Shared technology base?

[Lighthawk]

Has anyone else ever wondered why so many major and minor species in trek all seem to use the exact same technology, save for minor tweaks?

Everyone uses warp, and seemingly the same warp speedometer
Everyone has artifical gravity, all of which seems to be set to earth standard
Everyone uses phasers or disruptors and anti-matter torpedos, and aside from the Klingon bird-of-prey and DS9, all energy weapons discharge from strips or ports on/in the hull. Likewise all torpedoes get shot out of holes.
Everyone has shields, which are always deployed as a bubble around the ship
Everyone has transporters, that all seem to work the same except for the color of transporter beam
By DS9, everyone seemed to have replicators and holo-decks
Everyone uses a matter/anti-matter reactor except for the Romulans
Everyone's personal sidearms are just mini versions of whatever their ship uses
Everyone uses touch screen control panels by TNG

[stitch626]

I agree with all except for:

Likewise all torpedoes get shot out of holes.

How else would you fire an object that is, by definition, cylindrical? For that matter, how else would you fire any projectile? THis one makes sense that it would be similar across species.

[Tyyr]

Why not pods stored on the outside? Maybe some kind of rail launching system.

P.S. Nothing says torpedos are cylindrical. Hell, every photon torpedo we've seen in the show isn't.

[Sionnach Glic]

Everyone uses warp, and seemingly the same warp speedometer

What else would they use? It seems to be the fastest FTL drive that anyone in the AQ has developed. Thus it makes sense for everyone to be using it.

Everyone has artifical gravity, all of which seems to be set to earth standard

I'd say that that's more to do with the fact that virtualy every species is just a human with slight variation than a technological issue. But in general I agree that it's stupid.

Everyone uses phasers or disruptors [...]

You've just named two different types of energy weapons that are in use. And then there's the phased polaron beam that the Dominion used. And then we've seen lasers used on a few occasions. And then the Tholians appear to use something completely different. I'd disagree that there's a lack of variation in weapons tech. At least, when it comes to energy weapons.

and anti-matter torpedos,

Aye, everyone using photorps seems dumb. Though it's easy enough to rationalise if you assume that photorps were simply the most powerful torps around until the UFP started constructing Qtorps.

all energy weapons discharge from strips or ports on/in the hull. Likewise all torpedoes get shot out of holes.

I agree on the energy weapons bit. There are a few different possibilities that could be used. Dish-style weapons, long rods that channel the beam, or just good old-fashioned turrets.

With regards to the torps, however, I really don't see many alternatives. I suppose you could shove them on external racks, allowing the capability of firing off a massive salvo of torps at once, but maintanence would be a bitch and they'd be vulnerable to enemy fire (and given how good the average Trek failsafe seems to be, I don't think I'd like a few dozen explosive devices strapped to my hull).

Everyone has shields, which are always deployed as a bubble around the ship

Aye, I'd like to see some variation in that. Hull-hugging shields would be a nice change.

Everyone has transporters, that all seem to work the same except for the color of transporter beam

What's odd with them all having transporters? The only alternative that we've seen would be to not have them. Given that most races we've seen have been in space for a good while, I don't find it surprising that they've all gained what seems to be a fairly easy bit of tech to create.

I think a better question would be why isn't every transporter beam the same colour? Why are they all colour-coded for each government? Can you get little packets of transporter-dye that you just slot into the transporter pad?

By DS9, everyone seemed to have replicators and holo-decks

Like the transporters, they seem fairly easy to create. Even the TOS Federation had devices that were quite like replicators. Given that I can't see governments forbidding the sale of such tech to foreign powers, it's not surprising that all races we've seen have them. If they can't build them themselves, they could just buy them.

Everyone uses a matter/anti-matter reactor except for the Romulans

Yeah, that's an odd one. I guess you could say that M/AM is just the best form of power generation available, with the Romulan's method not yielding enough extra power to justify R&D in that field amongst the other races.

Everyone's personal sidearms are just mini versions of whatever their ship uses

That I'm in agreement with. Just once, I'd like to see a race that broke out the machine guns and RPGs when heading down to a planet.

