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The End of Minitel
ZeldorBlat writes "The French Minitel service is closing it's doors at the end of today. Started in 1982, Minitel provides several services now widely available on the web including phone listings, train ticketing, and many other third-party content. Many prefered it to the web for it's simplicity and perceived security. The system is to be replaced with Le Compte Achats, available to businesses only. The notice can be found here."
but I guess it was too expensive to maintain, so it had to happen.
The Minitel systemi is slow, old and expensive, but it has one great redeeming quality that the internet doesn't have: it's basically a huge star-shaped network, with the only agent between the dumb terminal (the Minitel proper) and the service provider being France Telecom: FT operates the trunk lines, the last-mile lines (it's just the POTS) and the servers that manage the whole thing. So, what's great about that is, unless someone is tapping your phone line, or some well-placed FT employee is a thieve, there is no way in hell anybody can steal your personal information. As a result, it's an extremely secure way of doing business "online". What's more, you don't need a computer, Windows, anti-virus software and whatnot, so it's great for technophobic people.
But I should say "was", since it is no more. Too bad...
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
The reason it was popular was that the users will billed per minute and some of that money went to the content provider, with the rest going to France Telecom. French business didn't like switching to web pages because they are a pure expense, while minitel pages generated some revenue. When I lived in France (mid to late 90s) my friends preferred web pages, but that simply wasn't an option in many cases.
I'm not saying that minitel doesn't have security mechanisms, I'm just saying that its popularity was due to economics.
Personally, I'm glad it is gone. I thought it was slow and clunky a decade ago, and I can't imagine that I would like it any more today.
- doug
I remember when Minitel was first introduced, and, in 1982, it was pretty hot stuff. Lots of people were playing with videotex in the 1980s (remember Telidon?), but only France seemed to find a use for it. I knew people who used Prestel, but all they ever seemed to do with it was send pr0n.
I have used Minitel when visiting France for its original purpose, putting the phone book online. It worked.
...laura
So what makes it so much better than visiting HTTPS sites on Internet Channel for Wii?
:) I know Wii fans love the $250 cost of the Wii, but Minitel is free -- $0 (or rather 0F).
:) $20 for a used DC, $5 for the web browser disk (if it's not included), $20 more for a mouse and keyboard... not too shabby. And four controller ports for multi-player games. And it runs Linux. Yes, I like my Dreamcast :) High-def before the term was around :)
I'm going to take a guess here, and assume that you've never used/seen a Mintel? Forgive me if that is not the case.
A minitel, unlike a Wii, has a keyboard. The Wiis software keyboard is as easy to use as a regular one, especially if you have to type a lot in -- it's fine for entering URLs, but I wouldn't want to use it for writing email, for example (yes, I have a Wii). A mintel also does not require a seperate screen, so there's no contention with the TV (ie, if one person wants to watch TV, and other wants to check something online with the Wii). Lastly, there's the price
The real question is how does this beat a Dreamcast