What if the Jacquard loom had gone differently?

Punched cards control a loom's pattern, the first program stored outside a human head.

If it had gone differently: The punched card is never invented; computing loses its oldest idea and its first physical form.

The real history on Wikipedia ↗

Later turning points that leaned on the Jacquard loom. Change it in the game and the ripples reach all of these.

1. 1945The first electronic computers. Without it, Calculation stays the work of human "computers" with desk machines; the information age has no engine to run on.
2. 1958The integrated circuit. Without it, Electronics stay built from discrete parts, wired by hand; the computer never leaves the air-conditioned room.
3. 1977The personal computer. Without it, Computers stay institutional machines; there is no home computing, no software industry, no user base for a web.