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Replicators And Branded Food?

D

Dingle Fritz

Lieutenant
So does fast food like Big Macs still exist in the 24th? Can you walk up to a replicator and get a McChicken, no mayo? Can you replicate an entire Pizzeria Uno deep-dish? What about Kraft Mac And Cheese (powdered kind)? Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing for your Tortinos Pizza Snacks.

Or has everything become generic? Instead of a Pizza Hut Thin And Crispy with peppers , and Pepperoni do you order instead a "Pizza, hot... with 1.3cm thick crust and smoked cured pork topping and vegetation substance #987321"?
 
I also wonder...if it's all generic, can you still order a BK Whopper on the holodeck and a Wendy's burger, and if so, do they really taste different?
 
I guess it depends on the IP law and the DRM regime of the future. Digital technology--in particular large storage devices and high-bandwidth internet connections--have made copying digital media much, much easier than it was 20 years ago. This has prompted some people to take another look at intellectual property law and methods of distribution. We now have to deal with encrypted media, authorization servers, subscription services, et cetera that did not exist before.

Ubiquitous scanning and replicating technology would have the same effect on physical property. If I can scan a McChicken and have a McChicken any time I want, I have no reason to ever go to McDonald's again. If I can share my McChicken pattern over the internet, no one anywhere in the universe will ever need to go to McDonald's again.

McDonald's can react to this in one of two ways. They can use their corporate clout to force replicator manufacturers to install lockouts that prevent the replication of certain items (anything from the McMenu, anything containing 11 herbs and spices, etc.), or they can go out of business overnight. Unless Mickey D's clout extends to every replicator manufacturer in the galaxy, the former option is very improbable.
 
We can't be sure about specific brand names, but the availability of fast food in the 23rd and 24th centuries would help explain Kirk's and Riker's ever-expanding uniforms. ;)
 
Come on, guys! This question is easy to answer if we stay internally consistent within the Trek universe. Remember that whole Third World War thing?

It would seem to me that such things would not have stood the test of time in the same manner that more intrinsic cultural constants would have done. Just because things like KFC persist for decades in our relatively much more peaceful times doesn't mean it would survive through to the ass-end of the post-apocalyptic world we see in FC.

Few would remember the taste of such things, and the few that did probably wouldn't regard it with great fondness. A specific brand of such food (rather than the idea of fast or novelty food itself) would be seen as an anachronistic novelty item, like Civil War reenactors who eat hard tack, appealing only to purists the likes of Tom Paris (et.al). It's just not something I'd imagine us struggling to hold onto, though I'm sure we'd still eat loads of replicated burgers and fries.
 
QCzar said:
Come on, guys! This question is easy to answer if we stay internally consistent within the Trek universe. Remember that whole Third World War thing?

It would seem to me that such things would not have stood the test of time in the same manner that more intrinsic cultural constants would have done. Just because things like KFC persist for decades in our relatively much more peaceful times doesn't mean it would survive through to the ass-end of the post-apocalyptic world we see in FC.
Click to expand...
It is known that Budweiser survives. I've heard it said that if any substantial part of the 'net is functional, Google would be available. A lot of global corporations are segmented locally - I expect McDonalds and Coca-Cola could both survive a heck of a lot in some form.

I expect that if brands still exist, they exist as popularity measures rather than any sort of IP protection or monetary sources. If I create a recipe for the replicator and call it "Chicken Triumphant", and I'm eating it and the people around me see it, ask what it's called, and order their own, and it keeps spreading because it is good, then eventually someone looking at a list of the most popular meal requests might see it somewhere on that and then it would be kind of a brand. And some legacy brands - Big Macs, Chi Chi's fajitas, Long John Silver's chicken planks, etc - might be on that list, too.
 
Dingle Fritz said:
So does fast food like Big Macs still exist in the 24th? Can you walk up to a replicator and get a McChicken, no mayo? Can you replicate an entire Pizzeria Uno deep-dish? What about Kraft Mac And Cheese (powdered kind)? Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing for your Tortinos Pizza Snacks.

Or has everything become generic? Instead of a Pizza Hut Thin And Crispy with peppers , and Pepperoni do you order instead a "Pizza, hot... with 1.3cm thick crust and smoked cured pork topping and vegetation substance #987321"?
Click to expand...
Probably, except I hope you don't have to specify "hot."

I reckon you could ask for a "coke" or "diet coke" however--but even if you had to specify "phosphoric acid soda flavored with aspartame," aspartame is a trade name too.

Anything popular enough to become a regular noun would likely be available, although if I were in charge of the production I wouldn't use the names unless the company paid me. ;)

Then, I have noticed that no one seems to drink soft drinks in the future. What's up with that?
 
Myasishchev said:
Dingle Fritz said:
So does fast food like Big Macs still exist in the 24th? Can you walk up to a replicator and get a McChicken, no mayo? Can you replicate an entire Pizzeria Uno deep-dish? What about Kraft Mac And Cheese (powdered kind)? Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing for your Tortinos Pizza Snacks.

Or has everything become generic? Instead of a Pizza Hut Thin And Crispy with peppers , and Pepperoni do you order instead a "Pizza, hot... with 1.3cm thick crust and smoked cured pork topping and vegetation substance #987321"?
Click to expand...


Probably, except I hope you don't have to specify "hot."
Click to expand...


Yes you do, otherwise it serves you cold pizza. There is a security lockout that prevents you from ordering it more than twice a week for breakfast. :D
 
Since big companies seem to be gone I doubt that McDonalds or Pizza Hut are considered. Besides, there are plenty of mom and pop burger and pizza places that are much, much better. I would think people are entering recipies for their favorite burger, not something with a convenient drive through.
 
It would be nice if you could just order a "Whopper", instead of saying (each time):

Hamburger;
Meat, ground beef substitute, medium well done . hot
Bun, mustard, heinz 57 sauce . warm
Pickle - lettuce - onion, mayonnaise sauce . chilled

Every time? The whole thing? Out loud? And when our heroes do order something, it's by planet and food item, like: Betazed apple please.

If you just say "Earth Apple." What kind would you get?

.
 
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T'Girl said:
It would be nice if you could just order a "Whopper", instead of saying (each time):

Hamburger;
Meat, ground beef substitute, medium well done . hot
Bun, mustard, heinz 57 sauce . warm
Pickle - lettuce - onion, mayonnaise sauce . chilled

Every time? The whole thing? Out loud? And when our heroes do order something, it's by planet and food item, like: Betazed apple please.

If you just say "Earth Apple." What kind would you get?

.
Click to expand...

To whit--

"Two All Beef Paties, Special Sauce--"

"<PLEASE SPECIFY--IDENTITY OF SAUCE>"

...:confused:...
 
You know, if replicators allowed you to instantly create foods according to brand, then we would see the end of the bland grocery store's no name brand food.
 
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