Trek shouldn't be about how advanced the tech is anyway...it should be about telling good stories in an exotic sci-fi setting. The trick is having a level of tech that inspires awe and wonder in the audience but doesn't solve all of the characters' problems in-story.
Agreed, though TNG started out of the gate dazzling us with new tech. It was pretty fresh and new, for a while anyway.
I wonder if they'll go back to the well (time travel, techno babble ect) or if they'll go in another direction. I think it may be a mistake to revisit the old ideas, because it has been done too many times. A little risky.
At one time, weren't each of those things new and fresh? Coming up with concepts and plot ideas that have never been heard of before is the challenge for the writing team.
If they're up to it.
Definitely, at one time things like time travel was fresh and interesting. The City on the Edge of Forever - it really felt like the crew traveled back in time.
But the later shows kept going back to the time travel plots and it became less and less mysterious. By the time we got to Voyager, the concept had jumped the shark.
No one is really awed or surprised when it happens anymore. It may have been one of the things that led to the infamous franchise fatigue.
Here are some of the things that (from my view) that used to excite trek fans, but may not anymore;
Artificial intelligence - not anymore thanks to holograms
Faster than warp travel-- has been done, not a mystery
Other dimensions- experienced multiple times
Big alien superpowers- Borg, Dominion- we've fought them already, and figured out how to beat them
I wonder what the new show format will be like. Is it better to keep some things a mystery?