I guess that fantasy technology can’t evolve in a millennia even when actual technology does it in decades. whatever. Because it is. See below. it shows something that is actually more advanced, which is otherwise something sorely missing from this season.
There's any number of smarter ways they could have done that however. Like say having future humanity hybridized with synths and holograms? Or self-aware ships that are members of the Federation? Entire civilizations which only exist inside virtual space? Any number of interesting posthuman scenarios which the series totally eschewed.
These could well turn up. For a moment I wondered if Aditya Sahil was a synth hologram when he first appeared; even Vance might not be fully human, whatever human is in the 32nd century. The Starfleet ship that looks like a forest on a donut could well be a self-aware ecosystem that is a sentient species that Starfleet are guardians of.
I think they're really afraid of messing the status quo of Trek up. I really wanted to see them transwarp beaming across the galaxy with the tap of a badge, curing all illness and reversing ageing every jump. See humanity evolve with the technology at their disposal. But instead we got the same stuff as ever.
Yup. They did just enough to show it being slightly higher tech, just like they did with the ENT-D. Phasers still phasers, warp still warps, transporters still transporting.
To me, detached nacelles make a ship less fragile, not more. What's fragile is those thin 'struts' that all Starfleet ships have. You know, the two thinnest parts of the ship that have those heavy engines balanced at the end. See TWOK for how easy it is to disable a ship by just cutting a nacelle off. If they are held on by future magic (and I say that not to disparage, but rather to admit my own lack of understanding) they are much harder to truly remove from a ship in battle. I think.
I cannot wait until they have to do an evacuate-the-aliens episode and someone says "There's no way we can fit all of them on Discovery!"
I think by now, Discovery has more than demonstrated that it is the Star Trek show where there are always big stakes. The fate of the Federation or the galaxy has been on the line for three seasons in a row now and I think that's something they couldn't repeatedly do in the era where the show was originally set because it could potentially overshadow the events and heroic crews of the shows that are set after it. Plus with Strange New Worlds being set during this time, that potentially takes away from the importance of the Enterprise; known throughout history as one of the most famous Starfleet vessels. If Discovery was the one hopping around saving the universe at every turn, what the hell is Pike and his crew doing this whole time? Everyone always seems to have some logistical problems with prequels in that because the words USS Discovery or NX-01 Enterprise were never uttered on any series BEFORE those shows were created, they are instantly canon violations or set in some alternate reality separate from the "prime" universe. And while I am the first to step in and accept the fact that the REALITY is that the shows were just created AFTER the others that are set later on in the timeline, if Discovery, the ship and crew, participated in so many events where the fate of the universe was at hand while remaining in the 23rd century, eventually you reach a point and wonder how Picard or Kirk doesn't mention it.
I guess the same way most people just don't casually mention the actions of modern day Naval Warships in general conversation.
No issue with Discovery as Starfleet has loads of ships and disasters to avert over the years and it's not like TNG needs to list them all. Calling the NX-01 the Enterprise really bugged me though and kinda set me against the show from the off cause it looked like a sad attempt at memberberries
Yup. How many major events go on in the real world that the average person just don't talk about? And even major historical events largely get ignored, even with someone like me who thoroughly enjoys history and stuff like the Battle of Marathon, or the Second Battle of Bull Run. Most people will look at me cross-eyed if I mention the historical significance.