Interactive videotext is a system enabling the user to obtain information by telephone, this being connected to an information-providing service by means of a small terminal with screen and keyboard. The procedure is interactive in that it implies user-participation, in the form of "dialogue with the computerâ. The keyboard contains letters and figures, as well as special keys for the purposes of dialogue. When a connection has been established with a server, the user states his request by means of the keyboard. The information requested then appears on the screen, along with instructions as to how to proceed further with the search. The dialogue keys serve to pursue this search.
Interactive videotext is a system enabling the user to obtain information by telephone, this being connected to an information-providing service by means of a small terminal with screen and keyboard. The procedure is interactive in that it implies user-participation, in the form of "dialogue with the computerâ. The keyboard contains letters and figures, as well as special keys for the purposes of dialogue. When a connection has been established with a server, the user states his request by means of the keyboard. The information requested then appears on the screen, along with instructions as to how to proceed further with the search. The dialogue keys serve to pursue this search.
This paper outlines the nature of public service videotex. It describes both the medium and progress, and notes the reasons for lack of market progress. Changes in the marketing and management of the system have been introduced. These are discussed in relation to the private viewdata services and likely improvements to Prestel. The consequences for publishing are then discussed. Prestel is the world's first videotex public service. It has been in operation for a year in the United Kingdom. This paper describes what it is and compares it to other rival media. It is essentially a publishing medium, unlike the conventional computerised information retrieval systems which supply specific units of data on command. Prestel pages are designed for general readership and their provision involves editorial skills.
At the outset, advances in electronic publishing proved to be a boon to print publishers. Computerized typesetting and similar developments permitted us to deliver a more attractive product on a more timely basis, and with a savings in labor costs. However, the same technological initiative from which we first profited now appears less friendly, if not ominous. Perhaps it was inevitable: our own technological ingenuity has finally permitted the advent of a form of mass communications -- videotex -- which may mean an end to print communication modes. Indeed, videotex has made several of our colleagues yearn for a return to the days of the quill pen. Reactions to videotex range from doomsayers who prophecy the transformation of 'the reading habit' into 'the viewing habit' to those who choose to ignore its ramifications altogether. The purpose of this presentation is a search for a middle ground: to examine to what extent we may expect videotex to affect print media, particularly newspaper publishing; and to offer alternatives available to the print publisher.