I've never understood why anyone would pay for anything replicated at Quarks when they could get it for free in the Replimat or their quarters.
Does Quark charge for regular, replicated drinks?
- Thread starter Wolfslice
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But you're really just guessing here. There is nothing to suggest that such a "special relationship" ever existed.
Yes, there is the sequence when Sisko threatens to bill Quark for all the back expenses he never charged him for previously. But there is absolute zero evidence, implicit or explicit, to suggest that Starfleet officers had any kind of preferential treatment at Quark's for any reason.
As I have pointed out, there are countless references to Starfleet officers "paying their bills" throughout the series. But you guys are just making up a distinction (between the economic status of real vs. replicated food) that is never, ever remotely addressed.
And that's really the distinction. Those services ARE paid for - via taxes. Quark's is a private business, there is nothing analogous about the situation at all.
Starfleet DOES provide free food for their personnel - each person's quarters is equipped with their own replicator. But there is no evidence to suggest Starfleet has worked out any kind of special relationship with a private business.
Well, much of this isn't really relevant to our discussion, but just because recent technology has made it very difficult for phone companies and record companies to earn a profit doesn't mean those companies aren't busting their collective humps to try to figure out how to fight those problems.
I assure you music companies are not on the "verge" of just giving away music for free.
As far as the Federation goes, yes, I fully believe that the UFP makes every effort (and, we are told, they are successful) in feeding their citizens. A replicator in every home for those that want it.
And so the Starfleet folks on DS9 are indeed provided for. But if they want to go to a non-Federation private business, well, the UFP has absolutely no business interfering in that relationship.
If O'Brien WANTS to pay for Quark's instead of dining at home for free, that's his business.
It seems that anyone staying on DS9, Starfleet, Bajoran, visitor, does have a replicator in their room. But, again, as I said, Starfleet does indeed take care of their own and provide for their needs without stepping on Quark's right to earn a living.
There are any number of possible explanations -
1) The Replicators at Quark's have better quality food.
2) The replicators at Quark's have a more extensive menu.
3) Quark's offers "real" items to supplement the replicated ones.
4) The atmosphere and social aspects of dining at Quark's are very attractive.
in "Rules of Acquisition", Dax observes that the Replimat doesn't have a Ferengi menu. So right there is at least one difference between Quark's and the replimat.
All replicators are not made the same - there were many jokes made early in the series about how lousy the replicators were (presumably, compared with the Federation replicators the crew were used to), but who's to say Quark didn't upgrade his replicators or come up with a more impressive and diverse menu?
And who is to say the Replimat is free? Perhaps one has to "pay" for that as well - though I'll agree there isn't any evidence about it, either way. But we see people on DS9 buying food from merchants constantly, whether it's Quark's, the Klingon restaurant or the jumja stick dealer. Surely not everyone who comes to DS9 is a moron who wants to throw their money away when they could just use free replicators.
There simply HAS to be a reason why these establishments are attractive to customers, otherwise they simply would cease to exist. It's not the job of the show to show us every single niggling detail about how life works in the future. In fact, I doubt the show's producers even really bothered to think too much about how food service billing works in the future, as it's just not relevant to the focus of the show.
But I think it's more sensible just to accept that there HAS to be a good reason why certain things happen, even if we can't figure out the specifics, rather than concocting all kinds of elaborate theories which have even less evidence going for them and run counter to logic.
the only debate here is whether or not quark is preparing his food in a kitchen or just replicating it. One is fair to pay for, the other is not (at least where starfleet officers are concerned). We know he's not replicating the alcohol. And we know he at least replicates SOME ingrediants (-the episode where he's using the tainted replicator). Hell, he may replicating everything and passing it off as fully prepared... but regardless, there's a major difference between charging for replicated and hand prepared food, at least in my book.
Totally agree. Paying for "real" drinks or "real" food I can totally see and understand. Even something half and half. Like if I ordered Chicken & Brocolli Alfredo and the meat was replicated. But if it was totally replicated I just can't buy that. No pun intended.
True. But it's a consistent guess. The Feds supposedly abhor a money-based consumer market, and Sisko is known to have a personal deal of some sort with Quark for making him stay against the advice of his twitching lobes.
Why not? A private business here keeps the kids at school fed for zero price / on tax money; another provides them with books. Starfleet would have a definite interest in getting the UFP fund the nourishment of its troops via public money, even if the only available subcontractor is a greedy Ferengi.
It's not as if the UFP economy would collapse from funding the meals and drinks of 300 people. Or 300 million, for that matter.
On the other hand,
Why would Starfleet respect Quark's right to earn a living, any more than today's legislation would respect a plantation owner's right to whip his slaves? Sure, Quark is a non-citizen and relatively untouchable by UFP legislation, but there's still little point in the UFP at large "respecting" him in any way. Out of necessity, local officials may do some respecting, though...
Indeed. And those who had a practical monopoly to book copying and distribution didn't give it up easily even after Gutenberg's lead press hit the market. But the replicator looks like a perfect candidate for a technology that would simply wipe out certain capitalist businesses as mercilessly as if they were so much vermin - unless the government went draconian about it. But why do that, when nonregulated replication in fact gives the government more power over competition - a better-fed, happier population that has a diminished need to do business with foreign nations? An ingrown, moneyless welfare state is the ultimate mercantilist tool, and mercantilism is an excellent choice when your nation is by far the richest and wants to stay that way, in an environment where there's no foreseeable "market growth" (such as radically new resources, or something even better than replicators).
It would be pretty simple to assume that all replication costs money, even within the Federation. Why wouldn't it? It consumes consumables, it requires maintenance. It just happens that the UFP has mastered an economy where the money doesn't touch the hands of the consumer at any point of the process, and this can be arranged regardless of whether the replicator is in a private space, or in a public area, or in a business establishment.
(Now where does the money touch these hands? That is, where do we see these thumbprint things, or perhaps latinum exchanges? I somehow managed to miss all of them when watching the show, but admittedly my look at the later seasons was cursory only.)
Timo Saloniemi
In addition to this, I'll add...
How can Sisko's Dad operate a restaurant on Earth if nobody pays him in exchange for the food? Why would people work there if they we're getting something out of it? Whether it be experience, training, or just fulfilling their hearts desire.
How can Sisko's Dad operate a restaurant on Earth if nobody pays him in exchange for the food? Why would people work there if they we're getting something out of it? Whether it be experience, training, or just fulfilling their hearts desire.
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