Are We More Hi-Tech Than Star Wars? 5 Examples of Where We Are!
We are about to enter a whole new level of nerdy…
Our Star Wars enthusiasts spent hours studying film and making comparisons of how the technology that is used today stands next to the advanced technology references made in the Star Wars series. Okay – hours of studying film may have been an exaggeration but the data collected was thought up by the true Star Wars geeks.
We bring your attention to the question of the day as we anxiously wait for the opening of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Is Star Wars technology behind us?
1. Tie Fighter UI Design
In Episode 4 “A New Hope,” Luke Skywalker blows up the Death Star defeating the Empire in his awesome X Wing Fighter. In order to do that, Luke has to use his highly sophisticated “targeting computer.” And what does this all-important user interface look like? In a land where Luke later gets a new hand like he’s simply applying a band-aid, he is using a targeting computer that looks like it was made in the 50’s. There is no HD. It’s just a yellow and red screen. Luke uses a scroll wheel on the side of his computer to adjust the targeting.
Now, there is no way that we can discredit Star Wars – it’s just too good! But couldn’t they have made the technology just a tad fancier? Adding a color enhanced touchscreen would have been the perfect fix. Check out the photo below and take a good look at the control buttons and the screen. It looks a lot like the toy you got with your Happy Meal, right?
2. Cell Reception in an Asteroid Field
In Episode 5 (52 min. & 40 sec.) in “The Empire Strikes Back,” Darth Vader is prompted by the Emperor to contact him while they are currently flying in an asteroid field. What does he do? He instructs the admiral to move the ship out of the asteroid field. Why you ask? Apparently, in Star Wars they don’t have Verizon. “Can you hear me now,” No, Darth we can’t. In an asteroid field, you can’t get more than 2 bars on your cell tower.
The issue here is that why would they not install cell towers all over the asteroid field when communication is vital. If they were trying to relate to homeowners with spotty service in certain areas of their house then they hit it on the nail, but you’d think a film full of futuristic technology would have no problem getting service anywhere.
3. Low-Resolution Holograms
Carbon Freeze a person? No problem. Lightspeed? Walk in the park. 4K Holograms? Sorry, not gonna happen.
This is displayed many times throughout the Star Wars series but we will only mention one instance. In Star Wars we presume they don’t have a Best Buy or anywhere they can go to purchase a good TV. Nope, just low-resolution holograms. The TV’s we used back then to watch the Star Wars series had better resolution. They can breathe underwater indefinitely in Episode 1, but the decent resolution on their Facetime Holograms is out of the question.
In Episode 1, “The Phantom Menace,” (9 min. in) Senator Palpatine’s hologram isn’t even low tech. for those that would like to argue that this was a bad transmission and a result of a loss of communication with the Senate – refer to every other hologram image in all 6 Star Wars movies. They are all low-resolution images. They should really get a new TV; we’re just saying.
4. No Picture in Star Wars?
In Episode 6, “Return of the Jedi,” Leia and Luke have a conversation about their mother. Luke asks Leia what their mother was like. Leia says she just has mental images in her head of her. We just want to point out the fact that in Episode 3 we find out that her mother dies in childbirth and she never really met her. That is, of course, another blog that has been written hundreds of times before. We digress… but, why doesn’t Luke just ask to see a picture of her mom? Wouldn’t they just bust out their iPhones and compare images like any normal being would today? Or go old school and compare two halves of a ripped picture like in The Parent Trap. “Wow! We are twins after all.” Problem solved – nope. You never see pictures in Star Wars. Obi Won never shows Luke what his father looked like on his old Facebook page before he supposedly died. No Han and Leia selfies. Pictures in Star Wars just don’t exist. Nowadays people take pictures of their food to post on social media!! Photos are a huge part of our tech-advanced lives, today.
5. Limited Cell Phones
We live in a world where every 13-year old (and younger!) has a cell phone, and we have sadly gotten used to texting our kids “dinner is ready” so that we don’t have to climb up the stairs to get them. There are so many times in Star Wars where the rebels would have benefited from all having cell phones. Don’t get us wrong – in Episode 1, Qui-Gon Jinn has the best examples of a cell phone when he sends Obi Won a blood sample of his new friend Anakin. But there are so many examples where life and death would have been avoided if they just all had cell phones.
In Episode 6, Leia gets lost in the jungle. Does she reach into her pocket and text Han and Luke that she’s all good? No. They spend their whole day wondering what happened to her. No GPS. Not even an Apple Watch.
In Episode 5, Luke has his hand removed by Darth Vader, and after jumping down into a trash shoot he finds himself all alone. Does he jump on his iPhone or Android to call an Uber? Not possible. He is forced to use the force (get it) to tell Leia to come get him.
Why no phones George? Aren’t you from Silicon Valley?
As we’ve mentioned before, we are huge fans of the Star Wars series – but it’s hard for a technology-based company to not notice these things. In all good fun, with tickets in hand, we are ready for the showing of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, tonight!
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