Wrap-around viewscreen

[Leathco]

Not entirely a wrap-around design, but we see modern tech beginning to move this direction with multi-monitor PC setups and curved monitors. I myself use a 24 inch curved monitor and have bee considering purchasing a second one for side by side workspaces that stretch across.

 

[publiusr]

I can see screens on rolls one day. Cut to size.

Now--if the folks at the TV stations would fix their bloody aspect ratios to take advantage of wide screens.

 

[B.J.]

^ Dunno where you are, but I haven't seen a non-widescreen broadcast in forever.

 

[Captain Triggered]

Or just stay in bed all day with a neural lace implant. Or just have the ship fly itself (ala The Ultimate Computer).

Trek does things the way it does because it's traditional, and that tradition hearkens back to tall ships style terminology. As time goes on, as pure futurism, it starts to seem a little antiquated, but it kinda has to stay that way. I didn't like the transparent viewscreen in Kelvinverse because it was screwing around with something that never needed screwing around with in the first place. One of the most naive attitudes one can have is to think that the bridge module needs a literal "window".

i agree with you. star trek tech is a weird mix between unlikely, and stuff that's already feeling antiquated.

data would have to manually read huge swaths of information files. they didn't do search engines? people would manually deliver data pads, no wi-fi? and those data pads... don't have shit on our iPads.

 

[Go-Captain]

^ Dunno where you are, but I haven't seen a non-widescreen broadcast in forever.

Maybe he wants TV to broadcast in movie aspect ratio.

There are several local channels where I live which broadcast nothing but old television, which is all in the old square format. However, I have my TV set to mess with the aspect ratio automatically so I normally never notice. The exception is when I watch Star Trek on Netflix since it uses a square format with black side borders and my TV doesn't notice because it comes through its USB port instead of through the coax cable.

 

[psCargile]

I can see screens on rolls one day. Cut to size.

In my fiction, they come in a can and you spray them on a surface.

 

[Matthew Raymond]

In my fiction, they come in a can and you spray them on a surface.

Well, theoretically, you can just spray anything into existence with the right nanotechnology. You basically just need Grey Goo In a Can™. Want a captain's chair? Just say "captain's chair", shake the can for a few seconds, and spray. Instant chair, complete with high-quality, vegan-approved nanosuede! Order now and get a second can absolutely free! (Additional shipping and handling charges may apply.)

 

[psCargile]

^ You got it.

 

[Mark_Nguyen]

So did Futurama.

http://coub.com/view/18xq86jx

 

[Matthew Raymond]

So did Futurama.

Weird; I totally didn't remember that, even though I've seen the episode. To be fair, though, they don't really bother to describe how it works or whether it uses nanotechnology.

 

[Timo]

Random commentary:

Data would have to manually read huge swaths of information files. they didn't do search engines?

How so? In "Conspiracy", there was nothing specific to search for. Data was browsing for "anything suspicious", and no search engine today would do better there. Oh, no doubt Data was using the full capacities of the computer for filtering and preselecting the feed, but by definition the thing being searched for would have to be identified by human intuition, which Data had in droves (in addition to having the rare ability to browse quickly).

I mean, yeah, one could write a subroutine for the required human intuition (Soong had done so to create Data, after all). But it would probably take longer than letting Data do the browsing.

people would manually deliver data pads, no wi-fi?

Generally, people would be delivering themselves along with the data.

(And probably "yes wi-fi", but it's still more secure by default to deliver physical goods...)

What bothers me more is Picard having piles of PADDs on his desk in, say, ST:INS. Why not collate, and then dump all the extra physical screens? Or is Picard preparing multiple PADDs for delivery to multiple destinations?

Timo Saloniemi

 

[B.J.]

What bothers me more is Picard having piles of PADDs on his desk in, say, ST:INS. Why not collate, and then dump all the extra physical screens? Or is Picard preparing multiple PADDs for delivery to multiple destinations?

I find it much easier to cross-reference things on my multiple-monitor setup at work. Sure, I could do it just fine on one screen, but having everything in front of you at once makes the work go much faster. (Admittedly they probably went a bit overboard with that huge pile of PADDs, though.)

 

[Matthew Raymond]

What bothers me more is Picard having piles of PADDs on his desk in, say, ST:INS.

I just recently saw a Voyager episode where Seven of Nine gives a huge stack of PADDs to Naomi Wildman, and as she piles them on, you begin to wonder if she's going to drop them.

 

[tharpdevenport]

^ Stellar Cartography on the Enterprise-D comes close...

Correction: Stellar Cartography in Generations.

Stellar Cartography in the TNG TV series was a very different thing.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Correction: Stellar Cartography in Generations.

Stellar Cartography in the TNG TV series was a very different thing.

When did we see it on the show?

 

[Matthew Raymond]

When did we see it on the show?

You might be thinking of stellar cartography on Voyager. (Wait, I sense a pattern emerging...)

 

[B.J.]

When did we see it on the show?

http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Stellar_cartography_department?file=Stellar_cartography.jpg

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ Most likely that was a temporary one (in-universe) while the main Stellar Cartography was being refit or repaired.

 

[Go-Captain]

Generally, people would be delivering themselves along with the data.

(And probably "yes wi-fi", but it's still more secure by default to deliver physical goods...)

What bothers me more is Picard having piles of PADDs on his desk in, say, ST:INS. Why not collate, and then dump all the extra physical screens? Or is Picard preparing multiple PADDs for delivery to multiple destinations?

Timo Saloniemi

There are actually good reasons for hand delivery and multiple PADD's. Hand delivery is make-work, forces crew members to know the ship, and meet various personnel, especially higher officers not directly above them. Over all, it's better than paint scraping, even if it doesn't last as long. Your point about delivering the person is a good one, but we rarely or never see the courier asked questions or give their insight.

For the multiple PADD's, it is actually far more efficient to have more displays than fewer, because it allows for a physical organization of information, instead of messing with tabs or windows. It was definitely a way to show a busy situation, just like a desk full of papers, but it is actually a realistic situation given cheap enough (free) tablet computers. For a real example my dad has his smart phone, iPad, and computer all going at once with various tasks.

 

[Matthew Raymond]

For the multiple PADD's, it is actually far more efficient to have more displays than fewer, because it allows for a physical organization of information, instead of messing with tabs or windows. It was definitely a way to show a busy situation, just like a desk full of papers, but it is actually a realistic situation given cheap enough (free) tablet computers. For a real example my dad has his smart phone, iPad, and computer all going at once with various tasks.

You only see the PADDs on top of the pile, so why have a pile in the first place? Why not have just enough PADDs to fit neatly on your desk? Also, separate devices usually denotes a separation of concerns. What your dad does on his computer is something he probably can't do on his phone or tablet. For instance, you can't place or answer a traditional phone call on your tablet. (That may change in the future, but it's still the case now. In the future, I think mobile phones will just be mobile hot spots that you connect your devices too via Wifi or Bluetooth.)

Personally, it would be a serious pain for me to do spreadsheets or documents with lots of special formatting on a touch screen. The need for a touch interface drastically reduces the density of information on the screen. It also makes precision selection very difficult.

Bringing this back to a wrap-around screen, you don't need high information density in that scenario, so the captain could have something along the lines of a laser pointer that could allow him to designate targets or indicate course direction. The data could to straight to the helm and tactical consoles.