Did the constant increase in size of each Enterprise get ridiculous?

[IrishNero]

Re: Did the constant increase in size of each Enterprise get ridiculou

Quite a lot of TNG now looks like what I think TOS looked like in terms of wonky sets and effects, and that was also a very expensive show to produce.

As will the sets of these new movies. I remember going to see 'Aliens' and thinking hos 'advanced' everything looked, but it looks really antiquated to me now. In 30 years, what we envision now will probably look 'wonky.'

 

[The Wormhole]

Re: Did the constant increase in size of each Enterprise get ridiculou

Quite a lot of TNG now looks like what I think TOS looked like in terms of wonky sets and effects, and that was also a very expensive show to produce.

As will the sets of these new movies. I remember going to see 'Aliens' and thinking hos 'advanced' everything looked, but it looks really antiquated to me now. In 30 years, what we envision now will probably look 'wonky.'

Reminds me of about ten years ago when I sat down and watched the Alien movies for the first time in years. While watching the first Alien I thought "Why the hell did they think a wall of blinking lights looked futuristic in the 1970s?" That became sort of a running joke for a while among my friends.

 

[Tim Walker]

Re: Did the constant increase in size of each Enterprise get ridiculou

Computers were imagined as having a lot of blinking lights.

However, the computer I am using to post this has no blinking lights at all.

 

[Ithekro]

Re: Did the constant increase in size of each Enterprise get ridiculou

I know some people that like blinky lights on their "hot rod" computers.

 

[MacLeod]

Re: Did the constant increase in size of each Enterprise get ridiculou

[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1WemnsB98o[/yt]

 

[IrishNero]

Re: Did the constant increase in size of each Enterprise get ridiculou

I know some people that like blinky lights on their "hot rod" computers.

Don't forget the cool blue or green glow that emits from the case. That counts for something too.

 

[Richard Baker]

Re: Did the constant increase in size of each Enterprise get ridiculou

I know some people that like blinky lights on their "hot rod" computers.

Don't forget the cool blue or green glow that emits from the case. That counts for something too.

Hey- I had a case that glowed like a Borg cube for a while- why not have fun with technology...

Most Trek computer displays look awkward- mostly because they are dumbed down for the audience. Who knows what a display might look like a couple of centuries from now.
TOS Trek had computers when the current state of the art in the sixties was a room sized pocket calculator. A Casio calculator watch has more computing power that what we went to the moon with.

 

[USS Triumphant]

Re: Did the constant increase in size of each Enterprise get ridiculou

A Casio calculator watch has more computing power that what we went to the moon with.

Aye. And a weirder one to think about is that the typical PC keyboard uses a processor with more umph than anything we had in the space shuttles - just for things like buffering. (It doesn't NEED that much power, but the manufacturing costs actually make it cheaper to use a common chip like that with plenty in the supply chain than a less powerful one that would have to be made for the purpose.)

 

[IrishNero]

Re: Did the constant increase in size of each Enterprise get ridiculou

Good ol' Casio. $30 and you have about as much computing power as the entire planet in 1960...right on your arm.

 

[Richard Baker]

Re: Did the constant increase in size of each Enterprise get ridiculou

Had to use a slide rule in high school chemistry- I was really glad to see calculators appear, even if they had to be plugged into a wall socket.

One of the biggest problems in predicting the future of technology is trying to keep it looking advanced beyond our own yet relatable. Blinky lights always look good on screen- shows you important stuff is happening without being specific.

 

[Timo]

Re: Did the constant increase in size of each Enterprise get ridiculou

Resources or lack therof doesn't seem to much of an issue for the Federation

While the citizens of the Federation may live under a cornucopia and just need to open their mouths every once in a while, Starfleet actually seems starved of resources.

After all, Star Trek plots depend on our heroes being the only ones to respond to a distress call in time, on them being unable to summon reinforcements in time, and on there being unexplored stuff everywhere. If Starfleet had resources to burn, surely it would build a tad more ships so that these would actually arrive in time to save a colony in distress?

