iPADD

Star Trek the next generation introduced something they called the PADD, or personal access data device. Like most of the ST gadgets it was both cool and practical. Basically it was a 1/4" thick, plastic (looking) data reader with those fabulous dynamic touch screens so common on the Enterprise D. It could hold mountains of technical sheets, have research libraries uploaded to it, display graphics, music, whatever.

And Like so many of the star Trek ideas, this one has been brought to life by Apple. The iPod Touch/iPhone pretty much IS that device. Upload movies, music, perform web searches, dynamic resizing of the screen, touch screen, etc, etc, etc. I feel kinda sad for SF writers in the modern day. Back in the 50s, all the cool gadgets they could come up with took decades to arrive. Now, many of them are going into prototyping before the paperback is printed.

If you get the opportunity, watch a campy little discovery channel production called "How William Shatner Changed the World" It goes over the influence that Star Trek has had on a myriad of High Tech stuff, mostly though interviews with the people who invented the things.