The Ipod and the Tricorder

My new Ipod has helped solve one of the few nagging questions I've always had about Classic Star Trek. Specifically, about the tricorder. See, I could never figure out how they managed to get the thing to do so many different tasks- recording, sensing, giving Yeoman Rand something to do besides wear a miniskirt- with only three knobs to twirl. I mean, three knobs, and it did pretty much anything, it seemed impossible.

My Ipod has ONE button.

And with that one button, after mere hours of trying to get the indicator bar to go where I want it to go, I can not only select songs, but look at playlists, check my calendar, all kinds of things. With one button. At least some of the time.

I figure in the future, the people using the tricorder would be ecstatic- "Look! THREE buttons! The last model had only two buttons and a toggle! Wow!"