Things from Star Trek that are now a Reality

[Leaffan]

"Computer, search your memory banks for............."
Well holy shit if that isn't now called the internet. I could never figure out how the ship's computer was going to have all the universally known knowledge about a particular planet or villain. Now I know.

"Communicators" - Well, don't we now have cell phones complete with the "flip-out" action.

"Lock onto his coordinates" - GPS. Got it.

"Put your phasers on stun" - OK. We have tasers. Damed close.

"Automatic doors" - We didn't have those auto-sliding doors before Star Trek.

This was supposed to be 500 years in the future. We have a lot of these things 40 years later.

What else do we now have?
What else from Star Trek is on the horizon?

[Lobohan]

"Computer, search your memory banks for............."
Well holy shit if that isn't now called the internet. I could never figure out how the ship's computer was going to have all the universally known knowledge about a particular planet or villain. Now I know.

"Communicators" - Well, don't we now have cell phones complete with the "flip-out" action.

"Lock onto his coordinates" - GPS. Got it.

"Put your phasers on stun" - OK. We have tasers. Damed close.

"Automatic doors" - We didn't have those auto-sliding doors before Star Trek.

This was supposed to be 500 years in the future. We have a lot of these things 40 years later.

What else do we now have?
What else from Star Trek is on the horizon?A little off, Star Trek TOS starts up in 2266.

Also:
Floppy disks.
Big screen TVs.
Tablet PCs.
Bluetooth headsets.
Anti Matter.

[Darryl Lict]

Anti Matter.
Carl David Anderson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_David_Anderson) discovered proof of positrons back in 1932. Yeah, we have it now, but we had it well before TOS was aired.

[cochrane]

I can't recall in which episode, but I once saw Chekov using a round, shiny disc that was very similar to today's CD or DVD in a computer. Although one thing the writers of TOS apparently didn't foresee was tapes becoming obsolete for all practical purposes.

As for positrons, yeah, they're the basis for PET scans used in nuclear medicine imaging.

[Sage Rat]

The ability to replace the photo receptors in the eye with a man-made one that synchs into the nerve endings is here/around the corner.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_prosthetic

[Lobohan]

Carl David Anderson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_David_Anderson) discovered proof of positrons back in 1932. Yeah, we have it now, but we had it well before TOS was aired.
Yeah but we have actual anti matter containment now. Enough to light a 40 watt bulb for a second!

[Terminus Est]

Biofunction monitors - just go into any intensive care unit and it will look like you've stepped into the Enterprise's Sickbay.

[Darryl Lict]

Yeah but we have actual anti matter containment now. Enough to light a 40 watt bulb for a second!
True, but our warp drive technology hasn't quite reached TOS.

[Atrael]

There was a history channel special about this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_William_Shatner_Changed_the_World) that I've seen a few times. As I recall, one of the things that I hadn't thought about was .mp3 files. Someone stated in an interview that he was inspired by scenes in ST:TNG where they'd just ask for a music piece and it was available. That was pretty cool I thought.

[Annie-Xmas]

The Captain's log should have been the Captain's blog

On NCIS it always amuses me that the military's video hookups are exactly like those used on Star Trek.

[Athena]

Nothing matters until we develop a Holodeck.

[KneadToKnow]

"Automatic doors" - We didn't have those auto-sliding doors before Star Trek.
According to about.com (http://inventors.about.com/od/astartinventions/a/FamousInvention.htm), you're off by about 12 years.
Dee Horton and Lew Hewitt invented the sliding automatic door in 1954.

[Bryan Ekers]

Nothing matters until we develop a Holodeck.
And after that, nothing will matter, either.