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No Backwards Compatibility in the Future: Difference between revisions

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No Backwards Compatibility in the Future (view source)

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== [[Live Action Television]] ==
* The episode ''The Neutral Zone'' of ''[[Star Trek: theThe Next Generation]]'' had a very strange aversion to this: The crew found an old Cryogenics pod from the 21st century, and Data was able to download and decode the entire pod's database (which looked like it used old tape wheels) onto his tricorder just by scanning the thing. (not quite Plug 'n' Play, as there was no attempt at interfacing involved. Just a scan and presto, all the info conveniently downloaded, when realistically speaking, the pod's computer would be too slow to display all its information that quickly)
** If it ''is'' (well-preserved!) magnetic tape, it's not too farfetched to think the tricorder could theoretically read the orientation of the particles on each tape layer rapidly, similar to how a [[wikipedia:Laser turntable|laser turntable]] can read a record without a needle (in fact, preserving vinyl records is what that's ''for'').
*** Or even badly preserved tapes. There was a case where the flight data recorder tape from a plane crash was too badly damaged by the fire to be replayed. They got the data off it by having people painstakingly examine it with microscopes, and read the ones and zeros off it, at a rate of about 1 second's worth of tape a day.
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== [[Western Animation]] ==
* ''[[South Park]]'' has the episode where Cartman froze himself to avoid waiting for a Nintendo [[Wii]]. When he is thawed out (500 years later), he discovers that future displays aren't compatible with those of his time.
* In ''[[Beast Wars (Animation)|Beast Wars]]'', the Maximals, the descendants of the Autobots, can't use their ancestors' hardware in conjunction with that of Maximal technology.
** Somewhat justified in that both pieces of technology they're attempting to use in conjunction are cobbled-together, oft-patched desperation-grade junk in the first place. And, y'know, the fact that the Autobot tech they're trying to use is in excess of ''three million years'' older then their Maximal tech.
** Not to mention, built on an entirely different [[Humongous Mecha|scale]]...
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{{quote| '''Optimus Primal:''' "Die-cast molding. [[Mythology Gag|It's a lost art...]]"}}
* Subverted in ''[[Danny Phantom]]''. Apparently technology in the future (or at least Skul Tech) is still eligible for Tucker's PDA to hack through. Lampshaded when Tucker declares his hacking skills are ''just that awesome'' or just very, very sad.
* Averted in the ''[[Mega Man (Animationanimation)|Mega Man]]'' episode "Mega X", where the eponymous future robot [[Mega Manning|scans and copies]] the weapon of Snakeman, an older robot. He can actually improve on the originals, too, as a single shot utterly destroys Wily's weapon.
 