Everyone uses touch screen control panels by TNG

That one I'm certainly in agreement with. Particularly when you consider that an ergonomic panel with switches and buttons would be prefferable to a touch-screen.

[Lighthawk]

I agree with all except for:

Likewise all torpedoes get shot out of holes.

How else would you fire an object that is, by definition, cylindrical? For that matter, how else would you fire any projectile? THis one makes sense that it would be similar across species.

I guess what I'm getting at is that every species seems to feel the need to cram the entirey of the torpedo launcher inside the ship.

[Lighthawk]

Everyone uses warp, and seemingly the same warp speedometer

What else would they use? It seems to be the fastest FTL drive that anyone in the AQ has developed. Thus it makes sense for everyone to be using it.

Granted, it is the FTL of the series. Still, it's that everyone's warp drive seems indentical to everyone elses.

Everyone has artifical gravity, all of which seems to be set to earth standard

I'd say that that's more to do with the fact that virtualy every species is just a human with slight variation than a technological issue. But in general I agree that it's stupid.

Yeah. I would have loved it if they had made the actors move even slightly differently while on alien ships. Act sluggish and walk heavy and slow for example to show they were under a higher gravity than normal for example.

Everyone uses phasers or disruptors [...]

You've just named two different types of energy weapons that are in use. And then there's the phased polaron beam that the Dominion used.

True, but they did come from a different quadrent of the galaxy.

And then we've seen lasers used on a few occasions.

Yes, but only by species with inferior tech. When a species reaches the general area of adavancement of the federation, they've long given up laser weapons.

And then the Tholians appear to use something completely different. I'd disagree that there's a lack of variation in weapons tech. At least, when it comes to energy weapons.

Well I haven't seen any episodes with the Tholians, so I will conceed that point.

and anti-matter torpedos,

Aye, everyone using photorps seems dumb. Though it's easy enough to rationalise if you assume that photorps were simply the most powerful torps around until the UFP started constructing Qtorps.

You can, though it still strikes me as odd that everyone's torps seem virtual identical to everyone elses.

all energy weapons discharge from strips or ports on/in the hull. Likewise all torpedoes get shot out of holes.

I agree on the energy weapons bit. There are a few different possibilities that could be used. Dish-style weapons, long rods that channel the beam, or just good old-fashioned turrets.

That would have been nice, even if it was just for flavor.

With regards to the torps, however, I really don't see many alternatives. I suppose you could shove them on external racks, allowing the capability of firing off a massive salvo of torps at once, but maintanence would be a bitch and they'd be vulnerable to enemy fire (and given how good the average Trek failsafe seems to be, I don't think I'd like a few dozen explosive devices strapped to my hull).

Fair points, but like I pointed out to stitch, it was more a matter of everyone cramming the entire launcher inside the ship.

Everyone has shields, which are always deployed as a bubble around the ship

Aye, I'd like to see some variation in that. Hull-hugging shields would be a nice change.

Or maybe some nice angular shielding like the borg drones had originally.

Everyone has transporters, that all seem to work the same except for the color of transporter beam

What's odd with them all having transporters? The only alternative that we've seen would be to not have them. Given that most races we've seen have been in space for a good while, I don't find it surprising that they've all gained what seems to be a fairly easy bit of tech to create.

But they all seem to be exactly the same, the same limits, the same ranges, the same time to transport, hell even the same design to the pads themselves save artistic deviation on the outer casing.

I think a better question would be why isn't every transporter beam the same colour? Why are they all colour-coded for each government? Can you get little packets of transporter-dye that you just slot into the transporter pad?

It is an odd thing.

By DS9, everyone seemed to have replicators and holo-decks

Like the transporters, they seem fairly easy to create. Even the TOS Federation had devices that were quite like replicators. Given that I can't see governments forbidding the sale of such tech to foreign powers, it's not surprising that all races we've seen have them. If they can't build them themselves, they could just buy them.

I guess so.

