technology - Has technological progress stopped or reached a peak in the Star Wars universe?

In the last 30 years, human technology has developed massively. Every year a new smartphone is released with a faster processor, more memory, better features.

Why hasn't the same level of progress happened in the Star Wars universe?

In The Phantom Menace, we see a number of droids - R2 units, C-3PO, Pit Droids, etc. In Return of the Jedi - the droids we see pretty much have the same capabilities.

I would have thought that technology would still be progressing in the Star Wars universe - but it appears to have stopped.

During wars on Earth, our technology capabilities grow - so it can't just be the effect of a massive war which is causing the stagnation of development.

So, what gives?

Answer

I'm no Star Wars expert, so I could be WAY off base; but it seems pretty straightforward to me that this is not (and hasn't been for a very, very long time) a society that values the advancement of technology. The fact that they HAVE (from our perspective) advanced technology does not mean they value it.

I view it as being analogous to our so-called Dark Ages in history, where innovation occurred at a very slow pace (again, from our modern perspective). During this time, "innovation" was not really recognized or valued at a cultural scale, as it is today; rather, all that mattered was survival (and if you had the chops for it, conquest).

Similarly, most of the Star Wars universe seems to have a Dark Ages or "frontier" element to it -- and not in the "brave new frontier" sort of way so much as the "untamed wilderness" sort of way. Until the Empire, the "republic" is a loose confederation of sovereigns; in practice, everything feels pretty ad hoc. Most of these have different variations of the so-called "advanced" technology -- but how long have the same fundamental technologies existed? Millennia, it would seem. Occasionally someone tweaked a concept here or there -- for practical purposes, mind you, but not for the sake of pursuing knowledge or innovation for it's own sake.

Are there scientists in the Star Wars universe? Probably, but I've never heard of one. Are there career inventors? Surely, but none so famous as Anakin -- who, if we're being honest, was merely a clever tinkerer.

So considering these notions, I think it's safe to say that the Star Wars universe was in a pretty unenlightened state for long time before the Empire came about. Not that I want to give props to the Emperor and his cronies, but hey -- no one else thought of building a moon-sized space station with planet-busting capabilities. And I hear they have cookies.