I do like the rainbow-coloured apple logo. Very appropriate, all things considered. 
The Anglo-Saxon Social Model - The Expanded Universe
- Thread starter Rattigan
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I do like the rainbow-coloured apple logo. Very appropriate, all things considered.
Couldn't resist...
An interesting question. I imagine the original itself would have been destroyed (although possibly reconstructed later) at some point but the first Colossus machines would definitely have been preserved for museums.
I'm curious as to the state of technology in this world, as noted in the TL it seems that computer tech seems to have hit at least some of the milestones such as integrated circuits, personal computers, internet and related smart tech stuff we have today between the 1950- 1980. I'm assuming robotics tech like 3D Printing, AI, Driverless cars and Nanotech are more advanced by 2020?
The answer to this is 'yes and no' I'm afraid.
The short macro story is that technology advances much more rapidly OTL in the first few decades after the World War, primarily guided by a more favourable venture capital environment (primarily as a result of the existence of the SWF under Keynes but also the long-term national/imperial focus of British finance rather than its OTL globalisation) and also by long term cultural changes which don't prematurely end Alan Turing's career and life. This powers the development of personal computers and smart tech (TTL called bright tech because it emerges from British, not American companies) several decades earlier than OTL. However, many of these developments are completely derailed by the Apple Affair. I've not fully worked out the content of the Caracas Accords but think of it as a really beefed up version of GDPR which clamps down very hard on the collection and sale of personal data by third parties. If that seems a bit abstract to you, think about it like this: if you were transported to this world one of the first things you'd notice is that you will either have to pay up front for the apps on your phone or get them as part of a subscription deal. I think that the internet of things - in the sense of having multiple devices collect your data and share it with one another - probably also won't exist in the same way, although I could imagine things like a 'bright-fridge', which can tell you when the food inside is going to go off. That being said, internet-enabled personal computers, phones, tablets etc. are as common as OTL, if not more so.
Again, on the topic of the internet, its makeup is superficially similar to OTL but has long-term differences stemming from the fact that TTL it's basically a government archiving service which is then opened out to the public. It is rolled out in cooperation with existing key industries and so really is very much a new venue for the pre-internet world rather than the free for all it was in the early 1990s OTL. As I hope I've showed by briefly sketching out a couple of websites, the main architecture of the internet consists of pre-existing media companies, sales collectives and a series of 'base' websites first designed when the internet was made available to the public (since updated, obviously), rather than the kind of weird surveillance-monopoly capitalism we have OTL. Given this, and all the above mentioned privacy concerns, I don't think social networking would take nearly the same form, if it exists at all.
Another area in which TTL's AI is more advanced than OTL would be in the realm of advanced robots which undertake physical tasks considered otherwise too risky for humans to do. (One example which leapt to mind was some of the more difficult jobs in a nuclear power plant.) The question of driverless cars and 3D printing is an interesting one. In the Commonwealth, I think that the powerful union interests in industries like the postal service and cab drivers might have stunted the widespread adoption of these things. But those conditions would vary, obviously, around the world. On nanotech, I think that would definitely be more advanced than OTL. In particular, I have imagined that the technology to replace lost/disabled limbs would be substantially more advanced.
Thanks so in regards to the internet it would probably be similar to OTL but for example instead of say the newer companies of early 2000's to 2010's dominating you have older websites from ITTL 80's being the big players. Alongside differences in who owns the companies or how they come about, ITTL amazon obviously being a Cooperative Company, Twitch and Youtube ITTL for example could have been formed by a early form of Patreon by Gamers for example.
I think in regards to 3D printing it would likely be widely adopted as even basic robotics as seen in OTL has taken over certain jobs, the big difference being companies likely using the increase in productivity to reduce hours with similar pay and do stuff like shift people who might lose out onto those new (open) hours. In regards to driverless cars I can imagine it would be more like assistance driving as in the car will stop or take over in certain situations but the person will still drive so it's seen as more of a mandatory safety feature.
I can imagine the Healthcare industry is massively more advanced than OTL. I can image that once the Caracas accords went into effect a lot of robotic and computer research shifted into medical robotics including stuff like replacement body parts, cloning organs, robotic surgery but also stuff like AI monitoring of the persons body via there phones or something if they have had issues. I don't think the privacy issues would matter much either since it would all be medical based or be kept by the government.
I think you would likely see some form of social media I think the big difference is due to the more dense cities, better public transport and government encouragement via education and subsidies towards more physical social interaction people will see ITTL as a sort of extra thing for communication useful in the workplace but not crucial.
It will likely be more regulated due to things like mental health having greater awareness than OTL and the effects it can have on that.
Sorry for the long reply
I think in regards to 3D printing it would likely be widely adopted as even basic robotics as seen in OTL has taken over certain jobs, the big difference being companies likely using the increase in productivity to reduce hours with similar pay and do stuff like shift people who might lose out onto those new (open) hours. In regards to driverless cars I can imagine it would be more like assistance driving as in the car will stop or take over in certain situations but the person will still drive so it's seen as more of a mandatory safety feature.
I can imagine the Healthcare industry is massively more advanced than OTL. I can image that once the Caracas accords went into effect a lot of robotic and computer research shifted into medical robotics including stuff like replacement body parts, cloning organs, robotic surgery but also stuff like AI monitoring of the persons body via there phones or something if they have had issues. I don't think the privacy issues would matter much either since it would all be medical based or be kept by the government.
