I mentioned what I called the Star Trek effect the other week. Let me explain.
Science Fiction, when done well, can be enlightening. New ideas, new ways of thinking, and sometimes, new constructs lead to visionary outbursts. Sometimes it becomes rooted in the cultural lexicon or just the right group to the point that it’s absorbed into the cultural lexicon. Jules Verne put people on the moon. Robert A. Heinlein got us a bit closer with some pragmatic writing to the point where “Waldos” was adopted as technical language. Asimov brought us the three laws of robotics. All of these were adopted by the geeks of yore, probably until Star Wars, which made the future mainstream and marketable.
Of all of these, Star Trek seems to have been the most pervasive – the modern PDA is close to tricorder-ness. Maybe the next-gen plasma screen will be nearly as large and refined as the Enterprise bridge screen. Microsoft is chasing the Holodeck.
What I mean to say is the modern sci-fi is an interesting feedback loop. Concepts are rendered nearly-real by visual effects, where the common culture absorbs them. By embedding an expectation, the skids are greased for new technology adoption.
Our visionaries now have a distribution channel for their ideas – and we want them.
