Has this ever been addressed on any of the modern Trek shows?

Discussion in 'General Trek Discussion' started by Gingerbread Demon, Mar 8, 2023.

  1. Oddish

    Oddish Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Sep 7, 2020
    Location:
    Kanto, Poké-World
    It's nuts anyway. Voyager has enough energy to move a ship longer than an aircraft carrier through space at an average speed of 1000c (warp 8), but it can't make a cuppa joe for Janeway? Imagine the following...

    JANEWAY: "We're going warp 8. How much energy are we using?"
    TORRES: "Approximately 17.7 petawatts, captain."
    JANEWAY: "How much will we use if we slow to warp 7.8?"
    TORRES: "About 17.2 petawatts. More precisely, a savings of 508.9 terawatts."
    JANEWAY: "Is that enough for me to replicate the occasional cup of coffee?"
    TORRES: "Approximately 250 million cups per day, captain. Or 1.2 billion if you re-use your mug."
    JANEWAY: "Do it."

    Really, why not just slow to warp 7.8 or so, and channel the saved energy to ship's systems?
     
    Last edited: Mar 9, 2023
  2. fireproof78

    fireproof78 Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Apr 11, 2014
    Location:
    Journeying onwards
    Damn the coffee, man! This is Starfleet! We have to live dangerously, irrationally so sometimes!
     
  3. Orphalesion

    Orphalesion Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Oct 19, 2014
    It's also not like the Delta Quadrant is some sort of wasteland where they can't find any opportunity to recharge. And as you point out it's likely that even if they have to trade replicated goods for their recharges, they'd still likely have an astronomical energy profit margin.
     
  4. Gingerbread Demon

    Gingerbread Demon I love Star Trek Discovery Premium Member

    Joined:
    May 31, 2015
    Location:
    The Other Realms
    What about food, is food holo or is food on a holodeck real food, because given this power situation why not use the holodeck as a lunch room if it's got it's own power and then you won't have to starve or scrimp?
     
  5. Oddish

    Oddish Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Sep 7, 2020
    Location:
    Kanto, Poké-World
    Because the holodeck doesn't replicate things, it just maneuvers light and force fields. If food is being served, it works in conjunction with the replicators. Probably consumes more power because it has to transport the stuff in.

    And also, it's funny that the transporter, which had to use way more juice than the replicators, could be used without limit.
     
  6. Timewalker

    Timewalker Cat-lovin', Star Trekkin' Time Lady Premium Member

    Joined:
    May 26, 2007
    Location:
    In many different universes, simultaneously.
    That's why replicator rations were introduced and soon became the basis of the ship's economy, along with holodeck time. People were probably issued X number of rations per month and could use them on whatever - favorite food, a Hawaiian shirt to wear on the holodeck, or when Harry replicated a clarinet to replace the one he forgot back on Earth.

    But once those rations are used up, you either had to persuade someone else to spend theirs on you, trade something, or get used to the leola root stew.

    Rank would have had its privileges, of course, but Sam Wildman's allowance would have been upped once Naomi was born.

    I remember an early episode where Paris cleaned up on rations when he started a betting pool on whatever. Janeway shut it down, but must have changed her mind at some point as she later put down a bet on when B'Elanna's baby would be born.

    There are scenes of people swapping shifts and trading favors for holodeck time, so unless it's one of the "open door" times like Fairhaven when Janeway allowed the crew to go there whenever they were off-duty and felt like it, then I would imagine holodeck time was rationed as well.

    Paris did well to create scenarios where the crew could go to relax and have a drink, shoot a game of pool, and so on. Given how far they were from Federation space and known worlds and starbases, it's not like they had as many opportunities for recreational shore leave. The holodecks on Voyager were necessary for their mental health, and also served as a way to set up training facilities.
     
    C.E. Evans likes this.
  7. Laura Cynthia Chambers

    Laura Cynthia Chambers Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Jun 1, 2016
    Location:
    Mississauga
  8. Timewalker

    Timewalker Cat-lovin', Star Trekkin' Time Lady Premium Member

    Joined:
    May 26, 2007
    Location:
    In many different universes, simultaneously.
    Hm. I thought it was Janeway. It's been ages since I've seen any Voyager episodes.
     