I think you would likely see some form of social media I think the big difference is due to the more dense cities, better public transport and government encouragement via education and subsidies towards more physical social interaction people will see ITTL as a sort of extra thing for communication useful in the workplace but not crucial.
It will likely be more regulated due to things like mental health having greater awareness than OTL and the effects it can have on that.
Sorry for the long reply
No need to apologise, it shows that you're engaging with the TL at a time when it's become particularly self-involved.
Anyway, those thoughts do chime with my own. I don't know if you browsed the original TL but the UK has had a UBI since the 1980s and a four-day work week since the early 2000s, so that very much fits in with your ideas about the advances in robotics and suchlike. On your point about driverless cars, I wonder whether it would make sense to have buses being basically driverless but with a human conductor.
I really like your thoughts on healthcare and a TTL patreon equivalent. Certainly for the latter I think that makes sense, although rather than having one big site for everyone I imagine it might be more segmented along cooperatives or porto-unions for certain interest groups.
Okay so that's it for now on Commonwealth businesses. Hopefully it's given you all a better idea what actually living in this TL would look like for the people in it. I must say it was certainly interesting/saddening doing the research about the wonderful old British businesses who went bust for various reasons.
Thanks to all of you who are sticking with this TL, especially given that it's become deeply self-involved and is basically me firing out random stuff because I've not got much else to do right now. Over the next couple of weeks I'm planning on a few posts about some of the major film and TV franchises TTL and then after that some updates on fast food chains that people requested. Starting this weekend I'm going to do a side updates series about TTL's Euro 2020 (COVID is butterflied away TTL), giving teams and simulating the results. I'll probably do a separate thread for that because I understand that not everyone is as into football/soccer as I am but I'll post links to them here.
Thanks to all of you who are sticking with this TL, especially given that it's become deeply self-involved and is basically me firing out random stuff because I've not got much else to do right now. Over the next couple of weeks I'm planning on a few posts about some of the major film and TV franchises TTL and then after that some updates on fast food chains that people requested. Starting this weekend I'm going to do a side updates series about TTL's Euro 2020 (COVID is butterflied away TTL), giving teams and simulating the results. I'll probably do a separate thread for that because I understand that not everyone is as into football/soccer as I am but I'll post links to them here.
I have actually been working on an update for this. It's nowhere near done but the general figures for the UK energy mix I have in mind are as follows:
- Nuclear (mostly fission but maybe come brand new fusion) - 35%
- Solar (both with panels on homes and solar batteries) - 25%
- Cogeneration and trigeneration - 13%
- Wind (both onshore and offshore) - 11%
- Hydroelectric - 9%
- Gas (mostly natural but maybe some shale too) - 2%
- Oil - 2%
- Other (mostly biofuels and similar but maybe some coal too) - 3%
The UK achieved carbon neutrality in 2015, although some of that was the result of carbon capture and storage techniques. As you can see, nuclear power remains the backbone of the energy mix, although renewables (particularly solar) are rapidly catching up.
Soccer: EURO 2020
As I mentioned in an older post, I've started another side thread that will simulate TTL's EURO 2020. Below are links to the thread marks in that thread. Normal service on this thread will continue.
Group A
Group B
Group C
Pundits' Predictions
Matchdays 1-3
Matchdays 4-6
Matchdays 7-9
Matchdays 10-12
Matchdays 13-15
Final Group Standings
Quarter Finals
United Kingdom vs Benelux
Nordic Union vs Catalonia
France vs Spain
Soviet Union vs Switzerland
Semi Finals
United Kingdom vs Catalonia
France vs Soviet Union
Third-Place Playoff
Catalonia vs Soviet Union
Final
United Kingdom vs France
Group A
Group B
Group C
Pundits' Predictions
Matchdays 1-3
Matchdays 4-6
Matchdays 7-9
Matchdays 10-12
Matchdays 13-15
Final Group Standings
Quarter Finals
United Kingdom vs Benelux
Nordic Union vs Catalonia
France vs Spain
Soviet Union vs Switzerland
Semi Finals
United Kingdom vs Catalonia
France vs Soviet Union
Third-Place Playoff
Catalonia vs Soviet Union
Final
United Kingdom vs France
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That's a very different and interesting take on James Bond.
I'm assuming that the films completely gloss over the fact that Bond changes ethnicity every so often.
I'm assuming that the films completely gloss over the fact that Bond changes ethnicity every so often.
No Roger Moore. No Sean Connery. No Pierce Brosnan. Well. never mind. At least no Stephen Fry.
They’re probably going with the idea that the name James Bond is an alias passed from agent to agent
I think there might be some of the latter but mostly I think the attitude towards continuity is similar to what's seen in the OTL Mad Max franchise: it's kind of there but not hugely important so don't really worry about it. I think the way that most of the Bonds are actor-director teams probably encourages people to see them as new takes on an archetype, a bit like different actors doing "their" Hamlet. Certainly since the Kennedy-Miller takeover, the differences between the actors have been relatively large, both between the actors' appearances and the themes and tones of the movies, which has encouraged that view.
Connery's recurring villain in the Rod Taylor era is kind of those films' secret sauce, though. I've not got a formal list of Ms but I did toy with the idea of having Brosnan do the role in Salmon or Gosling eras. Not sure where Roge would fit in though...
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