== [[Video Games]] ==
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* Unfortunately for owners of the [[DS]], the different chipset in use means that their old [[Game Boy]] titles won't work with their new systems. Game Boy ''Advance'' cartridges, however, will still work with the DS "Phat" and DS Lite models.
** It is worth noting that, through the use of a GBA Gameshark, one can in fact play Gameboy games on a DS. Basically, the GBA Gameshark emulates the input system of a GBA cartridge, which was designed to be compatible with a socket that also accepted Game Boy Games. It doesn't read the Gameboy game as a Gameboy game, but a GBA game. If you're confused, don't worry. Just get a GBA Gameshark, plug it in to your DS, and use it to play Pokemon Blue.
** This also applies to ''[[Pokémon]]'', where the fundamental differences ultimately made it impossible to transfer your [[Mons|critters]] from ''[[Pokémon Gold and Silver (Video Game)|Gold/Silver/Crystal]]'' to the Advance Generation (Generation III), making it much harder to successfully [[Gotta Catch Them All|catch them all]]. Thankfully, [[Nintendo]] avoided such a problem with the fourth generation of ''Pokémon'', as owners of the first-wave DS and DS Lites can '''migrate''' their parties from the Game Boy Advance games into the Sinnoh-based games and the Johto-based remakes.
*** Unfortunately, the DSi sacrificed its Game Boy Advance port for more gadgets, so DSi-using Trainers will need an older-model system on hand for all of their migration needs.
**** Though Game Freak mostly took care of this with both ''[[Pokémon Platinum]]'' and ''[[Pokémon Gold and Silver (Video Game)|Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver]]'', which have the Pokémon only available in Generation III.
** The [[Wii]], however, is not only capable of using a lot of the [[Game Cube]]'s games, but can even utilize some of the [[Game Cube]]'s peripherals (like the microphone and the [[Game Boy Advance|GBA]]-[[Game Cube|GameCube]] link cable). However, support for [GameCube] peripherals and games were dropped entirely from a new "Family Pack" model introduced in late-2011.
*** The inbuilt Virtual Console seems to be an inversion as it runs a ''lot'' of classic games, even those from [[Sega]], the old-era rival of Nintendo. Unfortunately, the only way to do this is to re-buy a (often slightly tweaked) digital version game direct from Nintendo. Your old carts and CDs will not work with the current hardware.
*** The [[Wii U]] will retain backwards compatibility with [[Wii]] games and controllers, but is losing the ability to play [[Game Cube]] titles. Virtual Console fodder to come, perhaps?
* On the [[Sony]] side of things, the [[Play Station]] 2 avoids this, as it has actual hardware capable of running PS1 games inside.
** ...for the most part. ''[[Gradius]] Gaiden'', for instance, has a stage that runs just fine on a PS1, but will slow down more than an average round of ''[[Esp Galuda]]'' on a PS2.
** While the [[PSPlay Station 3]] can run [[PSPlay Station 2]] games, it does it by software emulation, as the Cell processor is completely different from the chip set used by the [[PSPlay Station 2]]. There was some uproar when back in 2007, rumors abounded that certain future models of the [[PSPlay Station 3]] may lose this software emulation function.
*** [[wikipedia:PlayStation 3#Slim model|Certain future models]], [[Hilarious in Hindsight|you say?]] [[I Knew It!|Oh, my!]]
*** The first year models for the North American, Asian and Japanese markets have hardware-based BC. The 80 GB models that came out later had software emulation for the Emotion Engine, while the Graphics Synthesizer was run on a chip. The 40 GB models and later 80 GB models dropped all BC, but there are rumors of full software emulation on all models for firmware version 3.0.
*** Frustratingly, the European [[PSPlay Station 3]]'s were made with a different hardware set, and don't have any real emulation function at all.
*** The [[PSPlay Station 3]] can run [[PS 1]] games across all models, though.
*** [[Crack is Cheaper|Too expensive, you say?]] [[Be Careful What You Wish For]]...
* Meanwhile, the [[Xbox 360]] can run ''most'' of [[X Box|its predecessor]]'s games,<ref>reason being because unlike Sony and Nintendo, Microsoft couldn't put the predecessor console's hardware inside the 360 due to licensing issues</ref> but [http://gamer.blorge.com/2008/01/09/microsoft-winding-down-xbox-360-backwards-compatibility-updates/ Microsoft has long since ceased backwards compatibility updates], and has discontinued Xbox Live support for those games.
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* This has been a significant problem for the US military as the try to upgrade their computers yet keep compatibility with tech that may be 60 years old. One case study is the the schematics for the nuclear aircraft carriers, which when read were displaying dotted lines as solid and other such glitches.
** Military maps are prone to this. The [[wikipedia:World Geodetic System|World Geodetic System]], is the basis for all military maps used by most modern armed forces. The modern US military and most of NATO are on WGS 84. Our allies and some countries use older versions. Units can get lost, maps that don't match, weapons and navigation systems that can't talk to each other, it adds to [[Jurisdiction Friction]].
** It's not just software and hardware that falls victim to [[No Backwards Compatibility in Thethe Future]]; it applies to physical materials too. Case in point, FOGBANK, which was an unbelievably-classified plastic used in Trident missile warheads. FOGBANK production ended in 1989. When the Navy wanted to refurbish its existing warheads, they had to build a brand-new factory to produce FOGBANK again - and discovered that the documented procedures didn't work. It turns out FOGBANK relied on an ''impurity'' included in the original batch, and this delayed the refurbishment by nearly ten years.
* 3 1/2 inch floppy disks are getting to this state, and 5 1/4 are pretty much already there unless you're an enthusiast.
** And just forget about 8-inch disks!
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