Galactic empires Book

A collection of old-school SF stories loosely centered around the theme of "Galactic Empires." There were also little philosophical bits by Aldiss in there as well, introducing each subtheme. I can't say I was super impressed, with the exception of the Gardner F. Fox story, which was mostly impressive for its badness (in the Epic Conclusion the main character is stymied because the power cord from the Nuclear Pits to his Heat Gun isn't long enough, I'm not even kidding, gods that story is awesome).

I guess what it comes down to for me is that technology-focused SF is more interesting as a reflection of the ideas of its time (I'm looking at you right now, Cory Doctorow) than it is in and of itself. So this collection comes off as dated and hackneyed. Which is a shame, kind of, because who doesn't love a good Galactic Empire yarn?