Since something keeps Starfleet from having as many ships as it really needs, it may be a very good idea to make each and every one count, by supersizing. That doesn't appear to be blocked by lack of resources.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Mytran]

Re: Did the constant increase in size of each Enterprise get ridiculou

So the lack of resources ... seems to be the numbers of crew themselves!

 

[Timo]

Re: Did the constant increase in size of each Enterprise get ridiculou

That sounds just about right, once we eliminate most things material (as we should, given replicators).

But if the bottleneck really is finding volunteers insane enough to join Starfleet, then there ought to be an explosion in starship numbers when the Dominion War gets going and people realize it's about their own survival. Volunteering would probably go up millionfold once insanity ceased to be a criterion!

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Richard Baker]

Re: Did the constant increase in size of each Enterprise get ridiculou

Only problem is that it is not just joining Star Fleet and hopping on board, it takes some training to learn how to be useful. All those suddenly motivated people would be just starting their training when the Dominion War ended so having massive starships with large crews would a be useful place for them to go...

 

[Starborn Dragon]

Re: Did the constant increase in size of each Enterprise get ridiculou

What about the ships in Star Wars that are miles long, not to mention the Death star, which is essentially a small moon.

 

[Ithekro]

Re: Did the constant increase in size of each Enterprise get ridiculou

Star Wars has the advantage of being more fantasy than science fiction.

But also they have the entire galaxy more or less under one government, and size is used to intimidate star systems into surrender rather than needing to actually fight them.

Star Fleet might have manpower issues, but the other issue to scale. Since of the Federation and regions they are exploring beyond Federation space. You could fill a star system up with every ship in Starfleet and you probably couldn't see one up close without a telescope.

 

[Timo]

Re: Did the constant increase in size of each Enterprise get ridiculou

Only problem is that it is not just joining Star Fleet and hopping on board, it takes some training to learn how to be useful.

Probably not much, though. At the point where the Dominion War finally started looking like a life-and-death struggle (taking out enemy shipyards didn't stop them from outbuilding you), there would already have been time to train new personnel - and the war would drag on for years afterwards. How many months of training do you really need in order to operate these automated and user-friendly things? Not many, I guess - the trick would be in teaching maintenance and repair. And to a degree, the war could be fought by using dedicated repair teams behind the lines, rather than the crews themselves.

Granted, this would bring logistics issues back to a style of warfare that was basically logistics-free, and perhaps hobble Starfleet unduly. Which might be why the war did drag on!

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Ithekro]

Re: Did the constant increase in size of each Enterprise get ridiculou

Could be a little more basic traing programs, specific skills schools, and enlisted personel added to the fleet and the seemingly overly large officer pool gets split up thinner and thinner as more and more ships are completed or reactivated. With that you could be getting fresh crewman every six months to a year, with the officers being spread out farther with a lot more ensigns and young lieutenants being seen in higher positions.

 

[Queen Mab]

Re: Did the constant increase in size of each Enterprise get ridiculou

I know they're sites that give the measurements of the ships (in meters....damn metric system) but I'm just spitballing with the numbers because I'm too lazy to look it up and I'm going to use feet damn it because that's what we do in America no matter how ridiculous or inefficient out system of weights and measurements is.

Yes, it is ridiculous.

Also: Metres not Meters

 

[JTShanks]

Re: Did the constant increase in size of each Enterprise get ridiculou

Resources or lack therof doesn't seem to much of an issue for the Federation

While the citizens of the Federation may live under a cornucopia and just need to open their mouths every once in a while, Starfleet actually seems starved of resources.

After all, Star Trek plots depend on our heroes being the only ones to respond to a distress call in time, on them being unable to summon reinforcements in time, and on there being unexplored stuff everywhere. If Starfleet had resources to burn, surely it would build a tad more ships so that these would actually arrive in time to save a colony in distress?

Since something keeps Starfleet from having as many ships as it really needs, it may be a very good idea to make each and every one count, by supersizing. That doesn't appear to be blocked by lack of resources.

Timo Saloniemi

Or it could be the fact that the UFP isn't a large space faction that barely extends to two quadrants of the galaxy making a large number of ships not only unfeasible due to lack of crew members commanding them.