What if they used their tech to the fullest?

[F. King Daniel]

Nemesis gave us rank pip-sized transporters. TNG and ST'09 gave us a software patch that gives extremely extreme range. The Kelvans gave us superwarp drive. Voyager gave us infinity warp (with icky side effects... which were cured). Barclay upped the Enterprise's shield strength by 300% with a software patch. Transporters have cured ageing and all disease. We can time travel via a number of means. Old Janeway gave us invincible batmobile armour and super duper torpedoes. Best of Both Worlds gave us a mega super deflector beam of death. Transporters can duplicate people. We can create sentient holograms on a whim, or use ancient machines to create android duplicates. Kirk and Spock drank a serum to unlock telekinetic powers.

Putting aside the silliness of some of these, what would the Trekverse look like if they actually moved forward with all their technological advancements instead of conveniently forgetting them at the end of each episode? Immortal telekinetic humans teleporting across the galaxy at the tap of a pip? Starships blinking across the universe at infinite speed, with weapons and defensive technology far is advance of anything else out there?

 

[CorporalCaptain]

The Q.

 

[F. King Daniel]

That's where my mind was going. I'm not sure which story would be weirder - the one where things move forward and humanity attains godlike status or the one explaining why they keep forgetting they can do these things.

 

[Hando]

Nemesis gave us rank pip-sized transporters.

That was only an enhancer and/or remote, not an actual transporter.

TNG and ST'09 gave us a software patch that gives extremely extreme range.

And how much energy did they require and how safe were they?

The Kelvans gave us superwarp drive.

Perhaps only safe to use in the space between the galaxies. Also was this not the basis for Excelsior's transwarp drive?

Voyager gave us infinity warp (with icky side effects... which were cured).

Did this actually happen? How much of it was hallucinations?

Barclay upped the Enterprise's shield strength by 300% with a software patch.

How much battery life did Enterprise loose due to this?

Transporters have cured ageing and all disease.

Well yes, but there may be some cumulative error.

We can time travel via a number of means.

Yes, and?

Old Janeway gave us invincible batmobile armour and super duper torpedoes.

In the chronologically last episode. How much of it did they reverse-engineer?

Best of Both Worlds gave us a mega super deflector beam of death.

Good for big cubes, but perhaps less so for normal, average-sized ships.

Transporters can duplicate people.

Not that much different from cloning, would be in the darker grey area of Federation law.

We can create sentient holograms on a whim,

Agree. But creates ethical implications.

or use ancient machines to create android duplicates.

Yes, but their base programing seem anti-social. And the Federation seem so be lacking in AI-developers.

Kirk and Spock drank a serum to unlock telekinetic powers.

But would it be safe for long-term usage for humans, there can be side-effects.


We just do not know enough.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Nemesis gave us rank pip-sized transporters.

That was only an enhancer and/or remote, not an actual transporter.

According to the film, it was a transporter. The Enterprise's transporters gave up the ghost once Picard beamed to the Scimitar. If it were just a pattern enhancer, they would have called it that.

TNG and ST'09 gave us a software patch that gives extremely extreme range.

And how much energy did they require and how safe were they?

We saw it used from a shuttle and a backback-sized portable transporter device. Can't take any more energy than a standard transport.

Perhaps only safe to use in the space between the galaxies. Also was this not the basis for Excelsior's transwarp drive?

It can't be the Excelsior's transwarp, since that didn't work and the Kelvan mods to the Enterprise did.
Even if it only worked between galaxies, Starfleet would have immediately started using it and sending ship on long-term missions - they're explorers!

...

You're missing the point. It's instead of bending over backwards to explain how these technological advances somehow don't count, it's wondering what Trek would be like if they learned from it all. If we had a machine that we use almost every day which with a minor software patch could render us immortal, we wouldn't fret about whether it was right or wrong to do so (a fringe group might protest, but the majority of the Federation's trillions? Not a chance.) It would be used that way and change society forever.

 

[B.J.]

It can't be the Excelsior's transwarp, since that didn't work

Pretty sure you're not going to get 100% agreement on that point.

