OT: Sci-fi (was RE: Ultra-portable terminals)

[Fairlight]

This public service announcement was brought to you by Kenneth Brody:
> Actually, the whole William Shatner angle was done tongue-in-cheek.
> As I recall, they did create Roddenberry as the "visionary" behind
> the whole series.

I assume that was meant to be "credit".  Okay, then.  I'm chilled.

> And then there were parts that were created simply because it was
> cheaper to do so.  They didn't have the budget for sets and scenes
> with shuttlecraft, so the transporter was "invented" so that the
> crew could simply "appear" on the planet.

It wasn't cost, it was practicality.  You have 44min of non-advertiser
space these days or 52 minutes in 1967 (time the DVD running time of any
TNG on forward as opposed to TOS, I have).  How much of that do you want to
waste showing tedious travel by shuttle.  It's the same reason StarGate
started out in the movie (a limited experience where it made logical sense)
needing an archeologist/translator, but as the -show- StarGate grew, they
realised that translating a new language every episode was simply going to
be unwieldly.  And there's no cost involved in that.  It's effective use of
screen time.

> > I'm not a huge Roddenberry loyalist like some.  Actually, I'm surprised
> > he was never maliciously accused of being a Communist, given his views
> > on some things.
> 
> It's bad enough to have a woman (and a black woman at that) as a
> bridge officer, but did they have to have that Russian guy, too?
> 
> Just in case:  :-)  :-)  :-)  :-)  :-)

Oh, it wasn't just that.  It was also that in the future there would be no
currency, as such, everything would be provided by society, people working
for fulfillment, etc.  It was like Communism taken to a high idealism.  I'm
surprised the extrapolation/comparison hasn't been made more often and
publicly.

> On a totally separate OT thread, I'm sure you know that Roddenberry's
> ashes were launched into space on a shuttle mission.  Are you also
> aware that the ashes of Clyde Tombaugh, the one who discovered Pluto,
> are onboard the New Horizons spacecraft on it's Pluto flyby mission?

No, I hadn't heard the latter, but it's very interesting/cool.  Thanks for
sharing that!

mark->