Talk:Communicator

Incomplete
The "Communicator" article lacks images of the most widely recognized Starfleet walkie-talkie on them all: the black-shelled flip-open unit constantly used throughout the original Star Trek series. It would also be a good idea to show graphically how the TOS Starfleet unit differs from the unit used by Archer & company in ENT, as well as those used in the feature films.


 * Not to mention the underrated wrist communicators seen in TMP, as well. 154.5.39.80 03:47, 15 December 2006 (UTC)


 * Just visited this article for info on communicators as seen in ENT, and sadly found nothing. Anyone have access to any images of communicators used by Earth Starfleet?  The article seems incomplete without it. (Not being an ENT expert in the least, I'd like to defer to someone else for providing content). -Rhinecanthus rectangulus 18:49, 9 April 2008 (UTC)


 * Also, in the Star Trek: The Motion Picture, weren't there wrist strap communicators? --12.43.88.120 19:36, 23 July 2008 (UTC)


 * I've added a picture of the 22nd Century Starfleet communicator seen in Enterprise. I'm sort of new at all this editing stuff, so I couldn't quite figure out how to get the "Alternate Uses" section to look quite right--if some other more experienced user out there would like to touch this page up, be my guest. :-)  – Mdettweiler 21:14, 12 January 2009 (UTC)

Removed link
The so called "retarded link" to comm badge, which is a recursive link to this page (and wont be in a moment) should have been corrected to the correct spelling and page of combadge instead of removing the link -- 6/6 Neural Transceiver 06:09, 11 December 2006 (UTC)

How does this work?
Anyone actually knows how the communicators work? I don't mean how they send voice messages, but how they connect with a certain person. Example: Geordi La Forge taps his combadge, says "Captain Picard, we've had a problem", and Picard hears what Geordi just said. How does the communicator know, who to call? I doubt it's a form of voice dial, because the connection is established as soon as one person taps (or flips open) the communicator, and the conversation then proceeds in real time - which excludes the possibility, that the name said by Geordi after tapping the combadge is used as a 24th century version of a phone number, and then the message is repeated automatically, after the conenction is established. Could it be, that the communicator is somehow directed by brain waves, or something? Any ideas? ~M3n747, 11:42 AM, 9 September 2007.
 * According to the Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual (not a canon source but it sheds light on how the production staff thinks these things work), the ship's main computer, through which the combadge is linked, has "artificial intelligence routines" integrated in its design which "listen" for calls. These routines analyze the name of the person trying to be reached, locate that person and then "activate the audio speakers at the recipient's location," with only a slight processing delay. --From Andoria with Love 09:36, 10 September 2007 (UTC)

I was thinking about the same possibility, but I'm not certain about that delay. The way I see it, it would have to be as long, as the time needed to say the other person's name - and in many episodes we can clearly see, that the communication is established immediately. I guess only Gene Roddenberry knew the truth. :) ~M3n747, 6:00 PM, 10 September 2007.
 * It's possible the computer repeats the communication from scratch once the recipient has been established and connected, helps to explain both the 'slight delay' and the fact the recipient hears their name followed by the rest of the communication. MikeWard1701 02:27, 23 September 2007 (UTC)

Cell phones
What no one is gonna mention how thanks to this little science fiction gadget we now have cell phones in real life?
 * Find a citable source and we'd be glad to add it. That goes without saying that walkie talkies and portable telephones were already in existence by the 60s... --Alan 03:48, 16 May 2008 (UTC)
 * I've rarely seen it actually claimed that cellphones were invented because of TOS communicators, but rather that cellphones are an example of how we now have something similar to TOS communicators. --OuroborosCobra talk 04:07, 16 May 2008 (UTC)
 * According to this article, the inventor of the cellular phone was inspired by seeing the communicator in action.Wangry 19:04, 22 April 2009 (UTC)

Technologies inspired by this?
Previously, it was discussed that the communicator inspired cell phones (I wouldn't say the technology proper, as it was in development long before the show ever aired), but it wasn't the only one--Vocera, for instance, offers a product similar to a combadge. Would information like this be at all relevant for the scope of this wiki? Penguindeskjob 16:55, February 14, 2011 (UTC)

Bg note on Into Darkness
As a note for future usage, some background info about communicators from can be found here:. --Defiant (talk) 00:29, December 19, 2012 (UTC)