 

[blssdwlf]

Stargate SG1/Atlantis seemed to handle this better by either:
1. Incorporate the new technology and
1a. Either have good understanding of it but doesn't tip the balance of power significantly
1b. Or only have partial understanding of it and not be able to use it at full potential
2. Continue researching it because it only worked once
3. Or Discontinue or shelve use of it because it was too dangerous or had side effects that they were unable to overcome.
4. Kept it from public knowledge and left it only for select units to use.

Too bad Star Trek didn't take 1 or 2 lines of dialogue to hand wave the super tech away or incorporate it better rather than hold onto the status quo.

 

[JarodRussell]

Also 5. enemies adapted to it.

Continuity-wise, SG1 and SGA blow Trek out of the water.


Obviously, by the end of the 24th century (and the return of Supervoyager), the Federation should be able to travel between galaxies.

 

[T'Girl]

TNG and ST'09 gave us a software patch that gives extremely extreme range.

And how much energy did they require and how safe were they?

One of the two people in Star Trek Eleven beamed into a potentially deadly location.

 

[The Green Mushroom]

Putting aside all other items, most of which I'd agree with if I had time to figure it out, Voyager's Warp Ten system was far and away the worst. One of two things should have happened, either one of which would have ended the series and either one of which would have worked.

Either they should have used the drive to go Warp 9.999999999999999 and get home in a week or so.

Or they should have warped all the way home and asked the Doctor to reversesalamanderize them before the ship pulled into orbit of the Earth.

 

[Crazy Eddie]

Putting aside the silliness of some of these, what would the Trekverse look like if they actually moved forward with all their technological advancements instead of conveniently forgetting them at the end of each episode?

Pretty much what "Mass Effect" would look like if you replaced all the taxis and half of the elevators with site-to-site transporter menus.

 

[Crazy Eddie]

Putting aside all other items, most of which I'd agree with if I had time to figure it out, Voyager's Warp Ten system was far and away the worst. One of two things should have happened, either one of which would have ended the series and either one of which would have worked.

Either they should have used the drive to go Warp 9.999999999999999 and get home in a week or so.

Or they should have warped all the way home and asked the Doctor to reversesalamanderize them before the ship pulled into orbit of the Earth.

Or they should have DIED HORRIBLY, which is what usually happens when an untested piece of technology plugged into a space ship fails to work as intended.

Let me throw a splash of ice water on this thread and point out that the idea of "using their tech to the fullest" HUGELY overlooks the fact that none of that experimental tech is ever shown to fail. When Harry Kim pulls some [tech] solution out of his ass in the middle of a space battle, it works exactly as advertised, the very first time, with no testing, no prototyping, and no unintended consequences. In the Voyager universe, you can make shit up left and right and have it work every single time; if it doesn't work, you can fix it by making up something else. If at that point it STILL backfires, there's also a temporal reset button to consider.

Voyager treats science as tech-magic, so of course they can do just about anything they damn well please. Most of that stuff wouldn't ACTUALLY work that well; Data's badge transporter porbably has a 70% chance of turning its user inside-out, Barclay's shield enhancement fries the entire ship every other time they try to replicate it, and the Best of Both Worlds deflector beam -- aside from never actually working against anyone ever -- nearly destroyed the Enterprise the first time they used it. I kind of feel like the reason half of that stuff is never used on a broader scale is because it either doesn't actually work most of the time, or because the side effects of using it are actually pretty gruesome.

 

[Shawnster]

The First Federation had starships capable of going head-to-head with a Constitution Class starship while only being controlled by 1 person.

Barclay modified the Enterprise D so that it could fold space and shift across the Galaxy nearly instantly. Again, with that same software patch, I believe.

Apparently androids are pretty easy to make, people just forgot or the tech was kept secret. What could Soong have done if he'd met Ruk or Norman or both?

 

[Tribble puncher]

I have always wondered why transporters were not used for more medical or repair purposes. Imagine your ship takes a hit from an enemy torpedo, you have a hull breach. (oh no!) why not run the damaged section of the ship through the transporter and rematerialize it in its undamaged state?