  9. Guy Gardener

    Guy Gardener Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Apr 15, 2000
    Location:
    In the lap of squalor I assure you.
    That was fake.

    Paris was doing something elicitly criminal so that he could fight Chakotay and get kicked off the ship, in an attempt to capture Seska.

    Later however...

    5 years of reality later outside the magic kingdom, and they are all degenerate space bums.
     
  10. Tosk

    Tosk Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jan 7, 2001
    Location:
    On the run.
    Voyager had two holodecks and 148 crew. (Give or take.) Scheduled holodeck time would be more about covering everyone's turn rather than any kind of rationing. And it still doesn't explain why they weren't used to supplement their food stores. Maybe the scene where they justify keeping the holodecks running could have been 30 seconds long instead of fifteen. ;)
     
  11. Timewalker

    Timewalker Cat-lovin', Star Trekkin' Time Lady Premium Member

    Joined:
    May 26, 2007
    Location:
    In many different universes, simultaneously.
    You can't have everyone using the holodeck just any time they want, even when off-duty. They would have to take turns, and be limited to how much time they get. That's alluded to when Tom and B'Elanna have a conflict with the Doctor over their date and his golf game. Go over your allotted time and the next person gets justifiably angry.
     
  12. NCC-73515

    NCC-73515 Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Apr 18, 2019
    Location:
    SoCal
    In an emergency, the holodeck
    keeps separate power to work as a sanctuary
     
  13. Tosk

    Tosk Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jan 7, 2001
    Location:
    On the run.
    Picard S03E04...Of all the things to double-down on. :rommie:
     
    Last edited: Mar 9, 2023
    Bornin1980something likes this.
  14. Guy Gardener

    Guy Gardener Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Apr 15, 2000
    Location:
    In the lap of squalor I assure you.
    People in the holodeck are ignorant, that they are all 10 feet away from 10 different people, so on even a small holo deck, you could have 2 hundred people having 2 hundred isolated uneffected mutual adventures, and nobody is none the wiser.
     
    Last edited: Mar 9, 2023
  15. Oddish

    Oddish Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Sep 7, 2020
    Location:
    Kanto, Poké-World
    There's no guarantee that Harry's pool involved any currency. Especially since replicators could presumably be used without limit by then.
     
  16. Guy Gardener

    Guy Gardener Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Apr 15, 2000
    Location:
    In the lap of squalor I assure you.
    Well?

    Of course later on Voyager you get statements like "All life is photonic"

    Maybe this is big change that the Bynars did to the system?
     
  17. at Quark's

    at Quark's Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Dec 15, 2012
    Janeway: I believe you and me may have a somewhat different working definition of 'occasional cup of coffee'. How many cups if we were to slow down to warp 3.5?
     
  18. Guy Gardener

    Guy Gardener Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Apr 15, 2000
    Location:
    In the lap of squalor I assure you.
    Neelix was Gone.

    They replaced him with Chell.

    They still needed a chef for degenerates who can't budget, or maybe some of them started to like actual real food?

    Season 5 is the last mention of Replicator rations in warhead.
     
    Last edited: Mar 10, 2023
  19. Oddish

    Oddish Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Sep 7, 2020
    Location:
    Kanto, Poké-World
    Maybe they did at that. Or maybe they just liked having a mess hall. As far as we know, Voyager didn't have a social space where people could eat together. And unlike the Kreetasians, humans like that.
     
  20. Laura Cynthia Chambers

    Laura Cynthia Chambers Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Jun 1, 2016
    Location:
    Mississauga
    Plus, it's quicker and less messy to decorate a room with holograms than actual decorations. It'd look better, too; transport you to a whole different world for a little while. Think of it as the difference between going camping in a forest vs your backyard. Not that the latter can't be fun if you use your imagination. Immersion is what they're going for.