Star Wars design flaws

Author John Scalzi examines some of the design flaws of the Star Wars universe. Warning: don't read while drinking, as that'll likely result in liquid all over your screen and keyboard.

Death Star
An unshielded exhaust port leading directly to the central reactor? Really? And when you rebuild it, your solution to this problem is four paths into the central core so large that you can literally fly a spaceship through them? Brilliant. Note to the Emperor: Someone on your Death Star design staff is in the pay of Rebel forces. Oh, right, you can't get the memo because someone threw you down a huge exposed shaft in your Death Star throne room.

I still have great affection for Star Wars. But when I say that, I'm talking about the original 1977 movie, not the pretty good sequel and the weak sequel and the horrid prequels and the pestiferous host of bad fiction, philosophy, animation and merchandising that it spawned. That said, the piece is very funny, and right on about how little sense some of the decisions made.