Cloaking devices (and why don't others use 'em?)

[vulcanridr]

Jan 8, 2010 13:52:06 GMT -5 Falconer said:

So in this episode the Romulans have developed a new generation of cloaking device, because the previous generation has been rendered useless by advances in technology which allow Starfleet vessels to see through the old cloaking device. Kirk and Spock steal the new generation cloaking device, and the implication (to me) is that by delivering it to their scientists, it, too, will become obsolete.

BTW, Falconer, I don't disagree with you that the cloaking devices are ever being improved, quite similar to sound dampening technologies in subs (anechoic tiles, rubber-mounted equipment, etc). If I may, for a second, step into newer series to draw examples,

• The cloaking device on the Defiant was going through improvements during DS9, especially during the time leading up to and during the Dominion War.
  
• Geordi was impressed by the cloak on Shinzon's Scimitar. He stated that "their cloak is perfect"
  

However, as someone stated, it is a constant arms race. Just as current active sonar technology doesn't so much bounce pings off of the steel of the hull, but rather the point at which the ocean water stops and the air inside the hull starts, the detection technology continues to improve as well.