Everyone uses a matter/anti-matter reactor except for the Romulans

Yeah, that's an odd one. I guess you could say that M/AM is just the best form of power generation available, with the Romulan's method not yielding enough extra power to justify R&D in that field amongst the other races.

Just cause it's the best doesn't mean everyone will have it. Nuclear power is the best power source we have right now, but you can hardly say that everyone uses it.

Everyone's personal sidearms are just mini versions of whatever their ship uses

That I'm in agreement with. Just once, I'd like to see a race that broke out the machine guns and RPGs when heading down to a planet.

Definately.

Everyone uses touch screen control panels by TNG

That one I'm certainly in agreement with. Particularly when you consider that an ergonomic panel with switches and buttons would be prefferable to a touch-screen.

Especially in a battle, with the ship jumping around under you, imagine trying to hit a bunch of dancing lights without accidently hitting a half dozen other controls.

[Mikey]

Everyone uses warp, and seemingly the same warp speedometer

I think that's more of a naming convention than anything else; i.e., all FTL travel is called "warp," and the same scale is used based either on common interaction or a translation mechanism.

Everyone has artifical gravity, all of which seems to be set to earth standard

Like Sionnach said, that seems to be more a function of every alien race being humans with funny foreheads or noses. The fact of having AG itself seems to be almost necessary for extended space travel.

Everyone uses phasers or disruptors and anti-matter torpedos, and aside from the Klingon bird-of-prey and DS9, all energy weapons discharge from strips or ports on/in the hull. Likewise all torpedoes get shot out of holes.

As has been said, there is some variation in types of directed-energy weapons. As to the fact that everything is discharged from some sort of emitter... where else could you shoot from? As to this:

I guess what I'm getting at is that every species seems to feel the need to cram the entirey of the torpedo launcher inside the ship.

That seems to be more a matter of common-sense survivability and maintenance of the components.

Everyone has shields, which are always deployed as a bubble around the ship

We've seen conformal shields before. The UFP, at least, seems to be able to choose the shape of their shields. As to the across-the-board presence of shields, I agree - while I don't recall ever hearing that identical technology is used in different species' shields, it does seem odd that everyone has them.

Everyone has transporters, that all seem to work the same except for the color of transporter beam

By DS9, everyone seemed to have replicators and holo-decks

See my last comment. Agreed on these.

Everyone uses a matter/anti-matter reactor except for the Romulans

Everyone uses touch screen control panels by TNG

These could just be matters of convergent evolution; i.e., different species arrived separately at the same conclusion as to what works best.

Everyone's personal sidearms are just mini versions of whatever their ship uses

That just makes sense to me. Why wouldn't there be a commonality of technology within the same species? The USS Iowa used weapons on the same principle as the M1, just writ large.

[Lighthawk]

Everyone uses warp, and seemingly the same warp speedometer

I think that's more of a naming convention than anything else; i.e., all FTL travel is called "warp," and the same scale is used based either on common interaction or a translation mechanism.

Is it? Aside from Borg transwarp, have we seen another race, aside from some uber species of the week, use something other than warp drive?

Everyone has artifical gravity, all of which seems to be set to earth standard

Like Sionnach said, that seems to be more a function of every alien race being humans with funny foreheads or noses. The fact of having AG itself seems to be almost necessary for extended space travel.

For humans yes, as we suffer a range of health issues from extended zero g. Of course, as pointed out, nearly all aliens are just modified humans really, so I suppose they probably have the same issues. You know what would have been interesting though, an alien race that didn't do AG the exact same way as everyone else, which seems to be gravity plating under the floors.

I find it odd that all ships seem to be built the way modern ships are, with levels stacked one on top of each other as if they needed to be concerned about gravity coming from a single direction. Why not build a ship in which the layers wrapped around a center cyclinder? Then you could just put a gravity generator at the core of the ship, and have everything pulled inward. Why all the concern to make there be a clear top and bottom to the ship?

Everyone uses phasers or disruptors and anti-matter torpedos, and aside from the Klingon bird-of-prey and DS9, all energy weapons discharge from strips or ports on/in the hull. Likewise all torpedoes get shot out of holes.

