Is the fact that they used the Akira design really such an issue? As mentioned, it was a backround ship, barely seen, someone did take some time designing the Akira (maybe even Drexler himself, but I could be totally wrong about that) and it's a good design, why waste it?
A common mistake everyone makes in regards to the Akira class is calling it "some background ship." It is not "some background ship," it is in fact surprisingly prominent for a non-lead ship. It's an Akira class ship that flies by the Borg cube as it explodes in First Contact. That's one of the movie's signature shots and this image has been reproduced in countless books and magazines, not to mention a few desktop images. Add to that that it's seen very prominently in a Voyager episode, Message In A Bottle. It can bee seen leading two Defiants to retake the Prometheus. An Akira's destruction was focused on quite prominentally in a Dominion War battle. In fact, that particular example has led to people saying stupid things like "I saw Enterprise NX-01 in DS9!" It has also been used very extensively in Trek video games, even appeared on the front of the box of one of the old PC games. The ship is very recognizable even to casual Trek fans. Using this as the NX-01's design is simply cheap and lazy and shows no motivation or creativity on the part of Enterprise's production staff.
Ok, I suppose, but...
I'm still not sure it's thoughtless... it IS the Enterprise, every Enterprise has a saucer section and two nacelles swept back, from TOS thru Enterprise E. The NX-01 is still the Enterprise, every starfleet ship since the TOS Enterprise is based on THAT classic design, if they tacked on a secondary hull would that of made everyone happy? BTW,The Excelsior from Star Trek 3 looks a lot like the Enterprise... did that piss everybody off? All the books, and games, and online stuff, all depict ships with that basic configuration. The Akira class ship wouldn't look the way it does had not been for that basic element of design, so I still don't see it as any kind of issue really. I really don't.
This is not a continuity complaint, but given the show took place in an era prior to TOS, it is especially thoughtless to take a ship design from the TNG era and slap some modifications to it to make it look pre-TOS. It's the same as taking a modern-day aircraft carrier but putting it in the 1800s with the only differance being that it's made of wood. It just doesn't work.
That's stretching it a bit don't you think? It's a more apt example the take the first aircraft carrier and comparing it to the latest aircraft carrier, it may have changed in size and technology but still shares many of the same design elements. Same with cars and planes and submarines.
But let's play it your way, you take a modern aircraft carrier back to the 1800's and down grade it to that eras tech: It's now made of wood, it has sails now too. No planes yet so no landing deck... ok. Now let's take the Akira class ship back to Archer's era and down grade it to tech of that time, no sheilds so hull plating should do, no warp 9.9 yet so it's fitted with that eras fastest warp 5 drive instead, transporter tech is iffy, no tractor beam of course so fit it with a grapple hook, it'll be a bit smaller don't have replicators for all the titanium yet, on and on... sounds 'bout right, eh?
NX-01 was more like the first fully realized car, not the first thing to ever have wheels.
Is the fact that they used the Akira design really such an issue?
If you were around all those years ago when the design was first officially shown, then you'd already know the answer to that question.
I was around all those years, and I didn't really notice it that much, it's a backround ship.
