There's an interesting article here (http://www.wired.com/underwire/2010/10/galactica-technobabble/all/1) about how Ronald D. Moore, creator of the "reimagined" Battlestar Galactica (which ran in the US from 2003 to 2009), deliberately avoided technobabble and cliched sci-fi tropes so that he could focus on the characters.
Tom Monteleone said he ran out of material for sci-fi stories, because the hardcore sci-fi readers wanted stories that centred on the technology rather than the characters, so once you've run out of techno ideas you've had it as a sci-fi writer. I think Battlestar Galactica worked very well with a lower level of techie stuff than Star Trek TNG. I like the backdrop of space exploration for a story, because it provides the writers with new possibilities/situations brought up by the technology and the effects it has on people. I think the best stories tend to be about the human condition, don't they?
Having a sexy Number 6 cylon didn't hurt, either ;)
I'm a huge fan of Battlestar Galactica, and a virtual non-reader of hard science fiction, so this method gets a :afro: from me.