@stavvers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMS2VnDveP8

@stavvers
an episode about Picard accidentally requesting a live ocelot would have made a better episode than about half of the holodeck hijinks episodes.

That said ... in 1962 IBM demonstrated a computerized voice recognition system that could recognize 16 distinct words. By the 1980s, much better systems, but still notoriously error-prone and quite limited, existed in several university labs. It's possible one of the writers had read about these, or maybe even had direct experience.

@stavvers

sometimes when Counselor Troi and Captain Picard put in their drink orders at the same time, the replicator goes all Tuvix on them

@stavvers On the other hand, it (and all the other voice-activated stuff) knows when you're talking to it. Otherwise, replicators would be spewing out food any time someone near the input said anything food-related.

"So, I ordered some gakh once and..."
Replicator: DING!
"No, I don't want gakh..."
Replicator: DING!
"Look, you steaming pile of dingo's kidneys..."
Replicator: DING!
(At this point, stuff is spilling out onto the crewperson's pants.)

(Later, after showering and changing their uniform, they actually DO try to get dinner, only to be told they've exceeded their caloric allowance and need an exemption from Medical.)

#StarTrek

@stavvers Going back and watching the TNG and DS9 crew interact with voice activation, tablets, and variable displays is wild.
LCARS. an interface that changes as you need it, concieved of in 1989, when most products had push-buttons that did just the button thing.
This was only 5 years after the Macintosh GUI was introduced.

PADD was 21 years before iPAD

@stavvers I had a weird reaction to the 2009 Trek movie doing a joke about the ship's computer not understanding Chekov's accent.

I know it was supposed to be played for laughs, but my ADHD ass immediately went "Oh no... Russians and Eastern Europeans are super-rare in the future?" :(

@stavvers

I can imagine it now:

"Lt. Barclay?"

"Captain?"

"It happened again."

"I'll come and recalibrate voice recognition... should I...?"

"I've pacified it with some chicken, but you should ask Lt. Knowles to send someone for containment."

@stavvers Wait, /who/ says "science fiction never really predicts the future?" Not anybody I know. I say exactly the opposite, quite frequently. In fact, I've basically stopped reading science fiction because too many of the depressing things I remember reading in my youth keep happening for real and I no longer want to know.

#strawman

@stavvers You've seen "Scottish Voice Activated Elevator", ja?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMS2VnDveP8

@stavvers They got it pretty accurate, but if current trends are anything to go by, he'll have to order

"Tea, Earl Grey, hot, blended tea with bergamot, porcelain mug, cup, beverage, steaming, saucer, in the style of Jacksons of Piccadilly, high definition, ranked #1 on TeaTalk"