Why the exploding consoles?

[The Yosemite Bear]

I think I figured it out, I just had to switch into Conspiracy theorists mode, and remember Honor Harrington "Ashes of Victory"

The more powerful exploding consols are a result of an S31 loyalty device. In order to keep crews in line, and prevent defections/mutiny's or prevent the ships from falling into the wrong hands. S31 rigged all Federation ships to explode, in the event of hostiles siezing the main bridge, the entire main bridge will become a great big kill zone of claymore mines, as soon as the "Loyalty officer" keys in the proper code.

[Dennis Toy]

but o mr Wong, i have, Watch "Enemy Mine" at the beginning as Dennis Quaid and the crewman fight the drac ship (A drac was the reptilian lizard in the flick) and watch as the ship takes a hit, and the console on the side were the crewman was exploded and threw shrapnel in his face.

[Jetfire]

Something just occurred to me; you don't think the people who write Star Trek heard about a developing technology called "plasma displays" more than 10 years ago and interpreted it all wrong, do you?

Hehe, wasn't that in the season premier of Made In Canada where they get a Plasma TV for the meeting room and the station director? (can't remember; I haven't watched it enough to remember the names) is told it is "real plasma harvested from the wings of the Space Shuttle as it lands" in the TV (told by Rick Mercer's character) and is subsequently scared sh!tless of the TV.

[Dark Primus]

I remember "Yesterday's Enterprise" In the other reality Will Riker was thrown away and killed by a console explosion, like someone had hidden a grenade under the console to kill him.

[Patrick Degan]

In the whole of TOS, there were only four instances of "exploding" consoles, and none of them actually qualified as an explosion but more like a typical electrical overload and fire which is suppressed as soon as a breaker is tripped. The console bursts in "Where No Man Has Gone Before" were about the most dramatic ones seen, and even then, you see that its just an electrical fire more than anything else. When Nomad overloaded Spock's bridge computer in "The Changeling", Spock was able to cut off the damaged unit himself and all we see is some flashing from the reader unit.

The first actual fatal exploding consoles are seen in Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan and from there did that Trek brain bug grow into an enormous intelligence-sucking tick which feeds off the ever shrinking audience to this day.

[Darth Wong]

but o mr Wong, i have, Watch "Enemy Mine" at the beginning as Dennis Quaid and the crewman fight the drac ship (A drac was the reptilian lizard in the flick) and watch as the ship takes a hit, and the console on the side were the crewman was exploded and threw shrapnel in his face.

Was that a fighter? Because in a fighter, the cockpit is so close to the hull of the ship that serious damage to the ship could very easily kill both the pilot AND the console at once. In other words, A causes B and C rather than B causing C.

That's a lot different from being inside a big room where the room has suffered no structural damage at all, but damage to some remote part of the ship makes a console explode like a bomb.

[Robert Treder]

but o mr Wong, i have, Watch "Enemy Mine" at the beginning as Dennis Quaid and the crewman fight the drac ship (A drac was the reptilian lizard in the flick) and watch as the ship takes a hit, and the console on the side were the crewman was exploded and threw shrapnel in his face.

Was that a fighter? Because in a fighter, the cockpit is so close to the hull of the ship that serious damage to the ship could very easily kill both the pilot AND the console at once. In other words, A causes B and C rather than B causing C.

That's a lot different from being inside a big room where the room has suffered no structural damage at all, but damage to some remote part of the ship makes a console explode like a bomb.

Yeah. The analogy I always think of is this: If someone were to hit your house's fusebox with an axe, would your computer monitor blow up? I hope not. But that's essentially what's happening with sci-fi console explosions.

[Enlightenment]

Yeah. The analogy I always think of is this: If someone were to hit your house's fusebox with an axe, would your computer monitor blow up? I hope not. But that's essentially what's happening with sci-fi console explosions.

Unless the ship took damage to its power systems its much worse than that. Bridge consoles are basically data repeaters. If one of them explodes it'd be more like someone taking an axe to the phone company switching gear and your monitor exploding. Or one computer on a LAN getting blown up and all the other computers exploding in sympathy.

[Dennis Toy]

yep it was a fighter and come to think of it, your right.