Things TLs 7-9 would be interesting to see WITHOUT

[vicky_molokh]

Greetings, all!

This more of a free practice for world-building, but I'm curious about possible differences that would make alternate worlds of a TL similar to ours (i.e. from TL7 to TL9, with almost-humans) look very different from ours. It seems that I'm not good at judging possible consequences, so both analyses of consequences and more examples are welcome. So, a few ideas of mine:

• No consumerism.
• No corporations at all.
• No makeup (okay, this one goes from than TL0 . . .).
• No skyscrapers and multilevel residences (only workplaces and hotels fall so low).
• No Superpowers (i.e. all countries are no larger than England, Poland, France etc.).
• No centralized cellphone systems (but radio relays are fully maintained by volunteers, linux-style).
• No patents - only copyrights and trademarks.
• No intellectual property, but only in the world of software.
• No governmental armies - only mercs.
• No mercs - armies started as militias and ended up as governmental armies.
• No social gender roles at all - wonder how that would affect technology from the onset.
• No internet.
• No GUIs.

Thanks in advance!