The Replimat's Purpose?

[Tyjos Azari]

I've always wondered if the Replimat was "Free" to all station residents.

I see more of the officers using the Replimat I guess when they got to get something quick to eat and return to duty.

While others would usually go to Quarks or the Klingon Resturant when they're off duty and not rushed.

Anyone else think that this pretty much the use of the Replimat?

 

[Eyes]

I always thought it was a kind of futuristic coffee shop, where people would go to have lunch with other people or if they're on duty, and only want something from a replicator, as opposed to a place like Quark's, which is a proper bar, or the Klingon restaurant, which does specialised cuisine.

I would say that its free to use for a certain amount, afterwards, Starfleet credits paid for any extra usage, unlike quarters replicators, which seemed to be completely free.

 

[Tyjos Azari]

I always wondered how they did that whole replicator rations thing....if those were used at the Replimat......

 

[ChadHydro]

Personally I don't think rationing replicator usage was an issue on DS9. It was an issue on voyager because of power consumption as most of their power was utilized by the nacelles due to their constant use in warp. Whereas on DS9 they had plenty of power to spare. Thats just my take

 

[Tyjos Azari]

Plus the Replimat served as an interesting meeting place for Bashir and Garak and their interesting lunch time discussions.

 

[DGCatAniSiri]

You go to Quark's to pick up a floozy. You take your date to the Replimat.

 

[Timo]

It was an issue on voyager because of power consumption as most of their power was utilized by the nacelles due to their constant use in warp.

But if the ship had enough power that Janeway could choose between warp eight and warp nine without needing to consult the Energy Management Officer, it doesn't sound logical that there'd be an energy shortage concerning the replicators.

It sounds more likely that the replicators were rationed early on because so many of them were broken (the ship was still in quite a state for the first two seasons because there weren't friendly ports for her, due to Kazon propaganda). And Janeway kept the rationing system as a disciplinary measure even though the ship in practice had limitless energy in the later seasons.

DS9 also had plenty of broken replicators at first, due to Cardassian sabotage. But there were plenty of parties eager to repair them, too: the Starfleet custodians, the Bajoran landlords, the onboard entrepreneurs like Quark, and no doubt outside contractors offering their services. One might argue that the different players repaired or upgraded their replicators to different standards, and that Quark's produced better-quality foods and beverages than the standard Starfleet repair jobs. The Replimat might have found its own niche for a certain specific replication quality, too.

I think the interesting question is the role of the Replimat on the original Terok Nor. Was it simply so that the Cardassian masters and their guests ate at Quark's, which had ambience and nice decor, while the Bajoran laborers ate at Replimats, which offered all the same lunch services but omitted the ambience, decor and gambling?

(It looks like Kira is eating at Replimat in the flashbacks of "Necessary Evil", right?)

Timo Saloniemi

 

[SoM]

DS9 also had plenty of broken replicators at first, due to Cardassian sabotage. But there were plenty of parties eager to repair them, too: the Starfleet custodians, the Bajoran landlords, the onboard entrepreneurs like Quark, and no doubt outside contractors offering their services. One might argue that the different players repaired or upgraded their replicators to different standards, and that Quark's produced better-quality foods and beverages than the standard Starfleet repair jobs.

Quark was demanding that Starfleet fix his replicators in "Babel" (I also draw your attention to the state of his holosuites in "Our Man Bashir", a bodged-together mess involving spatulas, since he was unwilling to pay for new parts).

Not to mention his (deserved) reputation for watering down drinks.

 

[SpyOne]

Personally I don't think rationing replicator usage was an issue on DS9. It was an issue on voyager because of power consumption as most of their power was utilized by the nacelles due to their constant use in warp. Whereas on DS9 they had plenty of power to spare. Thats just my take

Plus, DS9 could count on regular supply deliveries, while Voyager could not. (Even the Replicator needs something fed in to get something out: it doesn't make matter out of energy, it uses energy to reshape matter.)

The Replimat was pretty obviously modeled after the "automat", a near-extinct form of food dispensary slightly below cafeteria on the restaurant scale. Think of it as a food court served by vending machines, although some of those vending machines might be refilled in real time: you pay your money, open the little door, and remove a sandwich, and someone replaces that sandwich in the little cubby from the other side.
Before ubiquitous "fast food", automats were a popular dining option for those who just wanted something filling quickly with a minimum of hassle. (wikipedia says the first automat in the US was built in 1902, inspired by one in Germany, and that they were mostly dead by 1970.)

The Replimat is a place where edible food can be had cheaply and quickly at minimal cost, and consumed in uncomfortable chairs at unattractive tables. Much like (insert fast food franchise here).

If station personnel have to pay for their meals, they probably have to pay at the replimat. Non-Federation (and non-Bajoran) people almost certainly have to pay.

 

[Hermiod]

The Promenade also had a number of other restaurants as well. Quark's might be fun, but sometimes you just want a nice, quiet place to read your newspaper (or 24th century equivalent), have a cup of coffee and talk with your friends.

 

[TerokNor]

I feel a bit confused. In..uhm First Contact (?) didn´t Picard said there something like, that they have no money anymore and that people do there job simply because of their own development and such, but not for money. So wouldn´t that mean that Starfleet officers would get no salary?
So maybe Starfleet Officers don´t have to pay at the Replimat therefore?
On the other hand we see Bashir and Miles with a bag full of Latinum, when they challenge Quark...so where does that come from?

