How a Grandmother Pioneered a Home Shopping Revolution

Posted by samzenpus on Monday September 16, 2013 @06:08AM from the old-school dept.

eionmac writes in with a story about the humble beginnings of an industry that is worth over $186.1 billion in the UK alone. "Grandmother Jane Snowball, 72, sat down in an armchair in her Gateshead home in May 1984, picked up a television remote control and used it to order the groceries from her local supermarket. She was part of a council initiative to help the elderly. What she - and everyone else with her at the time - didn't realise was that her simple shopping list was arguably the world's first home online shop. With her remote control she used a piece of computer technology called Videotex. It sent the order down her phone line to the local Tesco - the goods were then packaged and delivered to her door. Mrs Snowball never saw a computer - her television linked her to the shop. 'What we effectively did was to take a domestic TV in a home and turn it into a computer terminal,' says Michael Aldrich, the man behind the technology for the system. 'That was the big leap.'"

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Grandmother Jane Snowball's first shopping list by JoeyRox · 2013-09-16 06:24 · Score: 4, Funny

2 bottles of red wine
1 can of whip cream
4 extra large cucumbers
1 can Crisco cooking grease
1 box Trojan condoms
1 package of Marlboro Lights
1. Re:Grandmother Jane Snowball's first shopping list by Anonymous Coward · 2013-09-16 06:38 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  None of which were available in Gateshead in 1984.
  More likely:
  2 bottles of Stout
  1 can tuna (for the cat)
  1 bag potatoes
  1 tub of lard (to cook the potatoes)
  1 tin corned beef
  1 pack golden virginia loose tobacco