How did Trek Become Such a Phenomenon?

[Umbran]

Those are old pics.

They are also the pics upon which the trope is based.

The pic you give has a lousy angle for judging size. It looks to me to be thicker but with smaller face than an iPhone, but I can't tell for sure. And, of course, that flip top would only cover half the phone, which would look kinda weird.

 

[Janx]

They are also the pics upon which the trope is based.

The pic you give has a lousy angle for judging size. It looks to me to be thicker but with smaller face than an iPhone, but I can't tell for sure. And, of course, that flip top would only cover half the phone, which would look kinda weird.

I chose that angle on purpose. The UI facing side is inherently different than a flat touchscreen on a smart phone. The angle I chose shows how trivial the shell of a Star Trek themed case can be.


I think you're addressing whether today's world would design a cell phone like a Communicator. No. Of course not. the new Communicator is the closest to practical, in that the flip part acts as a screen protector.

I'm addressing that if you build it, they will come. A designer can build a case that looks like some variant of a Star Trek Communicator and the Trekkies will buy it.

When Abrams made the new Communicator, he clearly aimed for something iPhone sized. What seems to have missed is that nobody's selling it as a custom case. A missed Merchandizing opportunity.

 

[sabrinathecat]

I'm addressing that if you build it, they will come. A designer can build a case that looks like some variant of a Star Trek Communicator and the Trekkies will buy it.

When Abrams made the new Communicator, he clearly aimed for something iPhone sized. What seems to have missed is that nobody's selling it as a custom case. A missed Merchandizing opportunity.

They missed it twice, since they had the chance with the second JJATrek.
Look how many lightsaber-licensed products there are: Everything from chopsticks to umbrella handles. And even more ridiculous items. Something as obvious as this has somehow failed to materialize? Even Doctor Who now has more marketing sense (the Sonic pen wielded by Ms Foster in one episode was teamed up with a sonic screwdriver and sold as a two-pack).

 

[Umbran]

They missed it twice, since they had the chance with the second JJATrek.
Look how many lightsaber-licensed products there are: Everything from chopsticks to umbrella handles. And even more ridiculous items. Something as obvious as this has somehow failed to materialize? Even Doctor Who now has more marketing sense (the Sonic pen wielded by Ms Foster in one episode was teamed up with a sonic screwdriver and sold as a two-pack).

You make it sound as if there's no Trek stuff out there, which is just incorrect: http://www.thinkgeek.com/interests/startrek/

But on communicators, specifically, it looks like in 2009, Nokia did put together a prototype. The sense I got from the reviewer in the link I gave upthread, it seems like perhaps Nokia didn't find it economically viable, for some reason. Note, specifically, that they did a piece off of Original Trek communicators. Abrams' Trek, unfortunately, have communicators that don't really fit the mold for a phone at all. They don't have a single screen, but have two separate round elements on the face, one of which gets covered by the flip-cover, the other which doesn't. I'm guessing they felt the result wold look less thoughtful than not doing one at all.

 

[sabrinathecat]

Oh, I know there is a smeg-load of trekkie stuff out there. It just seems like this should have been something that the pre-smart-phone companies should have been fighting over, not prototyping at the last minute.

 

[Umbran]

Well, they did make special, limited edition phones back for The Matrix Reloaded, which were a critical failure, due to lack of features. That may have set the stage now.

On top of that, I think there's a perception that having special tie-in items is okay (nobody blinks at a pair of lightsaber chopsticks), but that few folks are going to want their highly visible, everyday items to be quite so geeky. Your phone, for example, has to remain appropriate for your workplace.

 

[Vyvyan Basterd]

So wait, are you saying I shouldn't have "Your sex is on fire" as my ring tone?!

 

[Janx]

You make it sound as if there's no Trek stuff out there, which is just incorrect: http://www.thinkgeek.com/interests/startrek/

But on communicators, specifically, it looks like in 2009, Nokia did put together a prototype. The sense I got from the reviewer in the link I gave upthread, it seems like perhaps Nokia didn't find it economically viable, for some reason. Note, specifically, that they did a piece off of Original Trek communicators. Abrams' Trek, unfortunately, have communicators that don't really fit the mold for a phone at all. They don't have a single screen, but have two separate round elements on the face, one of which gets covered by the flip-cover, the other which doesn't. I'm guessing they felt the result wold look less thoughtful than not doing one at all.