The Bajorans certainly get paid and pay...we see Kira for example pay for an itim she buys on the Promnate. The Ferengi get paid as well, so do the Cardassian soldiers, cause when Damar orders the expensive Kanar, he says he can afford it on a Guls salary.

Or does the no payment rule only counts for Starfleet Officers working on Earth or Starfleet stations/ ships...and when a Starfleet Officer works somewhere else, like on a Bajoran space station he gets paid, so that he can afford life there and eat for example in the Replimat or at Quarks?

TerokNor

 

[Edinburgh]

I would liken starfleet officers to people who work for McDonald's. If you work for McDonald's you will be given free meals.

The station is run by starfleet. As for quarks and the Klingons eatery. they are both on the station and the maintenance of them eatery's are carried out by Starfleet.

An arrangement will be in place for starfleet officers to eat at them for free.

Any moneys the starfleet officers have must come from working out of hours.

 

[Tyjos Azari]

After all you got to think of all the "Wasted" food.

When you see the officers sitting down to eat, then they get called back to duty before they get halfway through their meal.

 

[Hermiod]

^Or Starfleet is just used to having its people being stationed places where they do use money and gives them an allowance.

 

[Timo]

Quark was demanding that Starfleet fix his replicators in "Babel" (I also draw your attention to the state of his holosuites in "Our Man Bashir", a bodged-together mess involving spatulas, since he was unwilling to pay for new parts).

Apparently, it took some years for Quark to realize that his idiot brother was in fact an engineering genius. Probably Quark thought that Starfleet would do a better job - but was in fact badly mistaken...

If station personnel have to pay for their meals, they probably have to pay at the replimat. Non-Federation (and non-Bajoran) people almost certainly have to pay.

I'd argue that it would be best possible advertisement for the UFP if Sisko made food absolutely free on DS9. After all, that appears to be the case back on Earth and supposedly other UFP worlds - money doesn't change hands when basic necessities or small luxuries do.

Quark probably isn't ruined by having a free food dispenser next to the door of his establishment. After all, he did all right when his business was subject to the whims of a totalitarian government's brutal military's expeditionary-occupational troops on a rampage of self-indulgence!

Others would have to make do as well. Klingon cuisine would certainly sell well amongst a specific clientele: even though the UFP gives away free food, it ain't alive...

Timo Saloniemi

 

[SpyOne]

I feel a bit confused. In..uhm First Contact (?) didn´t Picard said there something like, that they have no money anymore and that people do there job simply because of their own development and such, but not for money. So wouldn´t that mean that Starfleet officers would get no salary?

Short answer:
If the Federation has no money, Starfleet people have some way to get their hands on money to buy things from non-Federation folks. Quark isn't giving drinks away for free. This might just be "bill the Federation", or it might be more complex.
Or that thing about the Federation not having money is a load of hooey. Or a partial load of hooey. Or exaggerated.

This is discussed more fully in other threads, and really shouldn't be covered here.

 

[SpyOne]

I'd argue that it would be best possible advertisement for the UFP if Sisko made food absolutely free on DS9. After all, that appears to be the case back on Earth and supposedly other UFP worlds - money doesn't change hands when basic necessities or small luxuries do.

Does Sisko actually have the authority to do that? I mean, the station actually belongs to Bajor; Starfleet is just running it for them. It is quite possible that Sisko has to charge for the services the station provides, as part of the contract to manage the station.

I swear I remember a conversation between Quark and Sisko about rent (I believe specifically about forgiving the amount Quark was in arrears), but I cannot find it.

 

[Technobuilder]

I always assumed that since Deep Space Nine was under the control of the Bajoran Government and only being administered by the Federation via Starfleet, that the station still operated within a monetary system.

It's possible that the Bajoran Government offered a credit system to Starfleet officers that were running and serving on the station so that they could partake of goods and services from other Bajoran vendors.

I think mostly that the replimat was owned by the Bajoran Authority that oversaw the station and that it was another stream of revenue for the station to make operating expenses in-system. (Maybe just to pay the Station Personnel)

The Kiosks and vendors of DS9 paid rent to this authority and there by were allowed to sell their wares. (Like a modern day mall operates)

I really don't think DS9 would of been demonetized until Bajor was granted Federation membership.

 

[Timo]

Yet Sisko did have the authority not to charge any rent on the arguably most important tenant of the station, Quark. It was probably part of the original deal which made Quark stay on the supposedly sinking station in "Emissary"; Sisko must have walked over quite a few Bajorans who'd associate Quark with the Occupation.

We don't know whether the station upheld Bajoran or UFP law - but perhaps "A Man Alone" might be taken as indication of the former, since the clones there were guaranteed full rights whereas UFP law in TNG seemed to consider clones exempt from the protection of law. Still, Sisko was actively pursuing UFP policies and ideology aboard the station; why not do the no-money thing, too?

Timo Saloniemi

 

[SpyOne]

Yet Sisko did have the authority not to charge any rent on the arguably most important tenant of the station, Quark.

I remember that, too, but I can't find it. Anybody know what episode that happens in?
I assumed at the time that Sisko was going to have to pay Quark's rent out of the Federation's "fee" for running the station.

We don't know whether the station upheld Bajoran or UFP law - but perhaps "A Man Alone" might be taken as indication of the former, since the clones there were guaranteed full rights whereas UFP law in TNG seemed to consider clones exempt from the protection of law.

Another good clue comes from Emissary:
QUARK: How could I possibly operate my establishment under Starfleet rules of conduct?
SISKO: This is still a Bajoran station. We're just here to administrate. You run honest games, you won't have any problems from me.