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The Minitel is a Videotex online service accessible through the telephone lines, and is considered one of the world's most successful pre-World Wide Web online services. It was launched in France in 1982 by the PTT (Poste, Téléphone et Télécommunications; divided since 1991 between France Télécom and La Poste). Since its early days, users could make online purchases, make train reservations, check stock prices, search the telephone directory, and chat in a similar way to that now made possible by the Internet. Download high resolution version (600x707, 115 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...
Download high resolution version (600x707, 115 KB) Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...
Videotex is a system for sending of pages of text to a user in computer form, typically to be displayed on a television. ...
An online service provider is an entity which provides a service online. ...
The telephone or phone is a telecommunications device which is used to transmit and receive sound (most commonly voice and speech) across distance. ...
WWWs historical logo designed by Robert Cailliau The World Wide Web (or simply the Web) is a system of interlinked, hypertext documents that runs over the Internet. ...
1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
France Télécom (Euronext: FTE, NYSE: FTE) (often spelled France Telecom, without the accents, in non-French text) is the main telecommunication company in France. ...
La Poste is the mail service of France, which also operates postal services in the French Overseas Departments of Réunion, Guadeloupe, Martinique and French Guiana, and the territorial collectivities of Saint Pierre and Miquelon and Mayotte. ...
A typical North American steam train In rail transport, a train consists of rail vehicles that move along guides to transport freight or passengers from one place to another. ...
For other uses, see Stock (disambiguation). ...
Minitel was joint development between France Télécom and British Telecom (prior to its privatisation). A similar service was delivered by British Telecom to UK subscibers under the name of Prestel, but was charged by the page rather than time. Although the UK service enjoyed some early success, changes to the way it was charged that were made by the post-privatised British Telecom, as well as the universal availability of the free teletext service, saw its complete demise. BT Group plc (which trades as just BT, and is commonly known by its former name, British Telecom) is the privatised former British state telecommunications operator. ...
Prestel, the brand name for the British General Post Offices Viewdata technology, was an interactive videotex system developed during the late 1970s and commercially launched in 1979. ...
A BBC Ceefax page from January 9, 2007. ...
Business model
Millions of terminals were handed out free to telephone subscribers, resulting in a high penetration rate among businesses and the public. In exchange for the terminal, the possessors of Minitel would not be given free "white page" printed directories (alphabetical list of residents and firms), but only the yellow pages (classified commercial listings, with advertisements); the white pages were accessible for free on Minitel, and they could be searched by a reasonably intelligent search engine, much faster than flipping through a dog-eared paper directory. France Télécom estimates that almost 9 million terminals - including web-enabled personal computers (Windows, MacOS, and Linux) - had access to the network at the end of 1999, and that it was used by 25 million people (of a total population of 60 million). A computer terminal is an electronic or electromechanical hardware device that is used for entering data into, and displaying data from, a computer or a computing system. ...
Google search is the worlds most popular search engine. ...
The Minitel allowed access to various categories of services:
- phone directory (free)
- mail-order retail companies
- airline or train ticket purchases
- information services
- databases
- message boards
As with early considerations on possible consumer usage of the Internet, two crucial uses were initially underestimated: personal messaging, and porn services and erotic message boards (messageries roses). Indeed, these are said to have accounted for the majority of traffic. The same can be said for many other artistic and communication media: at first no one considers pornography; soon it becomes a principal use of the new medium and ensures its success. An Airbus A380 of Emirates Airline An airline provides air transport services for passengers or freight. ...
A database is an information set with a regular structure. ...
Pornographic movies Pornography (Porn) (from Greek πόÏνη (porne) prostitute and γÏαφή (grafe) writing), more informally referred to as porn or porno, is the explicit representation of the human body or sexual activity with the goal of sexual arousal. ...
The development of Minitel spawned the creation of many start-up companies in a manner similar to the later dot-com bubble of Internet-related companies. Similarly, many of those small companies floundered and failed because of an overcrowded market or bad business practices (lack of infrastructure for online retailers). The messageries roses and other pornographic sites were also criticized for their possible use by under-age children. The government chose not to enact coercive measures, however, claiming that regulating the online activities of children is up to their parents, not the government. The government also enacted a tax on pornographic online services. A startup company is a company recently formed, usually until IPO or acquisition. ...
The dot-com bubble was a speculative bubble covering roughly 1997–2001 during which stock markets in Western nations saw their value increase rapidly from growth in the new Internet sector and related fields. ...
A tax is a financial charge or other levy imposed on an individual or a legal entity by a state or a functional equivalent of a state (for example, tribes, secessionist movements or revolutionary movements). ...
Payment methods:
- Credit card for purchases
- Telephone bill for surfing time: rates depend on the sites visited
France Télécom charges Minitel users at rates of up to € 1 a minute on their monthly telephone bill. The rates depend on the service called; most services are far cheaper than the maximum. It then pays back part of the sum to the companies that operate Minitel servers. Credit cards A credit card is a system of payment named after the small plastic card issued to users of the system. ...
For other uses, see Euro (disambiguation) or EUR (disambiguation). ...
