Long before Apple came out with the iPad, which began the current tablet craze, the creative producers behind Star Trek had it all figured out– at least as far as handheld computing goes. The PADD, or Personal Access Display Device, was prominently featured on the show and used by characters for anything from accessing medical records to figuring out what was wrong with the ship’s warp drive. And a recent article in The Atlantic described how the show didn’t just come up with the idea of tablet computer, it also demonstrated how ubiquitous they would become in our daily lives.
The real-life potential of gadgets from Star Trek are so fascinating, investors often look at companies that are developing technologies similar to what was seen on the show. HP executive and ex-Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein is one of them:
Kara Swisher: HP, Qualcomm and the Star Trek ‘Tricorder’ from on FORA.tv
Loading tweets...