I cover the why star trek technology appears more primitive. I think it would be appearances only.
The situation story wise in STD
Klingon /Federation war is devastating the federation. The technological edge is non-existent and the cloak is given an unholy edge to the Klingons
So what would have caused the reversion if Star Trek was real life?
As outlined in part one, reliable technology is what is necessary. That could be easier to produce and save energy drainage.
Well for the evolution from Enterprise to STD to TOS you would need something logically in line with IRL history. It would also have to explain what PROVED to StarFleet and the Federation something like the Pentagon Papers and the Millennium challenge 2002 was going on.
You are going to need a commanding officer, a ship, and a story the present political climate allows. And History, bless her soul, has answers for what happened..
You are going to need a miracle that has happened in history..
The Federation was losing Badly.. So lets go there Star Trek Fans!
Throughout human history there has been a series of officers that fit the bill.. You are going to need them..
George Smith Patton Jr. (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945) was a General of the United States Army who commanded the U.S. Seventh Army in the Mediterranean theater of World War II, and the U.S. Third Army in France and Germany following the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944.
I am going to keep it simple
Facets we borrow
- Raised in a rich family
- not liked by other officers or command
- competent -highly
- controversial
- master planner
- heavy on training
So this is easy, most of you should know Patton. Now we go to the next officer I had in mind.
Gregory “Pappy” Boyington (December 4, 1912 – January 11, 1988) was an American combat pilot who was a United States Marine Corps fighter ace during World War II. He received both the Medal of Honor and the Navy Cross.
….
And
In August 1943, a group of twenty-seven young men under the leadership of Major Gregory “Pappy” Boyington (who was later awarded the Medal of Honor) were joined together to form the original “Blacksheep” of VMF-214. Major Boyington had just returned from a year’s tour in China as a member of the 1st American Volunteer Group (nicknamed the Flying Tigers), and had been credited with multiple kills of Japanese aircraft.[1] The squadron was not assigned any aircraft or ancillary personnel at first and flew to Guadalcanal and later the Russell Islands in borrowed planes that were in less than satisfactory condition.[2]
Keep the blacksheep in mind for a little bit later
Facets
- maverick – not liked by officers or command
- ran blackmarket operations to keep planes running
- ran blacksheep by force
- heavy on training
Now we have some basic psychological points for an officer to be produced
(blacksheep point keep in mind)
Now we need a ship.. And again History provides a glaring example. I will stick to one..
the USS Sh@$%y Kitty
The supercarrier USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63), formerly CVA-63, was the second naval ship named after Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the site of the Wright brothers‘ first powered airplane flight. Kitty Hawk was both the first and last active ship of her class, and the last oil-fired aircraft carrier in service with the United States Navy.
and
https://taskandpurpose.com/uss-kitty-hawk-navy-trump
But the Kitty Hawk also has another nickname: “Shitty Kitty,” a term of endearment among many of her former sailors due to the aging vessel’s frequent breakdowns. In Richard Miller’s “A Carrier at War: On Board the USS Kitty Hawk in the Iraq War,” a Navy vet turned photojournalist laid out the carrier’s many problems: “This boat’s old. Old pipes, too many coats of paint, too many welds and re-welds. She’s been around too long. Lots of sailors don’t like her. She’s a pain in the ass to clean and too damned expensive to run.”
She is a lady with a dark past.. It hit me that this is the name you want.. The crew wears the name with Pride.. The USS SHITTY KITTY to the rescue.. LOL
Now we get to the gravy of how and why the reliable more primitive looking systems are in place. You need a hard lesson set on the back drop of klingon war
With the basic psych profile like info mentioned earlier
we combine Patton and Boyington
- White male
- not liked by his superiors
- is not what they consider star fleet
- wealthy family
- a throwback in essence
Now you might think that wont fly.. Well we twist a little on the origin
Captain Boyington (the name you go with for historical associations)
- is a first generation Federation child
- from a matriarchal society of humans
- his mother is from the old families and very wealthy
- powerful position-like ruler of the government
- she decided to raise him by herself instead of sending him to the males
- no clue who his father is (not important in the society only whose your mama)
- he only got into the best schools because of Federation diversity requirements
- and a problem child his mother loves dearly
We have a child that is an outsider in his society. Joined star fleet so he would have a chance.. His childhood made him and he barely graduated because he realised nothing had changed since his childhood..
I think both sides would by this for the captain.. The ship is in mothballs, Shitty Kitty..
The next important part would be the crew
Frustrated at starfleets incompetence.. Watching all the garbage, he steals a page out of human history.. And makes his own Blacksheep squadron
But he does what he is comfortable with
Surrounds himself with women! All female crew..
