 So, you're gonna laugh, but my favorite thing about Star Trek isn't actually the spaceships or the phasers or even the aliens. It's the little communicator badges everyone has. You just tap it and say, Picard to Engineering, and then suddenly you're talking to engineering. There's no ringtones, nothing to take out of your pocket, it's just instantaneous connection. Of course, that sounds great when you're calling someone, it's probably less fun on the receiving end. Down in the engine room, Picard just hops into whatever they're doing with no warning and they have to instantly respond. They might actually prefer a few rings before the phone picks up, but that's not how Starfleet wants it. This is part of why communication systems are so weird. It's not really about the tech. We could probably build a Starfleet communicator right now with just Bluetooth headsets and a strong wireless network, but getting people to use it would make them uncomfortable. It's social technology, and hardware just fills in the gaps. The real question is how we want to talk to one another. Something we figured out recently is that most communication wants to be private. That's part of why texting is more popular than talking out loud. You can have a private conversation, even when you're in a public place. Then there's the question of how people know whether to contact you at all. A ringing phone is one way of doing this. You only pick up if you're available to talk, but it's not very efficient. Some people talk about a kind of universal status indicator that would let people see who's available to talk and how's best to contact them. It could even be broken down by social settings. Six of your friends are around to talk about weekend plans, eight of your coworkers are around to talk about work. You get into questions of digital presence. There's a work room and a weekend room, maybe, and if you like, you can be in both of them at the same time. You can be in dozens of rooms at once, or hundreds. That could be virtual reality or just different windows in a chat app, but the idea isn't going away. What we don't know is how those tools will change us. Will all that digital space make us more present or less present? Will human beings become more extroverted or just more talkative? There's no easy answer to that. It's a choice we still have to make. But whatever happens, the future's going to have a lot more communication in it. As someone who believes in the value of talking, I have to think that's good news.
 So, you're gonna laugh, but my favorite thing about Star Trek isn't actually the
 spaceships or the phasers or even the aliens.
 It's the little communicator badges everyone has.
 You just tap it and say, Picard to Engineering, and then suddenly you're talking to engineering.
 There's no ringtones, nothing to take out of your pocket, it's just instantaneous connection.
 Of course, that sounds great when you're calling someone, it's probably less fun on the receiving
 end.
 Down in the engine room, Picard just hops into whatever they're doing with no warning
 and they have to instantly respond.
 They might actually prefer a few rings before the phone picks up, but that's not how Starfleet
 wants it.
 This is part of why communication systems are so weird.
 It's not really about the tech.
 We could probably build a Starfleet communicator right now with just Bluetooth headsets and
 a strong wireless network, but getting people to use it would make them uncomfortable.
 It's social technology, and hardware just fills in the gaps.
 The real question is how we want to talk to one another.
 Something we figured out recently is that most communication wants to be private.
 That's part of why texting is more popular than talking out loud.
 You can have a private conversation, even when you're in a public place.
 Then there's the question of how people know whether to contact you at all.
 A ringing phone is one way of doing this.
 You only pick up if you're available to talk, but it's not very efficient.
 Some people talk about a kind of universal status indicator that would let people see
 who's available to talk and how's best to contact them.
 It could even be broken down by social settings.
 Six of your friends are around to talk about weekend plans, eight of your coworkers are
 around to talk about work.
 You get into questions of digital presence.
 There's a work room and a weekend room, maybe, and if you like, you can be in both of them
 at the same time.
 You can be in dozens of rooms at once, or hundreds.
 That could be virtual reality or just different windows in a chat app, but the idea isn't
 going away.
 What we don't know is how those tools will change us.
 Will all that digital space make us more present or less present?
 Will human beings become more extroverted or just more talkative?
 There's no easy answer to that.
 It's a choice we still have to make.
 But whatever happens, the future's going to have a lot more communication in it.
 As someone who believes in the value of talking, I have to think that's good news.