Mary Sue Technological Progression

[Timo]

It's just that we have little reason to believe in inventing at all. By 2150, mankind should have other means of access to standard Trek technology. And most of it would have been invented 2150 BC, not AD 2150. Cochrane should have been the very last human inventor, really.

I doubt anything much was invented or even reverse-engineered during ENT, as the result of discoveries made by Archer or his peers. Although stuff may have been purchased or otherwise acquired aplenty: the Vissians of "Cogenitor" might have donated photon torpedo blueprints, say, now that Earth already knew what to ask for.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[metalheaddoc]

I think they made rapid improvements to their tech. A lot of the weapons were advancements rather than "new". I don't think it was laziness on the writers part

 

[jgalley]

I would have liked it if they kept more of the lesser tech, especially the torpedoes. Maybe upgrade the propulsion of the torps a bit but still have them obviously slower than photon torpedoes. Wish they had used the transporter a bit less, although they still had it being a bit primitive compared to later. In TUC Kirk and Bones get shot while beaming and are fine, in Enterprise the transporter beam didn't protect Hayes
at least they didn't install tractor beams and shields.

"Polarizing the Hull Plating" basically was shields, even if primitive in "nature" they certainly acted exactly like them.

 

[CommanderRaytas]

Is it time yet for me to pop by and say, "What does it matter?"

It is, isn't it?

Tech on ENT failed them all the time - failures and achievements used for plot purposes.
Also, it's a backdrop for the stories. Don't overthink it.

 

[Dukhat]

Is it time yet for me to pop by and say, "What does it matter?"

It is, isn't it?

Tech on ENT failed them all the time - failures and achievements used for plot purposes.
Also, it's a backdrop for the stories. Don't overthink it.

First of all, the OP is using the wrong term. "Mary Sue" has nothing to do with what he's describing.

Second, I'm not even sure I agree with his observation. I don't remember the tech getting more everyday and humdrum in the later seasons. All I remember are one or two episodes where they try to make a big deal about the transporter not being safe, yet end up using it anyway with no ill effects, and then continue to use it later without fanfare. And I don't remember them having a tractor beam, but the Vulcan ships did. Other than that, the tech was pretty much the same from Voyager (since ENT started out with the writers from that show): "phase pistols" instead of phasers, "photonic torpedoes" instead of photon torpedoes, "polarizing the hull plating" instead of shields, etc.; all just buzz words for the same thing we'd seen in the four previous Trek shows. It would have been nice to have the tech be a bit more primitive (guns that shot bullets, nuclear missiles instead of 'photonic torpedoes,' etc., but the Voyager writers just went with what they knew.

 

[CommanderRaytas]

That the OP used the term wrong is clear; I would even argue that these days, there is hardly anyone who uses it correctly as it has lost all meaning and has become a tool to discredit that which one dislikes - mostly, not always.

I remember the Enterprise getting bested by aliens with better tech and the transporter messing things up a tad. It may be due to my nostalgia goggles or just the different value I place on such aspects of the show. You're probably right, but this isn't something I care about much. I guess that's the truth of the matter in my case. I will jump to ENT's defence any day of the week.

 

[somebuddyX]

Maybe Enterprise did jump ahead with technology but at that point it didn't bother me. As a kid I'd thought up what a 22nd Century Star Trek show would be but with that I had imagined all the aliens technology would be on par with one another. With them actually all at different levels it makes sense that after some time in-universe they would try to even themselves out. I would have rathered lasers or bullets or just phasers over the name phase pistols or phase cannons though.

 

[X24actor]

Enterprise showed more space faring races at different levels of advancement interacting with each other. Voyager did OK with that too. TNG and TOS tended to show really advanced civilizations as having a higher level of EXISTENCE who rarely mingled with those existing on the lower levels. Sometimes we did get legit advanced alien tech such as The Planet Killer, V'ger, the whale probe... and they were always portrayed as very difficult to talk to.

Enterprise also did a very good job at making TOS era tech look advanced. Giving the old sound effects more scale and bass sure helped.