Call for Contributions: Counterfactual History of Technology

Why Ask What If?: Historians of Technology Look at Counterfactuals
The editor of Technology and Culture, Suzanne Moon, recently invited three scholars to ask "Why ask what if?" and explore the potential of counterfactuals in essays published online at Technology's Stories, a feature of the Society for the History of Technology. (http://www.historyoftechnology.org/tech_stories/index.html)
Let’s broaden the conversation and extend the view: this is your invitation to offer a new counterfactual essay for Technology's Stories.  What if Columbus had failed to make a Caribbean landfall?  What if President John Kennedy had backed Werhner von Braun’s vision of a space program aimed at Mars, not the Moon?  The topics are endless.  Have some fun, explore the possibilities, open our minds.
Or how about some rumination on the limits of counterfactuals?  Why are explicit counterfactuals rare in technological history?  How do counterfactuals reshape narratives and analysis; how do they shed new light on structure and contingency?
We’d like pieces of 800 to 2,000 words. You can keep notes to a minimum. We're looking for short, fun, stimulating pieces - all are welcome to contribute. Send your ideas to techstories@techculture.org!