Interactive TV is 35 years old today.......

[seamusuk]

Hey Guys

The BBC CEEFAX service is/was the first of its kind in the world and is 35 today - it will end when analogue goes off air in the final area(2012) and although its been largely replaced by the digital version its still around lol.

Seamus

http://www.bbc.co.uk/historyofthebbc/great_moments/index.shtml

 

[jasonl]

I remember seeing a video from 1969 that demonstrated online banking and television "a la carte" (on-demand). Now it's reality.

 

[jasonl]

Here it is

It's in French (subtitled).

Enjoy the video but ignore the retarded comments below it.

 

[passatdoc]

I remember that the French had the Minitel, which allowed online banking, some retail purchases, and travel/entertainment reservations. I wasn't sure of the roll=out date, but did some online research and learned that it debuted in 1982, some 27 years ago. Evidently some six million homes in France still use it. I wonder if some users were middle-aged (thus young enough to learn the system) when the service began, now are senior citizens, and don't want to learn to use a full fledged computer since Minitel meets most of their needs.

PS why the bizarre keyboard?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minitel

 

[passatdoc]

PS You can't see the feature here, but I seem to recall that some models (perhaps later than this "Minitel 1") had a flip-out or slide-out keyboard to save space. The unit could be located on a kitchen counter or telephone desk without taking up all the room, or requiring the purchase of a new, dedicated desk.

 

[whirlcool]

And they tried the Minitel over here in the US as an experiment just before the Internet broke here big time. It was offered through the phone company. You could pay bills through it, look up peoples phone numbers, find restaurants, etc. It was around about a year, then the Internet became more public and it was dropped.

 

[passatdoc]

It was tried in Sweden as well in the early 1990s but dropped as internet use spread.

I did not know how to use a computer until the early 1990s, and even then only at work for specialized programs (UNIX). Did not own a Windows based computer until January 1995. I do remember people with PCs or Apples/Macs in the mid to late 1980s who used Compuserve via a modem to do banking or make travel reservations. Even as late as 1995, Compuserve had more subscribers than even AOL, and they did offer a browser with www accessibility.

Although I bought that first PC in 1995, I didn't go on the internet until February 1996 (when I upgraded it to Windows 95 from Windows 3.1; 95 was not yet released in 1/95 when I bought the computer).

I had used one non-internet, online service during 1995, however, which was my first on-line experience. That was the old United Connection software, offered by United Airlines. You could make travel reservations with it. The modem dialed dedicated United Connection server phone numbers...if these were within the local calling area, the service was free; if not, you paid the toll charges to connect.

I booked a few trips (air, car hotel) with it and was hooked. SO much easier than dialing an 800 number and hoping the agent would find the best price for you. I had friends in Germany who wanted to come over to California in 1996 and were told the lowest tickets were $850, out of their budget. I found tickets for about $600, which they could afford, probably because United Connection showed ALL carriers and prices, rather than only United flights (the tickets in question were found on British Airways). Much more effective than the German friends going to a city ticket office and being quoted a price without looking at alternatives. Although United Connection would not accept their European credit card, I was able to place the tickets on a 24 hour hold and was given a reservation code. The friends had 24 hours to go to a ticket office or airport and purchase the tickets there. Seems primitive today, but it worked and salvaged their vacation.

After that positive experience, I continued to use United Connection even after going on the internet with Internet Explorer. The early airline websites didn't always have good search engines for reservations (and at first didn't offer online sales at all). After several years, United shut down the United Connection servers and you either booked online at your airline of choice, or else used sites like Expedia or Orbitz.

What I remember specifically about United Connection is that it displayed ALL carriers, not just United (and Star Alliance didn't even exist yet). By contrast, the united.com website only displayed United flights. In a way, United Connection was a forerunner of travel sites like Orbitz and Expedia.