Roads Not Taken

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by Johnny1A.2

...
As for taking tech away, you could assume that the level of U-235 to U-238 was worse than it actually is. That could happen if a planet was older when its inhabitants reached nuclear technology levels, because U-235 has a much shorter half-life than U-238. Take away the U-235 and nuclear weaponry gets a lot harder, even if you have the knowledge.

That could easily have made WWII much bloodier and longer. Or kept Japan from being defeated making a cold war of three rather than two main powers.

I can only imagine how much worse the Middle East would fare being ping ponged between so many opposing ideologies and dictator prop ups.

[Ulzgoroth]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

That could easily have made WWII much bloodier and longer. Or kept Japan from being defeated making a cold war of three rather than two main powers.

I can only imagine how much worse the Middle East would fare being ping ponged between so many opposing ideologies and dictator prop ups.

Uh, no way. Much bloodier maybe, but there's no way it could result in Japan having lasted much longer or gotten out of the war without a full surrender. They had utterly lost the war before the bombs were dropped. If they didn't surrender first (which they might well have even without the nukes) and the US somehow didn't go through with their planned invasion, the USSR would have invaded.

[Flyndaran]

I don't think the USSR's actions were that inevitable. But that would cause them to move out of Europe a bit increasing the influence of the Brits and Americans, I'd imagine.
Soviets already lost millions of soldiers, so I doubt they really had the million to spare for a land invasion of Japan anymore than the U.S. did.

[Frost]

Originally Posted by (E)

Another favourite of mine to do with gunpowder weapons is the Whitworth rifle. It was rejected by a committee that could have selected it for standard issue to the British army. It later saw service as a "sniper" rifle of sorts and arguably could have changed some aspects of british colonialism.

Very doubtful, they were a nightmare to maintain in the field and extremely prone to fouling . They were briefly accepted as a limited issue weapon (a batch somewhere in the thousands were ordered in 1863- 8000 acording to Adventure guns) but were abandoned shortly afterward (within two years) as they proved unsuitible for use as an infantry rifle.

[PTTG]

Computers would be really fascinating to remove. Maybe just make it so that artificial semiconductors just don't work "because physics."

Let vacuum tubes work, though.

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by PTTG

Computers would be really fascinating to remove. Maybe just make it so that artificial semiconductors just don't work "because physics."

Let vacuum tubes work, though.

Fight harder for numerous dumb terminals connected to centrally located server sized computers rather than the ubiquitous small ones that allowed the internet explosion. That would limit things.

But removing all computers more complex than mechanical Babbage engines would take some serious historical manhandling.

All these suggestions involving altered physical laws are fun, but don't fit the thread's title, in my opinion.
Is it a "road not taken" for us to have used magic when magic doesn't work in our reality?

[mr beer]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

I don't think the USSR's actions were that inevitable. But that would cause them to move out of Europe a bit increasing the influence of the Brits and Americans, I'd imagine.
Soviets already lost millions of soldiers, so I doubt they really had the million to spare for a land invasion of Japan anymore than the U.S. did.

I'm not sure about the USSR's desire or technical ability to invade Japan in WWII, but they had over 10 million people in the Red Army and the USSR was a lot more ideologically capable of losing a million people than the US. Stalin would likely call it a cheap price for a share of the Home Islands and the attendant increased Soviet dominion in the Pacific.

They'd already lost 10 million+ soldiers by 1945 and Stalin had millions killed post WWII so I don't think another million or two would bother him.

[jason taylor]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

I don't think the USSR's actions were that inevitable. But that would cause them to move out of Europe a bit increasing the influence of the Brits and Americans, I'd imagine.
Soviets already lost millions of soldiers, so I doubt they really had the million to spare for a land invasion of Japan anymore than the U.S. did.

No particular reason for them to. They can just pick up the jackel's share in Asia and leave us with finishing Japan. They would probably just say turnabout is fair play as we only spent a year crossing France. Besides they didn't have much of a navy anyway except the (quite good by the way)riverine one which isn't much help.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

Fight harder for numerous dumb terminals connected to centrally located server sized computers rather than the ubiquitous small ones that allowed the internet explosion. That would limit things.

But removing all computers more complex than mechanical Babbage engines would take some serious historical manhandling.

All these suggestions involving altered physical laws are fun, but don't fit the thread's title, in my opinion.
Is it a "road not taken" for us to have used magic when magic doesn't work in our reality?

So far as we know. But in general, if we knew it was possible, then we'd go ahead and invent it. Therefore to "give" we usually have to delve into things that aren't possible so far as we know. It is much easier to "take" than to "give" particularly if what we give isn't going to just be a dead end.

Betamax tapes as storage media for computers.

A flexible, durable material that contracts in reaction to a slight electrical charge.

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

So far as we know. But in general, if we knew it was possible, then we'd go ahead and invent it. Therefore to "give" we usually have to delve into things that aren't possible so far as we know. It is much easier to "take" than to "give" particularly if what we give isn't going to just be a dead end.

...snip...

A flexible, durable material that contracts in reaction to a slight electrical charge.

I did mention how fun it is making up alternate realities with alternate physics. But that's not how I always interpreted the title phrase. I think of my own life and roads not taken. To be taken or not taken, they have to at the very least be possible.

That's piezoelectric and how crystal radios work albeit not so flexibly.