But that’s not what they’re doing. Whenever Troi asks for a scoop of chocolate ice cream, there isn’t some ship gremlin pulling the Sundae out of storage and duplicating it every time.
Sure, they could easily get the design file (“pattern”,) by stuffing it in a replicator and reversing the process…. But there’s really no reason that’s necessary unless you really wanted a copy of the Mona Lisa or some bit of tech you didn’t really understand.
Once you have the pattern, and they could use any number of workflows to get it- “computer, design me a stuffy to look like that character in the holonovel that kid loves” or through a proper design flow in the holodeck.
(Actually… one has to wonder, why they didn’t design shuttles to be replicated. They blew up enough of them…)
But that’s not what they’re doing. Whenever Troi asks for a scoop of chocolate ice cream, there isn’t some ship gremlin pulling the Sundae out of storage and duplicating it every time.
Sure, they could easily get the design file (“pattern”,) by stuffing it in a replicator and reversing the process…. But there’s really no reason that’s necessary unless you really wanted a copy of the Mona Lisa or some bit of tech you didn’t really understand.
Once you have the pattern, and they could use any number of workflows to get it- “computer, design me a stuffy to look like that character in the holonovel that kid loves” or through a proper design flow in the holodeck.
(Actually… one has to wonder, why they didn’t design shuttles to be replicated. They blew up enough of them…)
Well, we don’t get to see the patterns being created. When we see replicators they were supposed to be standard appliances for decades.
But they were mainly aimed at food, and people don’t design food in a CAD.