History books – and gadget sites – will tell you that laserdiscs came before compact discs. And that fuzzy quarter-inch tapes led to the VHS revolution.

However, things could have turned out very differently if certain technologies evolved in a different direction. Imagining a world without DVD, for example, is quite easy: if the big CE players didn’t agree on a standard for DVD in 1994/1995, consumers would have never given up on tape. VHS would still be thriving today, along with Blockbuster.

Let’s now take a look at five technologies that could have drastically changed the world as we know it:

1. Vinyl video brings VCRs to the masses

What if video was encoded in vinyl discs instead of magnetic tape? This could mean that by 1960, EVERYONE had a VCR at home. Think about the impact on TV ads and TV shows. Multimedia LPs – a bizarro version of those mixed mode CDs that included audio and video in a single disc – could suddenly become reality. MTV, a byproduct of cheap video cameras and VCRs, would have arrived a decade earlier.

2. Turn of the century electric cars (the 20th century, that is) and the end of our obsession with fossil fuels

Electric cars could have been the rule, not the exception. Can you imagine how different things would have turned out if we didn’t pollute the planet with poisonous gases 24/7? What if no wars were ever fought for oil? Cities, on the other hand, would be whisper-quiet and air quality would be extraordinary (even in Mexico City). It doesn’t take much to guess that we’d all sleep better at night… And live longer, probably.

3. Wireless electricity for thirsty gadgets

Nicola Tesla allegedly demonstrated this breakthrough in the early 20th century. If he had succeeded, electricity would have conquered the world in a couple of years, not decades. Smartphones, laptop computers, tablets – they could all have evolved without the need for batteries.

4. D-VHS: tape powerhouse rewrites HD disc formats out of history

We rely on Blu-ray discs and broadband, 720p streaming for all of our video needs. But what if D-VHS won? In 2003, D-VHS was the only way to record 720p and 1080i signals and D-Theater – JVC’s copy-protected format for pre-recorded material – the only way to watch a big-budget Hollywood movie in high-definition. And to think that the HD-DVD / Blu-ray war almost killed HD discs altogether, relegating humanity to a future of compulsory rewinding.

5. 3DO ends console wars (and fanboysm)

The 3DO Interactive Multiplayer. My employer, The Bohle Company, launched it in 1993. The 3DO could have been a unified console standard, following in the footsteps of compact discs and VHS tapes. But it cost $700 so nobody bought one. Not even after a redesign and a price reduction. Not even for The Need for Speed and Road Rash. If it had succeeded, there would be no 32 and 64-bit console wars. No platform-driven fanboysm in the shape of never-ending Xbox 360 vs. PlayStation 3 flame wars. Developers would be making games for a single platform, a shared hardware standard not unlike VHS. Maybe games would have made Roger Ebert cry by now. Maybe not.

Can you think of other technologies that fit the profile? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!