The Television Will Not Be Revolutionized

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

I began with the title, and tried to think of how I could create a story that fit it. An initial idea of the FCC choosing not to endorse any digital TV standard, leading to us still having analog TV got quickly shelved as I couldn't think of repercussions serious enough to make a good story.  But I did come up with a different idea.  This initial post is set some time after the POD but gives some idea of the changes.
Starlog Issue #300 July 2004 - excerpt from "An Interview with Majel Barrett-Roddenberry"

Starlog: What would you say was Gene's biggest disappointment?
Majel: Well, other than Star Trek: Phase II lasting only two years instead of the hoped for five, I think it's safe to say it would be how little of the technology he envisioned has come into everyday use.  Imagine how much better society would be if everyone could carry a communicator with him or if you could consult a library computer at home instead of having to go to a dedicated library to do research.
[...]
Starlog: Why do you think science fiction as a genre hasn't generally fared well on television?
Majel: I think in large part it's because the special effects, especially those available on the budget of a TV show, aren't up to the imagination of the writers. Good science fiction tends towards the cerebral rather than the visual.  That's why it's strengths are as a literary and a audio medium where your imagination supplies the effects.  For a television series, you either have to use stock footage or cheesy effects, and the American viewer by and large isn't tolerant of either the way the British were of Doctor Who for a quarter century.  There's been occasional talk of a either a reboot or continuing the story with an eighth doctor, but it's been fifteen years now since the last episode of Doctor Who and twenty-one years since Phase II ended.
Starlog: Could Star Trek have worked on the big screen?
Majel: Possibly.  There was some talk of turning Phase II into a movie when the first of the Luke Skykiller films came out and did reasonably well at Christmas of 1975.  But it was fairly obvious that even with a movie budget, you couldn't do everything you wanted in live action, so it was decided to stay in a medium where the limits and the budget, especially the budget, would be somewhat more acceptable.  The same is true for fantasy, which is why The Lord of the Rings will never be made as a live action film.

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

This is nuts, dude. Continue.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

December 23, 1947 - Murray Hill, New Jersey - Bell Labs - Solid State Physics Group meeting

"So, how's work on the germanium going?" asked group leader William Shockley.

"Not so well, Bill," replied John Bardeen. "Me and Walter have tried everything we could think of, but it appears we're barking up an empty tree."

"Not completely empty," interjected Walter Brattain.  "What you've had us do the past month will probably help us make more reliable germanium diodes, but we've seen nothing to indicate that there's anyway to use germanium as some sort of solid-state amplifier.  Looks like we're stuck with continuing to use vacuum tubes."

"Too bad.  Nature abhors a vacuum tube," quipped John Pierce, which got the expected groan from those assembled.  They'd all used the joke on occasion, especially when a tube failed in the middle of an experiment, but Pierce was the one most likely to pull out such bon mots.
And there you have it, the POD for this timeline.  There is no such thing as the transistor.

[Oak Hills]

This is a great idea for a timeline.  Hope this continues!

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

This is a great idea for a timeline.  Hope this continues!

It will, it just with the holidays and being under the weather, there hasn't been time to write another installment so far.  I've got ideas for several more posts percolating right now.