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alien franchise - Why is Nostromo's technology so... 1980s?


"Prometheus" is meant to be a prequel to "Alien", happening 30 years before (src).


If that's the case, how come one of the very earliest spaceships, Prometheus from 2089, has a spiffy new technology, while Nostromo has antique text based CRTs, mechanical IBM style keyboards, and all the associated technologies screaming "1980s called, and they want their IBM PC back!" ?


The great visuals of this can be seen in this Youtube Video here (ignore the russian voice-over - the guy is a movie critic who is complaining pretty much of the same discrepancy listed above).


Please note that I'm looking ONLY for in-universe answers (movies, scripts, explanations from creative team). I'm utterly un-interested in the obvious out of universe "well, for 1979 Alien film, 1980s technologies was the future, and 2012 movie is expected to look futuristic in 2012, duh" or speculations that make sense but aren't confirmed in canon.







And for those who don't believe me... to quote the immortal quip from Men in Black 2:


Old and busted:


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New hotness:


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Answer



Firstly, Nostromo was constructed in 2101, only 12 years after Prometheus.


Secondly, not all types of vehicles have the same level of UI polish. Generally, military and industrial vehicles/systems tend to look a bit dated compared to the latest consumer vehicles/products.


Here's a cutting edge F-35 cockpit: F35 cockpit with physical buttons and dials typical of military cockpits


Here's the Eurofighter, which is about ten years older: A Eurofighter cockpit with similar green monochrome displays and physical dials/buttons


Here's an oil refinery's control center: Modern oil refinery control center with grids of lights and buttons in front of the controller


The Nostromo, by the time of Alien, was an old freighter hauling along a massive ore refinery. So the appearance of its computer interfaces isn't that surprising.


So why does the USCSS Prometheus look the way it does? Well, it was the most advanced/expensive starship of its day, whose mission was of much greater importance to Weyland Industries than Nostromo's was to Weyland-Yutani. It's a bit like comparing a corporate jet or Airforce One with a freight plane, or perhaps an industrial warehouse or factory to a state of the art science or technology center.



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