I remember reading that the transporter was added to TOS mainly to speed up storytelling, with the technobabble behind it being expanded on later. Then replicators/holodeck put in TNG because it made sense based on similar technology. So basically you’re exactly right, it is magic
Smart in one way but it did cause a lot of storytelling problems because they constantly had to come up with half baked excuses for why it wasn’t working this time when just using the transporter would solve a major problem without fuss.
A much better implementation of transporters, from a storytelling point of view, is in Stargate, where the various versions of the technology all have pros and cons.
The ring systems are point-to-point only but they can punch through a lot of interference. The Asgard systems work more like the Star Trek systems but they’re much more easily interdicted.
I remember reading that the transporter was added to TOS mainly to speed up storytelling, with the technobabble behind it being expanded on later. Then replicators/holodeck put in TNG because it made sense based on similar technology. So basically you’re exactly right, it is magic
Yes, transporters were originally made to avoid the high production costs of models, which would have been necessary to use for shuttles back then.
Very smart imo.
Smart in one way but it did cause a lot of storytelling problems because they constantly had to come up with half baked excuses for why it wasn’t working this time when just using the transporter would solve a major problem without fuss.
A much better implementation of transporters, from a storytelling point of view, is in Stargate, where the various versions of the technology all have pros and cons.
The ring systems are point-to-point only but they can punch through a lot of interference. The Asgard systems work more like the Star Trek systems but they’re much more easily interdicted.