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Wouldn't blowing up also render the console inoperative? I would think safely shutting down would be preferable to exploding if the end result is still a dead console.
Depends on your proximity to Scotty/LaForge/O'Brien
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That's true. In modern times if your phone or tablet touchscreen breaks with enough explosive force to knock you over and require medical intervention, that phone or tablet is toast and probably won't work ever again.
On Star Trek, after a console explodes, the person who was using it is helped away and someone just slips into their seat and keeps using that same console without issue. Maybe the downside to extremely robust electronics is that they're prone to explosions. Like, you get the world's most robust, bulletproof mechanical keyboard, but the downside is that it requires a 240v high-power power supply. For... reasons.
This is one of the better explanations for the exploding consoles I've seen. It still doesn't justify them, but at least it's something.
The main issue is that there's no reason that consoles should explode. These are effectively touchscreens. If you push a touchscreen beyond its operational parameters, it should glitch, it should have trouble recognizing inputs, but it shouldn't blow up. If it was pushed beyond what was safe it should either break or be annoying to use. Not dangerous.
Even with 21st century technology, a touch-screen type thing basically sips power. Smart phones can sometimes explode, but that's only because they contain a relatively huge battery. These things are hooked into the ship's power so they should only be drawing a few watts.
Still, if we combine your suggestion about battleshorts with the idea that for some ridiculous reason they run everything on the ship on plasma that comes directly from the warp core, then maybe...
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As an Other Place fan whose experience with trying to befriend Star Trek fans IRL has hit the tragic third - thank you for being reasonable. I've met some people pretending that the Other Place is "space wizards for children", while Star Trek is "real science fiction". While in fact they're the same - for most part space magic and for the select few areas, yes, real science fiction.
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Sure, but that explanation isn't interesting.
I saw someone once theorize that the console designers knew their creations would get dumped with tons of heat and current under battleshort conditions, and had to come up with some fallbacks. So they just filled it with a ton of mass to soak it up as long as possible, a big hunk of basalt. Unfortunately, when it gets overloaded, it tends to explosively fracture. But that's better than cooking every ensign to touch a panel when under fire
would get dumped with tons of heat and current under battleshort conditions
But, why? If it were part of the engine, or a pump, or a transformer, or something that requires a lot of power that would be one thing. But, there's no reason that the consoles should be part of a circuit that draws a lot of power or heat or anything.
Filling it full of rocks makes sense if soaking power was an issue, but this is just a basic UI element.
Ok, how about this: it's critical that consoles like security, navigation, steering, etc. always be available. Because of that, they can't risk any downtime in a battle, so they need to be able to self-repair. Their solution to this is to embed replicator technology into each console, so that any damage can be instantly fixed. Unfortunately, replicators need to be able to draw huge amounts of power / energy, which means the consoles need access to a lot of power. That's why when they get damaged there can be a big explosion, but also why they're never broken in those explosions. They self-repair so that someone can take over the console and immediately start using it again. Maybe it also explains the rocks -- raw material for the replicators to use when repairing.
This is a really great comment and I learned something today!