Did Star Trek Influence the Design of the iPad?

CommanderFrank

Cat Can't Scratch It
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If you ever watched The Next Generation on TV, you would have noticed Captain Picard using a touch interface device aptly named PADD or Personal Access Display Device, which bears strikingly similar design and use to the iPad….. 23 years into the future. Could it be the Enterprise did another slingshot maneuver around the sun and met with Steve Jobs? I hope this won’t destroy the space/time continuum :D

For ST:TNG and beyond, Starfleet used touchscreen PADDs. The thin, handheld devices used the same interface as the control panels and computers on the Enterprise-D. "The idea was that we wanted to make them sleeker, slimmer, and way more advanced than the electronic clipboards were on the original series," Okuda said. But PADDs were much more powerful than electronic note pads. "We realized that with the networking capabilities we had postulated for the ship, and given the [hypothetical] flexibility of the software, you should be able to fly the ship from the PADD," Okuda said.
 
I wonder if we'll see interfaces like we saw in Iron Man in real life 15-20 years from now. I wasn't alive 23 years ago, but maybe someone that was around back then could tell me...did people in the 80s think we'd have something like the PADD someday?
 
I like to think that the utopian vision of the future that Star Trek portrays is free of locked-down and limited-by-design devices controlled by a Borg like company that only exists to make money and satiatate the desires of a megalomaniac control freak.
 
Of course Star Trek inspired the iPad. The iPad just didn't follow through very well. Technically speaking it is still impossible to make a real tablet computer. Politically speaking Starfleet would have nothing to do with artificially limiting what a person can do with technology. The iPad is more Ferengi than Starfleet. Jobs sure knows his Rules of Acquisition.
 
Sorry but.. how is this [H]ardNews?? You [H] news guys seem to be reaching more and more for just anything to put up for comments, even if it repeats what other [H] news guys already posted!!

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Compared to what laptops were like in the late 80s, the Star Trek PADD looked very futuristic!!

Toshiba_T5100.jpg


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laptop4.jpg
 
cell phones were rediculiously expensive, had almost no coverage and looked like this.

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To me all the tablet devices that came years before the ipad reminded me of the star trek padd, hell they even used HP tablet's in stargate atlantis.

I think there has been too many shows and movies with tablet like devices for so many years that no one could really say the ipad was influenced by any one of them alone.
 
I like to think that the utopian vision of the future that Star Trek portrays is free of locked-down and limited-by-design devices controlled by a Borg like company that only exists to make money and satiatate the desires of a megalomaniac control freak.

Star Treks portrayal of the ideal human society is based around Millitary Communism where there's a procedure and regulation for everything.

Voyagers crew were shocked at the antics of Kirks crew. Strongly implying that Kirks devil-may-care attitude is a foreign concept.
 
iPad/tablet PCs, cell phones, what amounted to 3.5" floppies by design (though storing information in blocks of wood would have been cooler), hypo sprays, and on and on...thank you Star Trek.
 
I actually ended up naming my Tablet PC "PADD" in reference to the ST:TNG reference.

Now if Apple would have let users customize the user interface, I'm sure someone would have designed an LCARS one for it. :)
 
To me all the tablet devices that came years before the ipad reminded me of the star trek padd, hell they even used HP tablet's in stargate atlantis.

I think there has been too many shows and movies with tablet like devices for so many years that no one could really say the ipad was influenced by any one of them alone.

Those tablets in Stargate Atlantis were made by Motion Computing:

motiontablet.jpg


Since the iPad doesn't offer pen-input of any kind, I wouldn't say it was directly influenced by the concepts and designs we've seen in use on Star Trek episodes and in the movies over the past 50 years or so. I would say the basic idea of a tablet-style device aka a slate tablet and the iPad's specific form factor most definitely has been influenced by Star Trek and not much else, to be honest.

Obviously Apple can't stand "Tablet PCs" and would rather sell the company and give shit away for free before they'd be like anybody else - and you can't point at Microsoft because Microsoft just makes the OSes, not the actual hardware. I'm sure they have some input (pun intended) towards designed devices that use their XP Tablet Edition (still millions of 'em out there, I own 3 myself), but the only actual Microsoft product that works by touch has been the Zune HD so far... everything else has been made by somebody else and using Microsoft's OSes.

If the people that eventually did get a lot of input into the design and form factor on the iPad aren't Trekkies/Trekkers, I'd say something is seriously wrong with the universe itself. :) There's just no way in Hell or anyplace else that Star Trek didn't influence that product, and many many others over the decades.

Gene Roddenberry, you were a true genius that is sorely missed. You had visions of a future that is still coming true even today, decades before others even dared walk the path you started, and will forevermore influence humanity as long as we exist. I hope your "final frontier" is a happy one...
 
accept that the LCARS is infinitely more useful then the ipad OS
 
Well, you have to understand the logic and technology of Star Trek itself before you can really make such statements: I look at the iPad as a content consumption device, which in all respects it is first and foremost. It does offer some ability to create content but, the primary purpose is just presenting content in a device that's easily portable and that's the idea.

