The depiction of computers on the various "Star Trek" series has ranged from lame to breathtakingly imaginative. This book covers the gamut, and makes lucid and entertaining comparison of these fictional computers with those that now exist or are likely to inhabit our future. Throughout its history, "Star Trek" has been an accurate reflection of contemporary ideas about co The depiction of computers on the various "Star Trek" series has ranged from lame to breathtakingly imaginative. This book covers the gamut, and makes lucid and entertaining comparison of these fictional computers with those that now exist or are likely to inhabit our future. Throughout its history, "Star Trek" has been an accurate reflection of contemporary ideas about computers and their role in our lives. Affectionately but without illusions, The Computers of Star Trek shows how those ideas compare with what we now know we can and will do with computers.
Computers Of Star Trek
The depiction of computers on the various "Star Trek" series has ranged from lame to breathtakingly imaginative. This book covers the gamut, and makes lucid and entertaining comparison of these fictional computers with those that now exist or are likely to inhabit our future. Throughout its history, "Star Trek" has been an accurate reflection of contemporary ideas about co The depiction of computers on the various "Star Trek" series has ranged from lame to breathtakingly imaginative. This book covers the gamut, and makes lucid and entertaining comparison of these fictional computers with those that now exist or are likely to inhabit our future. Throughout its history, "Star Trek" has been an accurate reflection of contemporary ideas about computers and their role in our lives. Affectionately but without illusions, The Computers of Star Trek shows how those ideas compare with what we now know we can and will do with computers.
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Sean Randall –
Though promising in title, this book suffered from a lack of source material. This meant that the authors resorted to repeating themselves fairly often and were almost gleeful in their pointing out where Star Trek "got it wrong", superbly ironic with the book's touting of ZIP disks, floppies, and other now arcane storage media. The thing that put me off more than anything, though, is the acknowledgments sectionwherein the authors have to thank an individual who "made available to us" his Star Tr Though promising in title, this book suffered from a lack of source material. This meant that the authors resorted to repeating themselves fairly often and were almost gleeful in their pointing out where Star Trek "got it wrong", superbly ironic with the book's touting of ZIP disks, floppies, and other now arcane storage media. The thing that put me off more than anything, though, is the acknowledgments sectionwherein the authors have to thank an individual who "made available to us" his Star Trek video collection. What sort of a trek fan doesn't have that to hand? Shame on them.
Alicea –
Computers of Star Trek by Lois H. Gresh & Robert E. Weinberg is exactly what it states to be in its title. It examines the various pieces of technology used in the different iterations of Star Trek through the years and compares it to the reality (and future of) technology. The problem was that it is so outdated that there was little point in me reading beyond page 20. Computers of Star Trek was written in 1999 and re-published in 2001 which predates the beginning of Star Trek: Enterprise not to Computers of Star Trek by Lois H. Gresh & Robert E. Weinberg is exactly what it states to be in its title. It examines the various pieces of technology used in the different iterations of Star Trek through the years and compares it to the reality (and future of) technology. The problem was that it is so outdated that there was little point in me reading beyond page 20. Computers of Star Trek was written in 1999 and re-published in 2001 which predates the beginning of Star Trek: Enterprise not to mention the reboot movies or Discovery. It was also written before the first iPod (end of 2001) or the first smartphone that didn't rely on a stylus (2007).
