Star Trek

They aren't likely to make the machinery more prominent in any shows in the near future. Automation is a life and death fear to a lot of people to the point that a lot of working class white Americans are actually committing suicide in depression. Doing that would burn bridges with the audience.

So you're going to continue to see inefficiency in the show for the sake of not taking jobs away.

Except for the part where rather than just deactivate, delete, or patch the EMH Mark Ones, they put them to work on all the lowest grunt jobs.

Various restaurants are experimenting with automated systems for placing orders, from in-shop kiosks to online ordering, but many people prefer to have someone make and place the order for them so that they don't have to figure it all out themselves. They want to relax and anticipate their meal. Personal service and interaction is still a thing, even if the computers and replicators are surprisingly versatile it doesn't replace the mood of the experience. It's also said repeatedly throughout the franchise that replicated food doesn't quite replace the real thing, with Riker and Sisko having an affinity for hands on meal preparation with real food (although a cook is only as good as his ingredients).

Of course, we have to account for the market. Everything in the series is based on what audiences of the time want. If we manage a real life Star Trek civilization, it'll probably be drastically different. From the frontier ships being properly armored instead of hotels in space, to technological capabilities and aesthetics surpassing what we currently have. It'd have the same spirit, I hope, but totally different looks and feel.

Just hopefully not an Apple store in space.

Replicator food being inferior is a separate thing to table service. Ten Forward and Quark's don't have kitchens and people order replicated food there all the time.

Do they put a ten minute delay on replicator orders for the social effect?

edited 29th Mar '17 9:11:22 AM by TParadox

"Space. The final frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Apple. Its' five year mission: To crank out strange new applications, to seek out new life and potential customers, to boldly go where no self respecting app company has gone before!"

edited 29th Mar '17 8:13:50 PM by kkhohoho

That . . . is not a show I would ever watch. Ever.

I dunno. Sounds like a good comedy. Like, the usual crew boldly exploring the galaxy bit, except they're explicitly greedy travelling hucksters out to make a buck and don't actually give a damn about the dramatic problems of the aliens they meet or the scientific merit of any anomalies - yet they always get drawn into being "heroes" anyway.

Their version of the Prime Directive would be to not interfere in any situation that isn't profitable. Naturally, most episode would end with them losing money anyway for humor's sake.

Kind of like Kaput And Zosky, but with "making money" instead of "planetary domination."

edited 29th Mar '17 7:03:52 PM by KnownUnknown

That sounds like a Star Trek show taking place on a Ferengi ship . . . I mean, THAT I would watch because I like the Ferengi from DS 9, but the idea of it being an explicit Apple ship I am inherently divorced from. Never. Gonna. Watch. I hate their aesthetic.

"Captain Star journeyed the universe in his ship the Boiling Hell. His orders: to discover new worlds, name them after himself, and then sell them things."

Both Quarks and Ten Forward had a physical supply of drinks, so it would stand to reason they had some other things as well. There was probably some mixing and matching depending on supplies.

Drinks aren't as involved in shipping, storing, and preparing, even mixed drinks.

Rewatching a bunch of episodes for the hell of it. Netflix has 'em all, I've got time, why not?

Man, these Starfleet Captains/protagonists are bonkers. Like, all of them. Except Picard. But even then, sometimes he makes me wonder. Maybe it's a prerequisite. "Applicant for the Officer Corps must have an established penchant for random bouts of impulsive obsession, and questionable emotional stability." At least Janeway has the excuse of being trapped in the ultimate adaptation of Homeward Bound.

I think my favorite "just goes nuts sometimes" moments probably come from Sisko. Something he delivers his lines as nearly always intense, even when the situation doesn't necessarily call for it, gives him an odd twist on Comically Serious. Watching the baseball episode right now, and the scene where he's like "yeah, I volunteered you all for a test of bravery and skill, isn't it delightful!" (emphasis added due to his wide eyes and maniacal grin) and everyone just rolls with it is hilarious (Worf: "WE WILL DESTROY THEM!").

edited 11th Apr '17 10:15:55 PM by KnownUnknown

Sisko's insane. I love it. Once I actually got down to watching that show it was easily equal to The Next Generation for me.