The P.A.D.D. on Star Trek and all the similar devices in the Star Trek universe aren't end-all-be-all powerful computing devices, they're content consumption tools just like the iPad - all the real power lies in massive computers with insanely large storage and processing cores that operate at FTL speeds (at least that's the general concept). The P.A.D.D. merely works as a portable device that accesses those technologies remotely, wirelessly - once again Gene Roddenberry's visions come true - and quite efficiently.

There's absolutely nothing stopping anyone from making an LCARS type theme or control UI for the iPad at this point - hell, a few days ago I saw someone with an iPod touch and it has had a complete mod done to the UI (with themes and widgets, etc) and the damned thing looks and works exactly like a Zune HD now. You can find a YouTube video of it in action here. Pretty damned cool stuff... :)

The LCARS concept/theme has been ported to a ton of devices but, obviously since it's actually a fantasy style computer UI there's not much actually consistency aside from the basic look and concept. I think such an interface could be pretty damned cool, but I recently decided to re-watch the rather lame big budget flick of "The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy" and while the movie itself flopped, what I remember the most is the kick ass concept UI of the THHGTTG itself, meaning the Guide.

The cartoonish UI has some aspects that remind me of the Zune HD interface but it's so unique that it could be a potential one for the future if people would just develop something in that style. Here's a clip that demonstrates some of what I mean:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4JhOC6QwJc

Skip to about 49 seconds in and you'll get the gist of it pretty quick. That's a killer UI that could actually prove quite useful and fun to use.

And THAT is what a true "tablet" portable device should be, exactly as that one is in my opinion. We need more work in voice recognition and control technologies, even better touch-capable screens, extremely high resolution, very fast efficient UIs sitting on a base of seriously efficient code, etc.

Such a very long way to go... :)
 
Look at the communicators in the original Trek and today's cell phones. Pretty close prediction for the time.
 
No, the iPad while the most popular slate computer made to date by a bunch is a nothing but an implementation of VERY OLD idea that's been in the market place for decades now.

Being a HUGE Star Trek fan and remembering the PADD and the orders that Spock and Kirk would sign on them is one reason why I got a Tablet PC with a REAL pen.
 
Compared to what laptops were like in the late 80s, the Star Trek PADD looked very futuristic!!

True, now we have devices that make the PADD look a little sad:

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Just needs a pen. Mine just shipped and I should have it next week! Actually have been thinking about some type of LCARS UI for it, the two screens on this device make that a very intresting idea.
 
THHGTTG makes that Libretto look rather plain, heatless... ;) If it only existed, I swear.

But then again, who knows... maybe Douglas Adams knew something the rest of us just haven't come face to face with. Yet.[/i

And yes I have my towel... ;)
 
True, now we have devices that make the PADD look a little sad:

Just needs a pen. Mine just shipped and I should have it next week! Actually have been thinking about some type of LCARS UI for it, the two screens on this device make that a very intresting idea.

Is that the DS UHD??
 
THHGTTG makes that Libretto look rather plain, heatless... ;) If it only existed, I swear.

But then again, who knows... maybe Douglas Adams knew something the rest of us just haven't come face to face with. Yet.[/i

And yes I have my towel... ;)


Becoming an Apple guy these days, the W100 not shiny enoguh eh!;)

Only about 40% the battery (a user replaceable one BTW unlike the iPad) life of the iPad but a FULL function computer with twice the screens and the same weight, its a technical marvel and the best touch screen keyboard setup EVER. 50% Nintendo DS, 50% Courier, 100% the most unique mobile form factor to ever come to market.

But yeah its too expensive to be anything more than a concept device, Toshiba is not trying to even bother to market it as a mass production device, but if they could find a way to sell if for say $700, then it would be a different story.
 
The new Toshiba Libretto W100... heatless has been all over it since day 1. :0

Yep, and I think the first I heard of it was from a post of yours actually. This thing SCREEMS unique Windows geek!:D

People around here love to down the e-pen thing but you know what, being a business software developer e-pen gadgets can actually lend job candidates a little credibility. I started carrying my Tablet PCs with me to job interviews instead of a notepad some years ago. I can't tell you how much that little trick helped! It's not only an ice breaker but really, how many stupid, non-tech savy people own devices like convertiable Tablet PCs?

Think about going to a job interview carrying a W100 vs an iPad. Honestly, even die hard iPadders have to get this. Remember the idea behind the iPad is that its a computing device that's easy to use, you don't understand Windows so so you get an iPad. The W100 is a VERY complex device by comparision. Who would you want building your software? Someone that owns and knows how to use devices like a W100 or has an iPad? The point is hard to counter if one is interviweing for a software job, and or course the jobs I do are Windows centric, so yeah, I better know Windows well.