As has been said, there is some variation in types of directed-energy weapons. As to the fact that everything is discharged from some sort of emitter... where else could you shoot from? As to this:

It's not that it's some sort of emitter, it's that there only seem to be two types of emitters in trek, a strip or a hole. Again, trek seems to want to cram every inch of their weapons inside their ship's hull. Compare to B5 and Wars, both of which have turrets and exterior weapon barrels.

I guess what I'm getting at is that every species seems to feel the need to cram the entirey of the torpedo launcher inside the ship.

That seems to be more a matter of common-sense survivability and maintenance of the components.

And every single species through the galaxy has that same mind set? Hell, even among our own race, just because something might be common sense doesn't mean it'll be the case.

Everyone has shields, which are always deployed as a bubble around the ship

We've seen conformal shields before.

When? Really, cause I don't recall.

The UFP, at least, seems to be able to choose the shape of their shields. As to the across-the-board presence of shields, I agree - while I don't recall ever hearing that identical technology is used in different species' shields, it does seem odd that everyone has them.

True, I can't say for certain that all shields work the same on a technical level, but on a results level they all seem the same. All shields seem to be able to block physical matter and energy, are invisible to the naked eye unless struck, block transporters, ect...

Everyone has transporters, that all seem to work the same except for the color of transporter beam

By DS9, everyone seemed to have replicators and holo-decks

See my last comment. Agreed on these.

Everyone uses a matter/anti-matter reactor except for the Romulans

Everyone uses touch screen control panels by TNG

These could just be matters of convergent evolution; i.e., different species arrived separately at the same conclusion as to what works best.

It could, but that just seems so iffy to me. Plus still, shouldn't there be some gap in the time it takes different speices to independantly reach the same comclusion? Would it really have been series changing to have the carddies still using fusion powerplants? To have klingons working joysticks and knobs?

Everyone's personal sidearms are just mini versions of whatever their ship uses

That just makes sense to me. Why wouldn't there be a commonality of technology within the same species? The USS Iowa used weapons on the same principle as the M1, just writ large.

The difference is that a modern warship, or tank's, cannon, while using the same basic priniciple as a firearm (an explosion propelling a solid round down a rifled barrel), is not just a copy n paste version of a rifle on a larger scale. A ship's phaser and a hand phaser are virtually identical save for their casing and relative size. The phaser beam of a ship is just a larger version of a hand phaser beam. A bullet and a cannon shell, while certainly similiar, are not nearly so identical.

Hell they are so identical, they don't even bother to differentiate between them. A beam from either is called a phaser beam. A gun and a cannon however fire bullets and shells, respectively.

[Captain Seafort]

Is it? Aside from Borg transwarp, have we seen another race, aside from some uber species of the week, use something other than warp drive?

Aside from *long list of exceptions*? There's your answer - there are plenty of alternatives.

We've seen conformal shields before.

When? Really, cause I don't recall.

TOS and the TOS movies (STVI is a particularly good example).

True, I can't say for certain that all shields work the same on a technical level, but on a results level they all seem the same. All shields seem to be able to block physical matter and energy, are invisible to the naked eye unless struck, block transporters, ect...

If they didn't they they'd be pretty useless.

It could, but that just seems so iffy to me. Plus still, shouldn't there be some gap in the time it takes different speices to independantly reach the same comclusion? Would it really have been series changing to have the carddies still using fusion powerplants? To have klingons working joysticks and knobs?

The Cardies do use fusion powerplants (at least DS9 does).

Tactile controls are in many ways better than what the Feds have, and are a matter of ergonomics, not technology. We could use them if we wanted to (and do, in the case od modern mobile phones).

The difference is that a modern warship, or tank's, cannon, while using the same basic priniciple as a firearm (an explosion propelling a solid round down a rifled barrel), is not just a copy n paste version of a rifle on a larger scale.

To all intents and purposes that is a cut-and-paste. Modern warship heavy guns are belt-fed, the same as machine guns, and the reason small arms don't use explosive charges is because of international treaties banning them, not technology. Indeed modern anti-tank rounds are KE weapons, not CE.