Michael Dorn said no to Discovery because of money.

I have no problem with him not being interested, yet having a price that would buy his interest. But he's the highest-earning actor in the franchise due to being in the longest-running role, and he's made enough money at this point that if a job really interested him, he could do it for free, so I'm not as insulted on his behalf by the offer as the article seems to want me to be.

Four hours a day in makeup to play a Klingon. Plus his star power would bring in long-time fans as viewers. I would be asking for a lot of money in his shoes too.

I always marvel at people thinking that others should do things for free or with a "hometown discount". i always specifically marvel at sports fans asking players to take pay-cuts - especially in football where there's a high probability of injury.

I'm the best salesman in my department, and was the best salesman at my last job. I've made a great living. I COULD do my job for free and be fine for a few years. I will not. Nobody's asking for an explanation from me as to why.

edited 17th Apr '17 1:59:38 PM by sarcastibot

I'm not saying he should've done it, I'm saying I'm quite satisfied with "we'd like you to participate, but we can only afford a pittance. Would you like to join us?" "Well, you see, I would rather not participate unless you pay me what I'm worth." "We understand, nevermind."

I know I'm reacting to the idea of the article. I THINK the post after mine is doing the same. I know and agree with what you meant, Paradox. Honestly, I don't think another Star Trek show needs Michael Dorn in it. He's good for the franchise, but there's really no need to have him play yet another member of the house of Mogh. Because I'm pretty sure his Undiscovered Country character was ALSO an ancestor of Worf's, and it seems a stretch for all three of them to look exactly the same. Hell, that's bordering on the racist "you all look alike" stereotype we need to get rid of in real life.

I was about to suggest he could be the same Colonel Worf, but nah, it's a really bad idea to cast him 25 years later to play the character about 25 years younger.

Agreed. Better to let new actors play Klingons. Would be interesting to see him as a human commander of some sort. I mean, taken in and of themselves, the Klingon idea is way more interesting, but seeing as Dorn has played one for years by now, not so much.

Let's see... I know Walter Koenig has played an original character in fan productions.

Enterprise had several guest roles played by former regulars (off the top of my head, Rene Auberjonois was a marooned father, of course the Ferengi played by Jeffrey Combs and Ethan Phillips, and Roxanne Dawson was the voice of the too-good-to-be-true miracle repair station, and I'm probably missing some others I noticed at the time. And Brent Spiner as Arik Soong, but since he's related, I wouldn't count him.)

Nor would I. And since Data is a deliberately created, fully controlled off-spring, he doesn't trigger the "You all look alike" issue I was talking about earlier. There's only two Soongs who look alike by chance. Which, while heavily unlikely, does happen every once in a while.

Well, truth be told, it's not that difficult to find relatives who look extremely alike. You find two people with a passing resemblance and then groom and dress them identically and you'll be surprised how they match. There are some actors who have siblings or cousins who work as stunt doubles or photo doubles for them for that exact reason. With my older brother, we didn't look that much alike when we were younger but as we've gotten older people sometimes mistake us for the other in photos. So I don't really see Identical Grandson as a far-fetched trope.

Spiner also played Noonien Soong under a variety of different make-up, first seen extremely old and later on as a hologram while presumably in his 50's/60's, and lastly in a dream while about the same age as Spiner and almost no make-up. Arik Soong was similar, but since Spiner himself had notably aged the similarities between them were actually lessened. Compare Arik Soong to the Noonien Soong hologram in "Inheritance," they don't actually look identical.

My post was more a reaction to the nerd rage I've been seeing in other corners of the internet in reaction to this. Some dude called him greedy on facebook.

Listen, if it was for charity that's one thing. But this new series is a profit-generating endeavor. If someone told me "hey come sell some shit fit charity" I would gladly donate my time. If someone told me "come sell some shit for profit for my business" I would ask them how they plan to compensate me.

edited 18th Apr '17 12:33:23 AM by sarcastibot