It’s still possible to assume that the Enterprise looked exactly like it did in “The Cage” (2254), got refitted due to Klingon War needs (2256), and will return to its original/previous configuration between 2257 and 2264. Future technology.
In STO, for instance, most ships are extremely modular and can be visually rearranged and re-azteced on a whim at every major shipyard.
Indeed. Part of why I accept the Disco-prise (despite it not really being my favourite design) is that the
main difference is that potatoe-peeler nacelle strut configuration. But! Ever since TMP, I always assumed the engines of the Enteprise (and the struts with them) could be removed and exchanged like airplane turbines. Which would make a lot of sense for an exploration vessel: After a five year mission, those might simply be burned out, and be replaced with newer, faster ones.
The rest of the differences (neck height, landing tongue on shuttle bay) are miniscule, it's easy to pretend they are the "same". (Only the bridge window still annoys me - but that's an entirely different topic...)
They did fix the Ent-D’s phaser issues in TNG remastered IIRC
See, I'm a cinema purist/snob here, though! I think that mistake should have stayed in there. It's part of Star Trek's history. I don't like retroactively changing shit so that it fits better with what came afterwards. I still hate there is no legal way to see the original Star Wars trilogy. Idon't like that they cut the nudity and changed the spaceship in the re-release of Stargate SG-1's pilot.
The mistakes and rough edges are part of the work for me - I dont ever want to see "James R. Kirk" in WNMHGB replaced, or somebody dubbing "Federation" over the "UESPA" in the early TOS episodes. Yes, sometimes that doesn't fit with continuity. And this instance was obviously a mistake. But no, I don't think it should have been replaced. It should have stayed, for the integrity of the original art.