Movie Gadget Friday: Death Star I from Star Wars

The first Death Star was Imperial Grey in colour, about the size of a small moon, and came equipped with a mighty array of top of the range weapons, notably lasers, tractor beams and fleets of TIE fighters. Unsurprisingly, it came with it's own detention and interrogation facilities, conference and accommodation suites, and it's largely open-plan working environments probably featured the Star Wars equivalent internet cafes, crèches and Starbucks outlets typically provided by the modern mass employer. You may have also heard that it had a weird rubbish disposal system.

The Death Star was many things to many people: a planet-sized herald of death, the ultimate in Imperial luxury vehicles, home-sweet-home to a few million troops and civilians, and the ultimate proof of the unholy Project Management powers of Grand Moff Tarkin. Certainly, he must have sold his soul to the Devil at the crossroads at midnight to enter into a legendary league of organisational prowess. Imagine the potential labour disputes for one thing, given that the Death Star was most likely constructed and run by a mixture of prison and slave labour, Imperial army and regular construction workers, contracted specialists, and non-unionised menial staff. Not to mention a middle management the size of the population of Sweden. Maybe more.



Unfortunately the Empire�s slightly unimaginative vision of the Ultimate Weapon was basically a massive laser you could move around the Universe and threaten planets with. It was never plucky-Rebel Alliance proofed, to the extent that the plans clearly indicated the possibility of blowing the whole thing up with one well-placed proton torpedo. How convenient. Many of you will ask what more anyone could ask for in a gadget � and if there were one going begging, I wouldn�t turn it down. Although I doubt I could afford the Road Tax, let alone the running costs.



Absolute faith in the ability of technology is always a touching thing to see however, and it�s nice to know that the Emperor suffers from this delusion as much as the next boss.