What if the moving assembly line had gone differently?

Bringing the work to the worker cuts the cost of a complex product by an order of magnitude.

If it had gone differently: Cars, appliances and machines stay hand-built and expensive; there is no mass consumer economy.

1. 1870The first globalisation, The world economy stays a patchwork of regions; no belle-époque boom, and no 1914 shock when it unwinds.
2. 1908The Ford Model T, The car stays a rich man's toy; there is no mass motoring, no suburb, no roadside America.
3. 1956The shipping container, Ocean freight stays slow, pilfered and expensive; the globalised supply chain of the late century never becomes viable.