Videotex 'computerize' communications before the Internet

In the 70s and 80s of the previous century, the world knew about the type of service that users had to pay a certain fee in advance to receive information about securities, auction products . from suppliers.

In the article " The inevitable landing of Videotex ", published in Technology Review in October 1985, expert Ralph Lowenstein of the University of Florida (USA) described subscribers to receive a decoder. Can convert data into readable format on TV and a terminal that helps them get information from a central computer.

How did that landing take place? According to Lowenstein, " users can immediately access books, magazines and references . from any library or publisher in the world. Children can get a few pages from the word book. Encyclopedia and parents only have to pay for those pages without spending money on the whole book, they can even buy stocks, send messages, book tickets and receive medical diagnoses. Videotex helps bring the world's knowledge to every family or business . "

Such Videotex systems in Europe have impressed the US media. However, after some initial success, many US companies, typically Keyfax and Viewtron, have lost millions of dollars. This is partly because users are not free to choose the content that the service provider offers. In addition, at that time only 18% of US households had personal computers and very few systems were equipped with Videotex compatible modems.

Currently, some people still confuse Videotex as the "precursor" of the Internet. But in fact, these two technologies are completely independent and reflect different ways of "computing" communications.