanks, i just finished reading that link, but it didn't really specify how it was used or what episodes it appears in?

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Pretty much the only reason I want a kindle. LOL.

 

[tafkats]

thanks, i just finished reading that link, but it didn't really specify how it was used or what episodes it appears in?

They were used in too many episodes to count. If you're looking for an episode where you can get a good up-close look at one, try "Doctor Tinker Tenor Spy."

Oh, and there's a retroactively funny moment somewhere in DS9 where Sisko has stacks and stacks of PADDs to demonstrate how much work he has to do. Because apparently a whole bunch of files can't be transferred to one PADD; he needs a separate device for each one.

 

[Pavonis]

Or, he's so busy that each PADD is full. Or each document is classified and can't be transferred to another PADD.

 

[ReadyAndWilling]

thanks, i just finished reading that link, but it didn't really specify how it was used or what episodes it appears in?

They were used in too many episodes to count. If you're looking for an episode where you can get a good up-close look at one, try "Doctor Tinker Tenor Spy."

Oh, and there's a retroactively funny moment somewhere in DS9 where Sisko has stacks and stacks of PADDs to demonstrate how much work he has to do. Because apparently a whole bunch of files can't be transferred to one PADD; he needs a separate device for each one.

ok thanks, i'll take a look.

 

[Timo]

Another downside of the Trek PADDs is that they apparently aren't portable.

That is, yeah, you can carry one in your hand. But that means you can't use the hand for anything else. And it will soon become tired of holding the awkwardly shaped and sized device. And you can't slip it into your pocket, both because your uniform doesn't have pockets in the first place - and because even if it did (and we can argue the uniforms can sprout pockets when needed), those things would be way too big to be carried against your hip.

The PADD is probably the least futuristic thing ever introduced in Trek, then - the one least likely to ever become true...

...Or should have been.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Tiberius]

Or, he's so busy that each PADD is full. Or each document is classified and can't be transferred to another PADD.

Or each padd has files that are grouped according to their relevancy. One padd for crew leave. One padd for trasnfer requests. One padd for crew evaluations. One padd for systems status updates. ETC. Like Pavonis said, there are plenty of explanations.

 

[Tiberius]

Another downside of the Trek PADDs is that they apparently aren't portable.

That is, yeah, you can carry one in your hand. But that means you can't use the hand for anything else. And it will soon become tired of holding the awkwardly shaped and sized device. And you can't slip it into your pocket, both because your uniform doesn't have pockets in the first place - and because even if it did (and we can argue the uniforms can sprout pockets when needed), those things would be way too big to be carried against your hip.

The PADD is probably the least futuristic thing ever introduced in Trek, then - the one least likely to ever become true...

...Or should have been.

Timo Saloniemi

Of course, if you look at PADDS as Trek's equivalent of books instead of portable computing, then the problem goes away. Books have all the same drawbacks as padds, plus they do even less, but they've been popular for several centuries now.

 

[Timo]

Naah. Books aren't portable, either. A notepad (with a convenient pencil holder) is, and if the PADD is to be an interactive tool akin to a notepad, then it ought to reproduce at least that level of portability. Even a belt clip would be an improvement over the useless Starfleet model.

On the issue of replacing books, what's the point of doing that with something that isn't any better? The only advantage the PADD approach offers there is having several books within the old, awkward physical dimensions of one - it sounds insane that one should settle for so little! Then again, we settled for having horseless carriages, and have now spent more than a century without trying to improve on those in any meaningful way...

Timo Saloniemi

 

[BillJ]

I love my ipad. But it's convinced me that touch controls would be a terrible idea for controlling a starship.

 

[The Librarian]

According to the tech manual and a couple episodes, the controls on a console (and probably a PADD or tricorder) give haptic feedback, so that a button feels different than a display or blank area. I think this is most apparent during "Year of Hell" where Tuvok can still using the controls while blind by changing the feel of the control and basically programming them for a braille equivalent. So essentially a LCARS control basically feels a lot like real buttons or sliders or whatnot, while still being easily reconfigurable for different tasks.

 

[zar]

thanks, i just finished reading that link, but it didn't really specify how it was used or what episodes it appears in?

If you click any of the images on that page, it will tell you which episode it's from.

 

[captcalhoun]

try "Doctor Tinker Tenor Spy."

Tinker, Tenor, Doctor, Spy actually.

 

[T'Girl]

But that means you can't use the hand for anything else.

You would think, certainly by the 24th century, that you would be able to summon a midair hologram of any information that a PADD could provide.

Generated either by a projector in your combadge, or by any room, corridor or turbolift that you happen to be standing in at the moment.

 

[Tora Ziyal]

Another downside of the Trek PADDs is that they apparently aren't portable.

That is, yeah, you can carry one in your hand. But that means you can't use the hand for anything else. And it will soon become tired of holding the awkwardly shaped and sized device. And you can't slip it into your pocket, both because your uniform doesn't have pockets in the first place - and because even if it did (and we can argue the uniforms can sprout pockets when needed), those things would be way too big to be carried against your hip.

The PADD is probably the least futuristic thing ever introduced in Trek, then - the one least likely to ever become true...

...Or should have been.

Timo Saloniemi

Hey, don't dis my PADD... oops, I mean my iPad.

 

[Gary7]

Would have been funny if they'd thought of an iPad like design, and then everyone could claim that Apple was inspired by it. Actually, touch screens were already in existence by the time TNG came around (just not widely in use) and so I'm surprised that at least by DS9 that they didn't start incorporating finger triggered animations on the PADD devices. They always appear with fixed graphics and look primitive compared to what we've got today.