While the Star Trek: Discovery producers attempt to calm worried Trekkies about Klingon foreheads, one thing about the new prequel show looks appropriately retro: the design of the new Starfleet communicators.
On Tuesday, the offical Star Trek: Discovery Twitter account gave an up-close look at flip-top communicator that will be featured on Star Trek: Discovery. Glimpsed briefly in the first trailer, the new communicator looks very similar to the original version first seen on the original series in the ‘60s. Obviously, the original communicator existed in a time before cellphones existed, leading many to believe that Star Trek actually inspired the creation of the cellphone. However, as recently as 2015, cellphone inventor Martin Cooper has denied this connection.
But, in terms of in-universe consistency, the communicator looks spot-on. If one follows the sometimes bumpy Star Trek timeline, the flip-up style communicator enters use sometime around the 2150s, and stays in use well into the end of the 23rd century. Everyone from Captain Archer on Enterprise to Captain Pike in “The Cage,” used this type of communicator. Star Trek: The Motion Picture briefly played with giving the crew of the Enterprise wrist communicators, but they were back to using the flip-up kind in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
Star Trek: Discovery debuts on September 24 on CBS. Just remember, Scotty will not be beaming anyone up.
