Trek's effect on the world

[Kaziarl]

I still have some friends who don't see that trek has effected the world around us. Which is fine, to each their own of course.

Recently I've been watching SeaQuest on netflix, and at the end of each episode they have little informative bits. This one was talking about an autonomous underwater vehicle and I noticed something. Stenciled on the side was "CC 1701 B" Presumably the N was hidden by the man that was standing there. So I looked it up, and it indeed was a reference to the Enterprise.


Anyway, probably not terribly interesting, but I thought it was neat

 

[Alienesse]

You know, that is very nice indeed.

I think Star Trek has had an enormous impact on the world. This very instant as I'm typing at my laptop I can't help thinking about Captain Picard in his ready room checking out the latest Starfleet news on his computer. It's the same with mobile phones, iPads, the Internet and list goes on. Star Trek is alive all around us.

There was a very cool documentary once on the Discovery channel called How William Shatner Changed the World that talked about this. That was actually what brought me back to Star Trek after a few years' dry spell.

 

[Captain Rob]

Just curious about Seaquest. Are you old enough to have seen it when it originally aired? If so, is it as bad as you remember?
I watched only the first season when it aired. Then they put it up against Star Trek (TNG or DS9) in my market and I stopped watching. I had heard that it got really bad in later seasons. I finally watched it in it's entirety on Netflix a few months ago. I could not believe how bad that show got with each passing episode. They broke the laws of physics more than Star Trek did. I think that I have a high tolerance for garbage (Nightrider fan) and Seaquest was just a complete overload.

 

[Kaziarl]

You know, I can't honestly remember when it aired. I know I was young at the time, as I grew up during TNG and DS9. But I'm enjoying it. All sci-fi breaks the laws of physics, I guess I'm just the forgiving sort. lol.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

It has sold a lot of merchandise.

 

[I am Surak]

I - Surak - find the fact that there are so many nationalities represented on this board reason enough that Trek is making our world a better place.

 

[sojourner]

The world is rapidly approaching a Star Trek level in Information Technology. I wish all the other technologies would catch up!

 

[RandyS]

Just curious about Seaquest. Are you old enough to have seen it when it originally aired? If so, is it as bad as you remember?
I watched only the first season when it aired. Then they put it up against Star Trek (TNG or DS9) in my market and I stopped watching. I had heard that it got really bad in later seasons. I finally watched it in it's entirety on Netflix a few months ago. I could not believe how bad that show got with each passing episode. They broke the laws of physics more than Star Trek did. I think that I have a high tolerance for garbage (Nightrider fan) and Seaquest was just a complete overload.

SeaQuest, which aired from 1993-1996 (I watched the whole thing first run), did, in fact, get really bad after the first season. REALLY bad. In the third year, which has yet to be released on DVD, an attempt was made to undo alot of the damage done in season two, but by then, it was too little, too late, plus the second set of changes took the show even further away from it's original premise that it was no longer recognizable. And finally, the loss of Roy Schider's Captain Bridger destroyed the show for good. Michael Ironside was fine as a replacement captain, but it just wasn't the same.

 

[Captain Rob]

Seaquest's third season is already on Netflix. I watched the entire show all the way through. It should be used at Gitmo to get information out of the terrorists. I liked how one of the main characters died and came back to life a couple of episodes later and no one noticed. That show jumped the shark so fast that they put the shark on their logo.

 

[plynch]

I love "Star Trek," the series.

But - had the whole franchise never happened, would the world be different in any important way?

 

[RandyS]

I love "Star Trek," the series.

But - had the whole franchise never happened, would the world be different in any important way?

Only in the sense that it would be more boring, and less fun.

 

[plynch]

I love "Star Trek," the series.

But - had the whole franchise never happened, would the world be different in any important way?

Only in the sense that it would be more boring, and less fun.

and me too

not that I'm very fun to begin with

 

[Kaziarl]

I love "Star Trek," the series.

But - had the whole franchise never happened, would the world be different in any important way?

Probably not. I did have a discussion with someone at one point that shows like Trek probably have driven certain aspects of technology, but if not trek it'd probably be something else. (The back of the hand communicators from B5 for example)

So while I do think Trek had an influence, and it's fun to note some of them, but I think it's more likely that it's the imagination behind it that have really driven it.

 

[nightwind1]

I love "Star Trek," the series.

But - had the whole franchise never happened, would the world be different in any important way?

Our cell phones wouldn't be flip-phones?