Looking back on the 1966-69 Star Trek television series it becomes clear that Gene Roddenberry’s imagination was light years ahead of his time. Alright, well maybe a little closer to 40 years ahead of his time, but many of his technological fantasies have come to life and surround us every day. We might not be able to beam our sexy selves from one location to another or to regenerate our kidneys with a blue pill, but the infamous communicator is a prime example of this sci-fi meets real world phenomenon, manifested today in flip top cell phones. So, which one is sexier?

Okay, so maybe aesthetically speaking today’s phone wins the beauty pageant, but upon further investigation is becomes clear that it’s not how it looks, but how you use it that matters. Despite the clunky, primitive look of his communicator, no one flips open a phone like Captain James T. Kirk. Not only did it allow Kirk to keep in touch with his ship and crew, but whenever he suffered from inter-galactic snack attack he could use the flip top to grate cheese.

Notice the circular display screen at the center. Once in motion, the spider-esque pattern spirals outward, generating endless circles which could easily hypnotize the untrained eye. Always one step ahead, Captain Kirk never stared directly into the communicator when he used it.

Today’s cell phones may be sleeker, more colorful, more versatile, far surpassing Roddenberry’s predictions for the 23rd century, but what’s crucial to note is that you’ll never get a date flipping open your phone like this:

He may not have been able to take planetary pictures, watch Romulan music videos or send nasty text messages to the Klingons, but Kirk knew his way around a phone. He kept his flips simple, and the results speak for themselves: