Wow, imagine all the things that would be different. Look at our pop culture and how much Star Wars has influenced it. You can see it in so many movies from E.T. - Toy Story 2. Watch the credits to ANY (excluding foreign and independant films) movie and you are going to see at least one of "Skywalker Sound" "Industrial Light and Magic" and even if you don't see the first two, more likely than not "THX" is going to pop up. Not too likely any of those would have come about if it hadn't been for the success of Star Wars. Walk into any Wal-Mart or Toys R Us or even just about any store really, and since 1995 till now you are almost certian to find the name "Star Wars" somewhere in that store. This is not true with Lord of the Rings or anything else.