My inner nerd is squealing delightfully. I can usually tell, because my outer nerd squeals at the exact same moment.
I’m my own Japanese school girl duet!
Here is what has me all in a joyful, sweaty bother. After noticing a striking similarity between the Apple iPad and a Star Trek prop called a PADD, Ars Technica author Chris Foresman spoke with some of the concept artists responsible for set and prop design on the Star Trek franchise to get their thoughts on the similarities between the 2 devices.
Neat!
What he discovered was that the similarities are not even slightly coincidental. The same vision that drove the ingenuity behind the iPhone and iPad was held decades ago by Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek.
“One thing that informed not just the PADD, but the overall technology, was that Gene Roddenberry wanted the new Enterprise to be visibly more advanced then the original Enterprise,” Okuda said. “Roddenberry had the wisdom to realize that ‘advanced’ didn’t mean ‘more complicated.’ He actually wanted things to be much simpler. So we took that to mean that it was cleaner, better user interfaces, fewer buttons, fewer things to learn how to operate,” he told Ars.
I love that! Being advanced doesn’t mean being more complicated. As I look at the tools I use in every day life, this is certainly true. The things that I gravitate toward are the things that make my life simpler, not more complicated.
It’s amazing to see how forward thinking this story teller was, and I think we should keep his words of wisdom in mind as we design our Church environments, programs, messages, etc.
True yesterday.
True today.
True tomorrow.
[images: Memory Alpha]
The one used in DS9 is actually closer to the iPad, I have a picture of it on my blog because I posted an article about the iPad here: http://herbhalstead.me/2010/02/05/startrekfuture/
doh – wrong link – sorry: http://herbhalstead.me/2010/02/05/startrekfuture/
Nice! THx.
peace | dewde
Nice! Thx for sharing.
peace | dewde
I’m still waiting for those instant food dispensers that Picard was always getting his Earl Grey from.
This is probably completely off topic, but your avatar has a very Picard-like aura about it…
peace | dewde
I will take that as a complement. Now to go work on my Picard accent. “Make it so”
I think we see an “iPad” in “The Incredibles” when Mr. Incredible receives his “mission”. Watching with the kids the other night and freaked out.
What else might Pixar movies tell us about our Apple future!
Ah very good! Of course many of us that read this are going to feel the same way. That the tools we gravitate towards are the ones that are easy for us to use. The problem that I would venture to say many of us encounter is that those around us that we need to collaborate with don’t use these simple “new” tools. Used to the old ways… whatever the reason.
~frustration squiggles~ …
BTDubs… super nerdy post and I love it!
Agreed.
peace | dewde