The Science Fiction of my youth has become reality

I've been watching some old science fiction movies and TV shows on Netflix lately, including the original Battlestar Galactica (1978) and was noticing some of the technology they used as fiction is now reality and it's pretty amazing. Back then, we never thought some of this would be real.

Communicator - hand held communication devices - cell phones

In Space:1999 they have a communicator that has video chat and unlocks the doors. Smartphones can do that now.

Battlestar Galactica had a hand held translator that translated spoken words - Google Translate on my Droid smart phone can do that.

GPS guidance - tons of those now.

Electronic note pads being used in multiple shows - tablet computers.

Sensors and scanners for medical diagnosis - CT and MRI now. There are even handheld ultrasound units now.

Voice activated and controlled computers - hello Siri and Jeannie (Android).

It's fun to look at these old shows and movies and see what "far-fetched" gadgets have become reality and talk about it with my students.