In the late 1990s, Minitel connections were stable at 100 million a month plus 150 million online directory inquiries, in spite of growing Internet use.
In 1998, Minitel generated € 832 million ($ 824 million) of revenue, of which € 521 million was channelled by France Télécom to service providers.
Minitel sales in the late 1990s accounted for almost 15% of sales at La Redoute and Les Trois Suisses, France's biggest mail order companies. In 2005, the most popular Minitel application was Teleroute, the online real-time freight exchange, which accounted for nearly 60% of Minitel usage. Teleroute. ...
A freight exchange is an online, real time service where hauliers search for freight (eg. ...
In 2005 there were 351 million calls for 18.51 million hours of connection, generating € 206 million of revenue, of which € 145 million were redistributed to 2000 service providers (these numbers are declining at around 30% per year). There were still 6 million terminals owned by France Télécom, which had been left with their users in order to avoid recycling problems. The main uses were banking and financial services, which benefit from Minitel's security features, and access to professional databases. France Télécom mentions, as an example of usage, that 12 million updates to personal vitale health-care cards were made through Minitel.[1]
Trivia Some people may have unlisted telephone numbers but allow themselves to be listed in the Minitel directory, perhaps because, in its early days, the Minitel was an in-group phenomenon, widely used by intellectuals and fashionable people but unused by ordinary consumers.[citation needed] in 1994, a journalist looking for Pauline Réage, the author of the Story of O, found that she was commonly known as Dominique Aury, the name under which she worked as an editor at a major publishing house, Gallimard, and had published several "respectable" books. Aury was not in the white pages, but she was listed in the Minitel directory. The journalist called her and learned that she had found the right Dominique Aury. "Dominique Aury" is also a pseudonym as her real name is Anne Desclos. Pauline Réage, pseudonym of Anne Desclos (September 23, 1907 - April 27, 1998), was a French author. ...
One version of the Roissy triskelion ring described in the book Movie-style Ring of O, as sold in Europe Histoire dO (English title: Story of O) is an erotic novel published in 1954 about sadomasochism by French author Anne Desclos under the pen name Pauline Réage. ...
Pauline Réage (September 23, 1907 - April 27, 1998) was a French author. ...
Éditions Gallimard is the second most important French publisher, and probably the most respected. ...
A pseudonym (Greek pseudo + -onym: false name) is an artificial, fictitious name, also known as an alias, used by an individual as an alternative to a persons true name. ...
Pauline Réage (September 23, 1907 _ April 27, 1998) was a French author. ...
- ^ France Telecom (2005). Bilan Minitel 2005 (PDF, 920KB). Press release. Retrieved on 2006-08-02.
A news release, press release or press statement is a written or recorded communication directed at members of the news media for the purpose of announcing something claimed as having news value. ...
For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ...
August 2 is the 214th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (215th in leap years), with 151 days remaining. ...
Technical Minitel uses dumb terminals consisting of a text based screen, keyboard and modem. Simple graphics can be displayed using a set of predefined graphical characters. Aftermarket printers are available [1]. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Data terminal. ...
A computer display monitor, usually called simply a monitor when the meaning is clear from the context, is a piece of electrical equipment which displays viewable images generated by a computer without producing a permanent record. ...
A computer keyboard is a peripheral partially modeled after the typewriter keyboard. ...
A modem (from modulate and demodulate) is a device that modulates an analogue carrier signal to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. ...
When connecting, the Minitel integrated modem generally dials a special number connecting to a PAVI (Point d'Accès VIdéotexte, "videotext access point"). The PAVI transmits information back on to the servers of the appropriate company or administration using the Transpac X.25 network. Transpac may refer to: Transpacific Yacht Race The original name of Air Caledonie Transpac Industrial Holdings Limited Transpac (network), an old Packet switched network TransPAC2, part of the NSF’s International Research Network Connections (IRNC) program Category: ...
X.25 is an ITU-T standard protocol suite for wide area networks using the phone or ISDN system as the networking hardware. ...
In France the most common dial number was "36 15", while "36 17" was used by more expensive services. Minitel services names were often prefixed with this number to identify them as such, for example Google Minitel would have been called "36 15 Google". Thus the "36 15" prefix had the same meaning as the ".com" suffix now has for Internet web sites.
Minitel used a split baud rate system via its modem. It downlinked at 1200 baud and uplinked at 75 baud. This allowed fast (for the time) downloads using a full duplex system. The system, which came to be known as '1275' was more correctly known as V23. This system was developed solely for Minitel and its clones around the world. Other networks were restricted to 600 baud both ways due to technical limitations of the telephone network and modem technology. V.23 is an ITU-T recommendation for half-duplex communication between two analogue dial-up modems using FSK modulation at up to 600 or 1200 bauds to carry digital data at up to 600 or 1200 bit/s respectively. ...
Technically, Minitel refers to the terminals, while the network is known as Teletel.