Oh laugh but history does have an example, straight out of the Sun Tzu
Sun Tzu and the Lesson of the Concubines
Sun Tzu was a Chinese general in the period of the Warring States around 400 BC. At that time across China, local warlords constantly waged war against one another to fight for their shares of the remnants of the collapsed Chou Empire. I remember the story about Sun Tzu being challenged by a warlord to apply his famous war doctrine to train 180 women from the warlord’s palace into an orderly company. Among the women, two were the warlord’s favourite concubines. Sun Tzu divided the women into two groups and put a concubine in command of each.
and
Sun Tzu and the Lesson of the Concubines
The King of Wu asked, “Can the test be applied to women?” Sun Tzu replied that it could, so arrangements were made to bring 180 beautiful women from the palace. Sun Tzu divided them into two companies with one of the King’s favorite concubines at the head of each. He then made all of them take spears in their hands and spoke to them: “I presume you know the difference between front and back, right hand, and left hand?”
The women replied, “Yes.”
Sun Tzu continued, “When to the sound of drums I order ‘eyes front,’ look straight ahead. When I order ‘left turn,’ face toward your left hand. When I order ‘right turn,’ face toward your right hand. When I order ‘about turn,’ face around to the back.”
So history does say it can be done. I think this captain would choose all women. Due to the environment he grew up in..
So where does he recruit .. From prostitutes, Pleasure girls, thieves, and old battle axes.. And using the magic of discipline, real not PC.. We have another element.
(not to mention the fact when the klingons find out is an all female crew)
You could even toss in a reference to kirk.. No he does NOT sleep with members of his crew.. He had to verbally correct a young officer after rescue mission.. Told him the only woman and mistress in his life, as a Ship Captain, is your SHIP..
I know.. I know.. I said I would have to explain what would be required for the tech to be primitive looking.
Well like the blacksheep squadron, they begged, borrowed, and stole.. Starfleet would not supply them and most likely could NOT..
The older systems would be easier to go with.. And a lot more reliable and field tested.. So instead of power draining touch screens.. Switches with a lot more analog feel.. Easy to replicate excetra.
Again I also reference the comments in the tweets I made
The Sh#$ty Kitty would have a little bit more staying power. Most everyone reading this knows this to be true.. How.. You have a cell phone.. The newer ones.. The older ones cant run half the programs.. and battery drainage. Now put that concept on starship.
Holographic communications system cost how much? Touch Screens?
versus switches that are yes/ no arranged old school
that power can be diverted to ?? Shields.. Structural integrity.. phasers.. engines..
Take the same principle to the torpedoes.. less fancy guidance systems.. more umph..
All it would take IRL would be for that first mission to succeed.
Ex-
The Kitty Hawk shows up in the middle of a battle.. Does not aide the escape pods, refuses orders from acting fleet commander, and goes toe to toe with say three klingon ships.. While the fleet retreats the Shi#$% Kitty retreats after the fleet gets away..
She is ugly and old, but shes a fighter.. Reliable
Maybe add in when this introduced if it is used, Admiral Marcus was his academy Advisor.. (if you can get the same actor.. Do it!!)
So that is what would be the how what caused the tech to be used
Old tech reliable tech easily COTS succeeds where Pentagon Wars/ Millennium Contest 2002 tech is put up for independent re-evaluation. Not a devolution but a look to reliable tech with multiple backups
And all the switches were the interfaces that require less power.
With the captain psych style for believability, ship with a history, and a crew with skills all fitting with in the acceptable storylines narrative..
And the ship captains would want the field tested reliability.. Especially for exploration purposes.. with supplies FAR away.. Keep in mind it is just the looks of primative..
(also keep in mind why the explanation given in the show and article fails.. One system fails.. It is stripped out.. and not hooked back up.. And yes starfleet would be tracing the physical interfaces and cutting them out.. And then the functional interfaces of the system.. Worst case scenario.. After day one, Two or three days later system is GONE with a different standby..)
You have the components to as to why based on some historical flavoring.. The older tech would be upgraded to TOS state for reliability.. And keep in mind it does not mean loss of use of functionality or power for physical controls.. Just sturdier with less wasted power..
I am not going over the whole history of the mirror universe as it applies to this.. suffice it to say the Discovery would not be suffering from the same failings the rest of the fleet did.. The mirror universes issue is with maintenance because of the political structure on the vessels.. So reliable tech and battle readiness is a key theme in the mirror universe, with failure getting the agony booth or death.
Mirror universe- Memory Beta wiki
The mirror universe is a parallel universe where the patterns of events move in similar manners to that of the primary universe, but the intentions and characterizations are different, often showing “evil” characteristics in place of “good,” and vice versa. Starfleet Intelligence, by 2267, referred to this reality as “Terran Empire parallel.” The mirror universe shares a similar history to that of the primary universe, and many of the same people exist in this reality, but they and the galaxy they live in are skewed versions of their “normal” counterparts. (Star Trek Adventures module: Core Rulebook)
Now to keep it realistic at the end.. Captain Boyington is retired post war.. He comes into conflict with to many officers.. Historically accurate..
That is how you explain the older looking tech!
Reliabilty
Da Lazy Scholar 
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