How William Shatner Changed the World

Well, not really William Shatner, but Star Trek the original series, had a lot of gadgets, that were very foreign back in the 60's and early 70's. This seemed to inspire a lot of young "Trekkies" to boldly go into aeronautics, wireless communications, astronauts, and other things we 21st Century people now take for granted.

The History Channel has this program, "How William Shatner Changed the World" playing this Friday. I watched an earlier show on my DVR (Digital Video Recorder), which recorded the program early Tuesday Morning (12am), so I could watch it last night at 9:00 p.m.

Here is the listing for the program:

"Tune In: Friday, March 17 @ 12am ET/PT On the History Channel"
You've got a cell phone at one ear, an iPod at the other. You know that Blackberry is now a verb and Spam is not only canned meat. But just how did we get here? Blame William Shatner--yes, that William Shatner--Captain Kirk. We'll boldly go where few have gone before to reveal how scientists, inspired by the series, would revolutionize medicine and are surpassing the far-out vision of the future foreshadowed in Star Trek in the 1960s. From cell phones to computers to even leading-edge medical advancements, this 2-hour special explores how those sci-fi inventions have now permeated everyday life as we know it. Hosted and narrated by Shatner and based on his book, I'm Working on That, we'll meet the brightest minds of Silicon Valley and the Trek-inspired inventions that have help change the world."

Now, even though I think William Shatner was a bit campy throughout the hour I watched, it was quite funny. There were intersperced bits and snippets of Star Trek episodes, here and there, and besides the obvious self-abasement of Shatner, the show had some really good interviews with the brilliant scientists, aeronautic engineers, and the man who invented cell phones. I was really impressed on the "ion propulsion" that was showed on Star Trek, and now, NASA engineers are working on a space travel vehicle, that utilizes this "ion propusion", to be able to travel faster into the farthest reaches of space.

I only viewed an hour of the program, but will continue watching it at a later date, and will even (possibly) record it onto a VHS tape. I don't have a DVD recorder just yet, but waiting for the small version!

As a Trekkie from way back, I'm impressed that I'm in a very prestigious group of Trekkies -- from the man who invented cell phones, to the man who is listening to extraterrestrial interference from space on the SETI experiment. And I work on computers, and have a small flip open communicator with voice activation, and can take photographs, and will be using more inventions, featured on Star Trek in my near future.
Thank goodness for Star Trek -- Live Long and Prosper.

Tracey

For Further Reading:

Here is Star Trek's own website:
http://www.startrek.com/

The History Channel's Website
http://www.historychannel.com/