I think here's where you're missing my thought train.

the existing Trek -> phone products on market are cases for smart phones that look silly (like the trek uniform color skins I posted FROM thinkgeek.com) or only do the back side with something trek-like.

Abrams made the front face of his Communicator have the knobbly bits of the TOS communicator, presumably as an homage to the original. 21st century tech has dispensed with such nonsense and we have touch screens on that surface and tiny microphone/speaker ports.

The market doesn't need or want Nokia to be making cell phones themed like Trek.

the market (Trekkies) does want CASES that look like Trek*. Given the added bulk smart phone owners are accustomed to putting on their precious iPhones to protect them, it is a trivial matter to make a case that has a flip open cover that is reminiscent of the JJA Communicator (or even the TOS grill flip cover Communicator, albeit with some differences.

*Do a GIS on Into Darkness iPhone case and you'll see all the crazy designs out there, and nobody's done anything more than a painted simple case.

The key here is people are happy with CASES that are Trek like, but they don't have to be exact replicas of Trek equipment.

And even in the exact replica, as this is where the Think Geek TOS Communicator toy missed the boat, embed the hardware for bluetooth ear piece in there. This means your TOS Communicator is BlueTooth paired to your cell phone. You flip it open, it answers a call or activates SIRI just like pressing the Answer button would on an ear piece. Other buttons on the communicator do whatever the other buttons do on an ear piece (volume, speakerphone/private mode).

Trekkies would did that for conventions because they can hide the iPhone in their pocket, and whip out their TOS Communicator to answer the phone.

 

[Umbran]

the market (Trekkies) does want CASES that look like Trek*. Given the added bulk smart phone owners are accustomed to putting on their precious iPhones to protect them, it is a trivial matter to make a case that has a flip open cover that is reminiscent of the JJA Communicator (or even the TOS grill flip cover Communicator, albeit with some differences.

*Do a GIS on Into Darkness iPhone case and you'll see all the crazy designs out there, and nobody's done anything more than a painted simple case.

Yes, and why is that?

In a technical sense, getting a blank case and printing something on it is what we call a "solved problem". It is dirt cheap and easy. You go out and you buy a stock blank case, and put it through a printing process. There's only a question of graphic design here. It can be done by many folks as fan-art, and sold on etsy or ebay.

Doing a case with a flip top requires mechanical design and fabrication steps. In terms of production, that's a whole different kettle of fish. You need to find someone to manufacture custom parts and assemble them, which is a whole separate supply stream, calling for extra capital expenditure, and thus more risk.

And even in the exact replica, as this is where the Think Geek TOS Communicator toy missed the boat, embed the hardware for bluetooth ear piece in there. This means your TOS Communicator is BlueTooth paired to your cell phone. You flip it open, it answers a call or activates SIRI just like pressing the Answer button would on an ear piece. Other buttons on the communicator do whatever the other buttons do on an ear piece (volume, speakerphone/private mode).

I believe the license to create replica communicators sits with Playmates and/or Diamond Select. They make toys and replicas, and aren't in the cell phone business. I wouldn't be surprised if creating such a bluetooth device would infringe upon the existing licenses - which doesn't mean it cannot be done, but it might mean a lot more legal work must be done before they could make it, and maybe the profit margin on such just isn't large enough to justify it.

Trekkies would did that for conventions because they can hide the iPhone in their pocket, and whip out their TOS Communicator to answer the phone.

Yes, that's cool. But it'll get old kinda quick. That limits the number of units you can sell, and what you can charge for them. We're talking about hardware that usually runs in the area of $100, before you apply the extra cost of licensing (or possibly writing custom software). Yes, some folks will buy it, but will it be enough to justify the R&D? I don't think that's so blithely answerable.

 

[MarkB]

In a technical sense, getting a blank case and printing something on it is what we call a "solved problem". It is dirt cheap and easy. You go out and you buy a stock blank case, and put it through a printing process. There's only a question of graphic design here. It can be done by many folks as fan-art, and sold on etsy or ebay.

Doing a case with a flip top requires mechanical design and fabrication steps. In terms of production, that's a whole different kettle of fish. You need to find someone to manufacture custom parts and assemble them, which is a whole separate supply stream, calling for extra capital expenditure, and thus more risk.

As I mentioned upthread, I have a flip-case for my Samsung smartphone. It has a magnetic catch, and flips back in classic Communicator style.

This is one of a similar design.