Minitel and the Internet Minitel was often considered as an impediment for a fast deployment of the Internet in France, since it already provided safe and easy online access for many useful services without requiring a personal computer. Indeed, it still has many advantages over the Internet: it does not require subscribing to a service, buying and maintaining a costly personal computer, and there are fewer security issues with respect to credit card payments and other personal information. Also, because Minitels follow well-defined standards, there are hardly any compatibility problems, which are commonplace with Internet services.
On the other hand, some argue that thanks to the Minitel, the French are used to doing transactions online, and will embrace the Internet as it offers more value and convenience than the Minitel.
Minitel in other countries South Africa: Videotext was introduced by Telkom in 1986 and named Beltel, the Minitel was introduced later to try and popularise the service. Videotex is a system for sending of pages of text to a user in computer form, typically to be displayed on a television. ...
Telkom SA Ltd. ...
Beltel was the name and trademark used by Telkom for its Videotext system between the mid eighties and 1999. ...
Ireland: In 1992, Telecom Éireann (now known as Eircom) launched the Minitel service, but it did not achieve the penetration levels that it did in France. The corporate logo. ...
eircom Group plc is the largest telecommunications operator in the Republic of Ireland. ...
Canada: Bell Canada experimented with a Minitel-based system known as "AlexTel". The system was technically similar to Minitel, with the exception that the telephone connector was modified to use the Bell System RJ-45 standard connectors. Originally launched experimentally in the Montreal area, "Alex" was then launched in most areas served by Bell Canada (primarily Ontario and Quebec) with offers of a free trial period and terminal. Although branded as a "bilingual" (Engish and French Canadian) service, the majority of the services offered were the experimental services originally offered in Quebec, and were completely Francophone. Retention rates were reportedly close to zero, and the service closed down shortly after exiting the experimental stage. Bell Canada Enterprises (TSX: BCE, NYSE: BCE), legally BCE Inc. ...
The Bell System was a trademark and service mark used by the US telecommunications company American Telephone & Telegraph Company (AT&T) and its affiliated companies to co-brand their extensive circuit-switched telephone network and their affiliations with each other. ...
Cat5 cables with RJ-45 connectors, wired to EIA/TIA-568B An RJ-45 connector that has yet to be crimped onto a cable RJ-45 (Registered Jack 45) is a physical interface often used for terminating twisted pair type cables. ...
Nickname: City of Mary (Ville-Marie) Motto: Concordia Salus (salvation through harmony) Coordinates: Country Canada Province Quebec Founded 1642 Established 1832 Government - Mayor Gérald Tremblay Area [1] [2] [3] - City 365. ...
Motto: Ut Incepit Fidelis Sic Permanet (Latin: Loyal she began, loyal she remains) Official languages English (de facto) Capital Toronto Largest city Toronto Lieutenant-Governor James K. Bartleman Premier Dalton McGuinty (Liberal) Parliamentary representation - House seats - Senate seats 106 24 Area Total - Land - Water (% of total) Ranked 4th 1,076...
This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...
Belgium: Minitel was also launched by Belgacom and successfully delivered services led by Teleroute until recently. It suffered a rapid decline following the extensive broadband rollout initiated by the Flemish regional government. Belgacom SA (Euronext: BELG) is a Brussels-based Belgian telecommunications company. ...
Germany: "Bildschirmtext" (BTX) is almost as old as Minitel, but it was largely unsuccessful because consumers had to buy expensive decoders to use it, on which the German postal service held a monopoly that prevented competition and lower prices. Few people bought the boxes, so there was little incentive for companies to post content. When the monopoly was loosened, it was too late because PC-based online services had started to appear. C64 decoder Bildschirmtext (German screen text, abbrev. ...
BTX can mean: Bildschirmtext Balanced Technology Extended, a computer motherboard form factor This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ...
In economics, a monopoly (from the Latin word monopolium - Greek language monos, one + polein, to sell) is defined as a persistent market situation where there is only one provider of a product or service. ...
United States: In the 1990s, US West, (now Qwest), launched a Minitel service offering in its service areas called "CommunityLink." The service, a joint venture of US West and France Télécom, utilized Minitel-emulator software for the IBM PC, Commodore 64, Apple II and other computers. The service was fairly short-lived, as competing offerings from providers like AOL, Prodigy and CompuServe provided more services for a lower price. Many of US West's Minitel offerings were charged ala carte and/or hourly. U S West, Inc. ...
Qwest Communications International Inc. ...
Screenshot of AOL.com AOL LLC (formerly America Online, Inc) is an American online service provider, bulletin board system, and media company operated by Time Warner. ...
This article refers to the now defunct Prodigy Communications Corporation that was purchased by SBC Communications, Inc. ...
CompuServe, (in full, CompuServe Information Services, or CIS), was the first major commercial online service in the United States, dominating the field during the 1980s and remaining a major player through the mid-1990s when it was sidelined by the rise of information services, such as AOL, who adopted pricing...
Italy: In 1986 the national telephone operator launched the Videotel service. The system use was charged on a per-page basis. Due to the excessive cost of the hardware, the expensive services, diffusion was very low, leading to the diffusion of a FidoNet-oriented movement. The service was shut down in 1996 The FidoNet logo FidoNet is a worldwide computer network that is used for communication between bulletin board systems. ...
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