.....you are watching Rogue One on Netflix and are critiquing in your head the Imperial Records Depository on the planet Scarif.
Photo courtesy of inverse.com
For those not aware of the Star Wars universe, Scarif is the principal construction facility for the Empire. It is also the home of its central records depository.
Photo courtesy of Gizmodo.com
Upon first glance, the record depository looks very impressive. It's for both long-term and large-scale storage. It's massive but strangely with a 1970s approach to data collection. This may be in order to tie it into Star Wars: A New Hope.
It's full of high-density data tape cartridges where each one must be physically accessed. A computer is able to index the location of the correct cartridge by a blinking light but each tape needs to be pulled out manually like an arcade claw machine. Each page on the tape also has to be individually viewed in order to get to the information required. This is again I believe a nod to the record retrieval processes of the 1970s.
What I thought was the most interesting is that why were the archives so easily compromised by the rebels? My theory is that the Empire thinks that the files on the Death Star are already compromised due to Galen Erso's confession. So they let the Rebels take the information from the tape not realizing that the plans are complete with the Death Star design flaw indicated. This causes Darth Vader to have to go after them which starts the events of Star Wars Episode IV.
Lastly, why does Jyn have to go up to the roof in order to transmit the data? Why can't she use a computer elsewhere in the facility?
Oh, the things that I think about when watching a movie.