Yes, superficial but you'd be suprised how effective little tricks like this can be.
 
The new Toshiba Libretto W100... heatless has been all over it since day 1. :0

It looks like a giant nintendo DS to me haha... You could do brain training all day..or whatever you do on them.

Off topic...why do all men in technology promo shots have hair arms? Like in the corsair one hes half gorrilla... Its like the men who do technology promo also do porno...
 
/me looks down at his arms... sees hair... doesn't get the point... but the Wife does... ;)
 
It looks like a giant nintendo DS to me haha... You could do brain training all day..or whatever you do on them.

Off topic...why do all men in technology promo shots have hair arms? Like in the corsair one hes half gorrilla... Its like the men who do technology promo also do porno...

It gets compared to the DS and Courier ALL the time and its pretty obvious why.
 
True, now we have devices that make the PADD look a little sad:

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08170829.jpg


Just needs a pen. Mine just shipped and I should have it next week! Actually have been thinking about some type of LCARS UI for it, the two screens on this device make that a very intresting idea.

It looks like MS's tech demo. I don't suppose MS has continued developing the software suite even tho they already cancelled the hardware:)
 
It's a cool little device, definitely. heatless will have one here in a few days, or weeks I really don't know but I'll bet we can expect to get a damned fine review of that Libretto W100 when he finally does get his grubby mitts all over it. :)

Be interesting to see how well he likes it... for the price it better be one damned magical thing indeed. :p
 
It's a cool little device, definitely. heatless will have one here in a few days, or weeks I really don't know but I'll bet we can expect to get a damned fine review of that Libretto W100 when he finally does get his grubby mitts all over it. :)

Be interesting to see how well he likes it... for the price it better be one damned magical thing indeed. :p

$1,200.00? It's actually about as much as an accessorized ipad.

http://shopping.yahoo.com/articles/...ipad-purchase-became-a-1170-credit-card-bill/
 

Yes, that's true, but the best thing of all about the Libretto W100?

It's not an iPad. ;)

For the people that know what it is and know what it's capable of, if you gave them a fully maxed out/accessorized iPad setup, they'd sell it immediately to get the funds to buy the W100 without breakin' a sweat... I'm one of those people myself, actually.

I can and would do infinitely more with the Libretto than an iPad could ever dream of...
 
I can and would do infinitely more with the Libretto than an iPad could ever dream of...

Which is why I think that Windows desktop is a perfectly fine slate and tablet OS. Yes it lacks some UI ease and has some touch clukiness and of course battery is an issue but this is just another round in the ongoing saga. If Microsoft puts the thought into Windows 8 focused around making Windows more touch friendly and devs fired up over WPF and Silverlight and touch, which seems to be happening, FireFox 4 actually has a LOT of touch support for Windows 7, in fact if has a lot of support for Windows 7 then its really just a matter of time. Windows is simply going to have to work well on slates and tablets, its conquered the desktop already so really its the next logical thing for Micorosoft to do and its definately on their radar, now they need to follow through and when it comes to Windows, they usually do, its still their bread and butter and will be for some time.

I've looked at some video reviews of the W100 over a Conics.net and that reviewer was pretty impreseed with it. It looks fast and Toshiba didn't just slap Windows 7 on it and call it a day. There's a LOT of software work Toshiba did with the Windows title bar to support the two screens and the Bulliten Board and Reeltime packages and the keyboard and mouse. Those things simply work well with two screens and they made it pretty seemless with the standard Windows interface. I've never seen this amount of effort put into making Windows UI enhancements that fit perfectly with the hardware.
 
Those tablets in Stargate Atlantis were made by Motion Computing:


Dam, i never really thought to look intot it i just remembered a device that look like the old hp pda i have so i assumed.... dam my assumptions but my point kinda still stands apart from the part about hp lol
 
I've seen this, pretty cool but then all things Trek range from pretty cool to freeking amazing to me!:D
 
lots of tech guys also like star trek (me being one of them..sigh..) so it makes sense that the apple managers if they like star trek could have derived some ideas from the series
 
The problem with the Star Trek analogy is that in the world of Star Trek, Steve Jobs would be trading con-man schemes with Harry Mudd in a Federation prison.
 
The problem with the Star Trek analogy is that slate computers have exisited for DECADES before the iPad and one of then was even an Apple device, the Newton which had a Pen. Damn the IT media and bloggers are ignorant.
 
I started carrying my Tablet PCs with me to job interviews instead of a notepad some years ago. I can't tell you how much that little trick helped! It's not only an ice breaker but really, how many stupid, non-tech savy people own devices like convertiable Tablet PCs?

You really bring gadgets with you to interviews? Why?

I stick to the good old leather portfolio, a nice high end shiny pen, and several copies of my resume printed on quality paper. My laptop stays at home, and my iPhone remains turned off in my car or pocket.

When interviewing people should be looking at your experience and knowledge, not at wheter you carry a techy device.
 
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