“Modeled on Gullivers Travels”
More socialist rewriting of history.
Some have tried to say the teleporter was the show’s vision of the future. In fact, they couldn’t afford the special effects of landing a ship so this was a cheap alternative...
In the 60’s, I remember an article about some NASA scientists invited to the stage to observe the bridge and give their thoughts.. They filled out a questionnaire and all the NASA guys agreed that in 200 years, Man would have space travel, phasers, warp speed, but not a one believed that we would have doors that open and close automatically!
Same thing I imagine for all the M3 ("earth-like") planets they encountered. Rarely was there the need to wear life support equipment.
I'm thinking that has to be an urban legend. Automatic-opening doors were invented in the Fifties, and the first one was installed in 1960 - source. All the supermarkets in my hometown had them when I was a young kid (early 70s).