Foreman: 50 Years of Star Trek — Highlights of Predictions and Inspirations

The crew of the Starship Enterprise began its voyage 50 years ago, airing on television for the first time on Sept. 8, 1966. As I kid, Star Trek was my favorite show. When my cousins and I would play Star Trek, I was always Scotty, the miracle-working engineer. In many ways, Star Trek was influential to me personally. My decision to go into engineering and join the U.S. Navy were both inspired in part by this television program.

In honor of Star Trek’s 50^th anniversary, I would like to highlight a few of the predictions and inspirations that have arisen from the show.

Diversity in the Workforce

If you watch the original series now, you probably wouldn’t think twice about the crew’s cultural diversity. However, the crew’s diversity was unheard of in the 1960s, and included Lt. Uhura (a black woman), Lt. Sulu (an Asian) and Ensign Chekov (a Russian). If you look at the times, the Civil Rights Movement was in full swing, and the United States was also in the middle of both the Vietnam War and the Cold War. In comparison, Star Trek’s closest contemporary, Lost in Space, had an all-white cast. Star Trek had an optimistic view that in the future we would all learn to resolve our differences and work together.



Source: http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_6b7c56330102wf7x.html

The Cellphone

I was watching Star Trek with my niece and when Capt. Kirk pulled out his communicator. My niece commented, “How cute, a flip phone.” Interestingly enough, Dr. Martin Cooper inventor of the first handheld phone, admits his inspiration came from Star Trek. In addition, Motorola’s first flip phone, the StarTAC, looked remarkably like a Star Trek communicator.



Source: http://sci-fi-london.com/blog/herb/2014/01/i-actually-got-one-these-christmas-star-trek-communicator

The iPad

When the iPad first came out, it reminded me of Star Trek’s PADD (Personal Access Data Display). Interestingly enough, when former Apple CEO Steve Jobs first demoed the iPad, he showed the rebooted Star Trek Movie as an example of a video that could be watched. In a recent History Channel documentary, 50 Years of Star Trek, it was revealed that Apple approached Star Trek to license the “PADD” name.



Source: http://www.pocketables.com/2012/12/app-review-star-trek-padd-for-the-ipad.html

The Tricorder

The Tricorder was a medical device used by Dr. McCoy to diagnose his patients. The Tricorder has yet to be invented. However, XPRIZE has a $10M Tricorder Challenge: an open competition to develop a “Tricorder device that will accurately diagnose 13 health conditions (12 diseases and the absence of conditions) and capture five real-time health vital signs, independent of a health-care worker or facility, and in a way that provides a compelling consumer experience.” Results for the competition will be announced in 2017.



 
Source: http://tricorder.xprize.org/

The Space Shuttle

The Starship Enterprise would use Shuttlecrafts to ferry crew members to a planet when they couldn’t use a transporter. In 1972, when NASA began to develop a re-usable spacecraft, they called it the Space Shuttle Program. The prototype for the shuttle program was originally to be named the “Constitution.” After receiving hundreds of thousands of letters from devoted Trekkies, President Ford requested the prototype to be renamed “Enterprise.”



Source: http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-042712e.html

Source: http://www.startrek.com/article/restored-galileo-shuttle-bound-for-space-center-houston

Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry had an optimistic view that humanity will overcome the challenges that threaten to destroy us and travel to the stars. After 50 years, Star Trek is still going strong in books, video games, movies and television. For you inspiring entrepreneurs looking for an idea for your next startup, try watching a couple episodes of Star Trek.