Slashdot Mirror
Home Theater Transformed Into Star Trek Bridge
gevmage writes "Gary Reign, a guy with apparently way too much time on his hands, built a home theater in his basement. This is not unusual. However, the room is designed, floor to ceiling, as the bridge of a Star Trek style starship. See his
photo page for details."
Why do people automatically make that assumption? Look, unlike the nutcase in England who ran himself into unbelievable debt to make a transporter room in his flat, this room at least serves a legitimate purpose: home theater. And in that perspective, why not use something like the bridge of the Enterprise? The screen does exactly what it's supposed to do both on the Enterprise and in a regular theater - show video; the dome lights do exactly what they're supposed to do on both the Enterprise and in a regular theater; the speakers are placed in strategic locations where speakers should be placed for a home theatre system. Considering the things that he could have done to his house to show his love for Star Trek, this is probably the most practical and least bizarre.
It's nowhere near as kitsch as you guys are making it out to be. If he had a regular door instead of a Starfleet door and replaced any blatantly Star Trek-related items with something more contemporary, no one would be bashing his setup. "Nice bookshelf, nice ceiling lighting, leather chairs, big screen, hidden speakers -- this is really nice. Oh wait. Look! The door (that can very easily be replaced) is a Starfleet door! Oh, how stupid this whole thing is!!" Oh, please. I honestly think that to anyone who is a Star Trek fan and has an appreciation for home theare this is not nearly as much of a turn-off as you'd think.
Yet look how Slashdotters react when the newest, highly-creative, PC case mod comes out. "Cool!" "Where do I get one!" "And it's water-cooled!" "Look how it glows!" "r0x0rz!" "Awesome case!" I certainly love cool-looking PC cases, too, but most people would scorn us for paying premium prices for a PC case, no matter how cool it looks. So, perceived value goes both ways.
And don't confuse "market value" for "marketability" or "sellability". They're completely different. The "market value" for a PS3 when it first came out was $699. The "marketability" and "sellability" values were obviously much, much higher. Houses are no different. I don't see this particular home theatre design hurting its market value, but I do see it increasing its marketability to even mild Star Trek fans who happen to love home theatre, especially when the blatant Star Trek-related items appear to be easily replaceable.
The Overrated mod is for reversing inappropriate, positive mods, not for voicing disagreement with a post.
No couch? Chairs/loungers only==no snuggling.
It's almost like he never expects to have a woman over...
The Humblest Mollusk on the Net