[Lighthawk]

Is it? Aside from Borg transwarp, have we seen another race, aside from some uber species of the week, use something other than warp drive?

Aside from *long list of exceptions*? There's your answer - there are plenty of alternatives.

If you're Super Species X, then yes. If you're just Race Joe Shmoe though, you warp.

We've seen conformal shields before.

When? Really, cause I don't recall.

TOS and the TOS movies (STVI is a particularly good example).

I'll have to go rewatch. After TOS though?

True, I can't say for certain that all shields work the same on a technical level, but on a results level they all seem the same. All shields seem to be able to block physical matter and energy, are invisible to the naked eye unless struck, block transporters, ect...

If they didn't they they'd be pretty useless.

Really? So if you had a shield generator that didn't, for example, block transporters, you'd call the whole thing uselss, even if it blocked energy and physical weapons, and rather go without it at all? That's what I'm getting at, how come every speices' shields have all the same capabilities as everyone elses?

It could, but that just seems so iffy to me. Plus still, shouldn't there be some gap in the time it takes different speices to independantly reach the same comclusion? Would it really have been series changing to have the carddies still using fusion powerplants? To have klingons working joysticks and knobs?

The Cardies do use fusion powerplants (at least DS9 does).

Well color me surprised.

Tactile controls are in many ways better than what the Feds have, and are a matter of ergonomics, not technology. We could use them if we wanted to (and do, in the case od modern mobile phones).

The difference is that a modern warship, or tank's, cannon, while using the same basic priniciple as a firearm (an explosion propelling a solid round down a rifled barrel), is not just a copy n paste version of a rifle on a larger scale.

To all intents and purposes that is a cut-and-paste. Modern warship heavy guns are belt-fed, the same as machine guns, and the reason small arms don't use explosive charges is because of international treaties banning them, not technology. Indeed modern anti-tank rounds are KE weapons, not CE.

Well I can't proffess myself a weapon's expert, so...

But still, a gun and a cannon at least manage to have a different feel about them when fired. I guess that's what really gets me, they used the exact same visual and audio effect for the ship phasers as they did for the hand phasers. Would it have been too much to ask for some variation, something to really get the proper feel across that one of these weapons is several thousand times more powerful than the other?

[Sionnach Glic]

Granted, it is the FTL of the series. Still, it's that everyone's warp drive seems indentical to everyone elses.

We don't really know that it is. All we know is that most of them use warp drive. The speed and effeciency of each species' drives are all mysteries.

True, but they did come from a different quadrent of the galaxy.

Fair point.

Yes, but only by species with inferior tech. When a species reaches the general area of adavancement of the federation, they've long given up laser weapons.

And that very reason is probably why we've not seen much diversity amongst the "main" powers of the AQ. It seems that the next level up in terms of weapons tech is either disruptor weaponary or phasers. Why some species use one and not the other is unknown, though presumably there are trade-offs for each system which lead governments to favour one or the other.

You can, though it still strikes me as odd that everyone's torps seem virtual identical to everyone elses.

Why wouldn't they? If photorps are the most powerful weapons available, why not use them? Presumably everyone'll be using Qtorps once the other major powers start either designing their own or capture working models.

Fair points, but like I pointed out to stitch, it was more a matter of everyone cramming the entire launcher inside the ship.

It makes sense to me. If I were designing a weapon then I'd have the bulk of the machinery inside the ship to allow ease of maintanence and extra protection. It's a logical position.

But they all seem to be exactly the same, the same limits, the same ranges, the same time to transport, hell even the same design to the pads themselves save artistic deviation on the outer casing.

If they're based on the same principles then they should have such similarities. Maybe that's as fast and as far as they can transport something. And mabe the design is a requirement of the system (though personaly I too would have liked some different designs).

Just cause it's the best doesn't mean everyone will have it. Nuclear power is the best power source we have right now, but you can hardly say that everyone uses it.

