XPost: rec.arts.sf.tv, rec.arts.tv   
   From: kwicker1b_nospam@comcast.net   
      
   "Doug Freyburger"  wrote in message   
   news:1130365447.430840.75250@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...   
   > Paul Vader wrote:   
   >> ANIM8Rfsk  writes:   
   >>   
   >> >> Star Trek communicators are magic. Deal with it. *   
   >   
   > There are levels of magic.  Since plenty of SF books used   
   > subspace, it was a well established part of the genre.   
   > Subspace radio didn't take much additional stretch of the   
   > imagination.  Unlike transporters which started out as   
   > pure plot devices with little prior use in the field.   
   >   
   >> >First I want an example of communicators talking through a planet.   
   >>   
   >> The enterprise is in orbit. Therefore, for much of the time, it has no   
   >> line   
   >> of sight to the landing party. The planet's in the way.   
   >>   
   >> Unless the enterprise always uses geosyncronous orbits anyway. I suppose   
   >> that's a possible fanwank. *   
   >   
   > It looked to me like some of their authors understood   
   > what a geosync orbit is and mentioned it, others didn't   
   > and figured they were on a powered hover over the   
   > landing party.  I don't think any author bothered to   
   > figure through such issues.  They just put the Enterrpise   
   > above the landing party and that's that.  Here we are as   
   > fans knowing that's wrong but we have had decades to   
   > think through such matters.   
   >   
      
   Fans tend to know more about a show--as shown--than the writers.   
      
   -- Ken from Chicago   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)