Maurizio Codogno –
Non sono un grandissimo esperto di Star Trek, però insomma qualchecosina la so anche, pur confessando che dopo TNG mi sono perso abbastanza. Mi sono preso così a suo tempo questo vecchio libro, e in questi giorni me lo sono letto con la malcelata speranza di vedere cosa era successo in questi dieci anni. L'idea alla base del libro è spiegare quali cose sono presumibilmente fattibili e quali no nell'universo di Star Trek, e cosa potremmo effettivamente aspettarci nel futuro prossimo. Diciamo che i Non sono un grandissimo esperto di Star Trek, però insomma qualchecosina la so anche, pur confessando che dopo TNG mi sono perso abbastanza. Mi sono preso così a suo tempo questo vecchio libro, e in questi giorni me lo sono letto con la malcelata speranza di vedere cosa era successo in questi dieci anni. L'idea alla base del libro è spiegare quali cose sono presumibilmente fattibili e quali no nell'universo di Star Trek, e cosa potremmo effettivamente aspettarci nel futuro prossimo. Diciamo che il risultato finale è stato piuttosto deludente. Da un lato gli autori hanno continuato a rimarcare il fatto che nei telefilm sono state continuamente fatte scelte "televisive" e quindi chiaramente irreali; e fin qui lo sapevamo già tutti, grazie. Essendo gli autori due informatici, la prima parte - quella che studia il funzionamento dei computer di bordo, partendo dalle conoscenze "ufficiali" trekkiane - è abbastanza interessante, anche se spesso i due tendono al ricorrere alle argomentazioni per auctoritatem che come immaginate non sono il massimo. Andando avanti nel testo però ci si allontana sempre più da una plausibilità scientifica, e quindi gran parte del divertimento si perde. E la parte finale, con quello che "supera già Star Trek"? Beh, gli autori non potevano certo sapere della possibilità di teletrasporto di un fotone, e quello non glielo possiamo computare come errore. Però le "magliette intelligenti" che erano già in betatest nel 1999 eppure non sono mai apparse nei negozi mi fanno solo venire in mente una teoria del gomblotto, scusatemi. (Ah, e non mi aspettavo che Libero Sosio scrivesse "millimetri di centimetro". Anche tralasciando la svista millimetri / millesimi, "thousandths of inch" sarebbero stati "centesimi di millimetro")
Jim Razinha –
Multiple issues...a couple on me: I didn't look at the publication date until partially through the book (1999....yes, it's dated), and I was under the impression that it would be about, well, the computers of Star Trek. It's pretty much a rip on every implausibility, incongruity and fault in the Star Trek universe. Newsflash! ... the Star Trek universe is the creation of television and movie writers! Taking them to task over all of the errors is rather sad. The show "Lost" supposedly had two pe Multiple issues...a couple on me: I didn't look at the publication date until partially through the book (1999....yes, it's dated), and I was under the impression that it would be about, well, the computers of Star Trek. It's pretty much a rip on every implausibility, incongruity and fault in the Star Trek universe. Newsflash! ... the Star Trek universe is the creation of television and movie writers! Taking them to task over all of the errors is rather sad. The show "Lost" supposedly had two people on staff totally dedicated to maintaining consistency - and they still ended up with a mess. And the Technical Manuals were just some more fun done by fans after the various series, meant to complement, occasionally enhance some of the things from the shows. Using them to compare to what the writers did is also sad. I was confused over the "but we're not physicists, we're computer scientists" dropped here and there. No biography of either author indicated such. Two stars for the admirable detail in covering episodes and drilling down to minutia, though they didn't mention anything about stardates (and apparently didn't know which episode Kirk's Captain's log had stardates out of order - I'll leave that for readers of this review to track down.)
The Tick –
I felt like this was more "Let us show you all the things Star Trek was WRONG about" than "Star Trek was wrong about some things, this is closer to being accurate, and let's talk about some other interesting things that relate to the same topic." It's outdated (although in all fairness I knew that before I picked it up) and they were overly optimistic about the future of technology. I felt like this was more "Let us show you all the things Star Trek was WRONG about" than "Star Trek was wrong about some things, this is closer to being accurate, and let's talk about some other interesting things that relate to the same topic." It's outdated (although in all fairness I knew that before I picked it up) and they were overly optimistic about the future of technology.
Jakub –
Far worse than Physics of Star Trek, but I kind of enjoyed that. In few places authors showed inhuman stamina to analyze ST gizmos that clearly don't make any sense. I guess that means extra geek points, but those passages weren't that interesting. Far worse than Physics of Star Trek, but I kind of enjoyed that. In few places authors showed inhuman stamina to analyze ST gizmos that clearly don't make any sense. I guess that means extra geek points, but those passages weren't that interesting.
Benjamin Plume –
I thought this writer made an awful lot of assumptions about what "will" happen. Not really very insightful either. I thought this writer made an awful lot of assumptions about what "will" happen. Not really very insightful either.
Laura –
Written in 1999 and too outdated to be relevant today, although it does reflect the general trends in both the real and Star Trek universe.
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