True enough, but the lack of nuclear power plants is primarily due to idiots opposing it due to thinking every reactor is a Chernobyll waiting to happen. If that pressure wasn't there, every nation with the capability to do so would be building nuke plants.

In Trek, the tech they use needs an insane amount of power. It's possible that the next step up from nuclear power is M/AM power. That step up is so big that any pressure from fringe idiot groups would likely be ignored. Nowadays we have alternatives to nuclear power plants when it comes to powering a city. But if you need to send a kilometre-long starship at thousands of times the speed of light while also maintaining weapons, shields and FTL comms and sensors, I doubt you've got much alternatives to M/AM. In Trek, any opposition to M/AM power would likely have been overruled due to pragmatism.

Especially in a battle, with the ship jumping around under you, imagine trying to hit a bunch of dancing lights without accidently hitting a half dozen other controls.

Not to mention response times, particularly for the helmsman. Which is quicker; typing on a keyboard or yanking back a joystick?

[Captain Seafort]

If you're Super Species X, then yes. If you're just Race Joe Shmoe though, you warp.

And if you're super species X on Earth you use the internal combustion engine or various types of steam power. If you're not, you walk.

I'll have to go rewatch. After TOS though?

DS9 and Nemesis.

Really? So if you had a shield generator that didn't, for example, block transporters, you'd call the whole thing uselss, even if it blocked energy and physical weapons, and rather go without it at all? That's what I'm getting at, how come every speices' shields have all the same capabilities as everyone elses?

I wouldn't rather go without, but I would be at an insane disadvantage, because everyone else would be able to board my ship at will. It's the equivalent of an army having no air defence - they loose very quickly anyone with half-decent ground attack aircraft.

But still, a gun and a cannon at least manage to have a different feel about them when fired. I guess that's what really gets me, they used the exact same visual and audio effect for the ship phasers as they did for the hand phasers. Would it have been too much to ask for some variation, something to really get the proper feel across that one of these weapons is several thousand times more powerful than the other?

The only difference between small arms and artillery is one of scale - one jerks the firer's arms slightly, the other recoils several feet. One produces an almost invisible puff of smoke, the other produces clouds. They're still basically the same.

[Graham Kennedy]

Has anyone else ever wondered why so many major and minor species in trek all seem to use the exact same technology, save for minor tweaks?

Everyone uses warp, and seemingly the same warp speedometer
Everyone has artifical gravity, all of which seems to be set to earth standard
Everyone uses phasers or disruptors and anti-matter torpedos, and aside from the Klingon bird-of-prey and DS9, all energy weapons discharge from strips or ports on/in the hull. Likewise all torpedoes get shot out of holes.
Everyone has shields, which are always deployed as a bubble around the ship
Everyone has transporters, that all seem to work the same except for the color of transporter beam
By DS9, everyone seemed to have replicators and holo-decks
Everyone uses a matter/anti-matter reactor except for the Romulans
Everyone's personal sidearms are just mini versions of whatever their ship uses
Everyone uses touch screen control panels by TNG

Much of it I just chalk up as "best solution". Today all surface warships use propellors, most use some sort of turbine engine to power them, all of them use chemical explosive projectile weapons, most with missiles, many with torpedoes, and most of them are just variations on a theme. Inside most of them display information on CRT or LCD screens, and use switches and buttons and such to control them.

True there is variation, like nuclear power and such. But then Romulans use quantum singularities not matter/antimatter, and phasers and disrupters seem to represent two different schools of beam weapon. Then there are photons, but there are also plasma torps, quantum torps and tricobalt torps in widespread use, and isolytic subspace warheads which are used by at least some.

In hull form there is huge variation. From Borg cubes to Federation ships to Klingon, Romulan and such, we see FAR more diversity in Trek ships than we do in ships today.

Overall I don't mind it. I mind far, far more that these systems have now been in use almost unchanged for 300 years.

[Sonic Glitch]

Everyone uses warp, and seemingly the same warp speedometer

What else would they use? It seems to be the fastest FTL drive that anyone in the AQ has developed. Thus it makes sense for everyone to be using it.

Granted, it is the FTL of the series. Still, it's that everyone's warp drive seems indentical to everyone elses.

By that logic, internal combustion engines should vary from country to country depending on where and when it was invented. If the principles are the same, we can probably expect the machinery to be the same

Everyone has artifical gravity, all of which seems to be set to earth standard

Yeah. I would have loved it if they had made the actors move even slightly differently while on alien ships. Act sluggish and walk heavy and slow for example to show they were under a higher gravity than normal for example.

OOU That's a lack of forethought on the producer/directors parts, IU we could assume that all planets which support sentient space-faring life are Earth-Like and as such would have similar masses leading to similar gravities...

and anti-matter torpedos,

Aye, everyone using photorps seems dumb. Though it's easy enough to rationalise if you assume that photorps were simply the most powerful torps around until the UFP started constructing Qtorps.

You can, though it still strikes me as odd that everyone's torps seem virtual identical to everyone elses.[/quote]
A bullet is a bullet is a bullet isn't it?

Everyone has shields, which are always deployed as a bubble around the ship

Aye, I'd like to see some variation in that. Hull-hugging shields would be a nice change.

[/quote]

We do start to see conformal-shields later (*cough* Nemesis *cough* -- and/or TUC)

Everyone uses a matter/anti-matter reactor except for the Romulans

Yeah, that's an odd one. I guess you could say that M/AM is just the best form of power generation available, with the Romulan's method not yielding enough extra power to justify R&D in that field amongst the other races.

Just cause it's the best doesn't mean everyone will have it. Nuclear power is the best power source we have right now, but you can hardly say that everyone uses it. [/quote]

Just because everyone doesn't use it currently doesn't mean it won't become near-universal in the future. As for the Romulans, it may not be that there's significant power issues, but that they're the only ones to make a quantum singularity (mini blackhole) based power system work. The Feds may not want to risk trying it.

[Coalition]

Has anyone else ever wondered why so many major and minor species in trek all seem to use the exact same technology, save for minor tweaks?

Everyone uses warp, and seemingly the same warp speedometer
Everyone has artifical gravity, all of which seems to be set to earth standard
Everyone uses phasers or disruptors and anti-matter torpedos, and aside from the Klingon bird-of-prey and DS9, all energy weapons discharge from strips or ports on/in the hull. Likewise all torpedoes get shot out of holes.
Everyone has shields, which are always deployed as a bubble around the ship
Everyone has transporters, that all seem to work the same except for the color of transporter beam
By DS9, everyone seemed to have replicators and holo-decks
Everyone uses a matter/anti-matter reactor except for the Romulans
Everyone's personal sidearms are just mini versions of whatever their ship uses
Everyone uses touch screen control panels by TNG

I figure the Ferengi are going around, selling technology to different races, and serving as a 'balancing' factor. So a race can spend several decades and tens of trillions of credits trying to develop a new FTL system (that may or may not work), or a few years and a few hundred billion to reverse engineer warp cores (that work, and are supported by other empires, so you can have an easier time finding spares).

Enterprise could have had a fun episode about this, where the Vulcans (or another race) mention they sent off Von Neuman probes that contain a basic warp core and self-replication instructions. So every race can explore their star system, find a basic warp core, and reverse engineer it.

For torps launched from inside the ship, I'd see it as an attempt to protect the vulnerable launcher mechanism (it is loading antimatter, I don't want that getting messed up) from enemy fire. For beam weapons, I'd see it as every race choosing what suits their 'attitude' best, and specializing. The Federation uses phasers because they offer a lot of flexibility (cue all the episodes where they have been used from space surgery, to drilling, and shooting), while other races might simply go with an energy weapon (laser, EM bolts, forced plasma, etc).

As to the antimatter vs singularity power source, I'd see it as antimatter providing high power density, at the need for an extensive support and maintenance supply train. A Quantum singularity might not be able to ramp up power as fast (they have to carefully meter the mass being dumped in, vs energy released countering the flow), but the fact that you can use anything as fuel gives Romulan ships far more options for refuelling.