Viewtron: Difference between revisions

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-<![CDATA[
-<p>
-<strong>
-Viewtron [related:
-[[error]]
-Sceptre]
-</strong>
-<br/>
-[[knight-ridder]]
-'s online videotex system
-modeled after the British Post Office's Prestel and deployed exclusively on
-the AT&amp;T Sceptre
-<sup>
-</sup>
-graphic terminal. Viewtron developed strategic
-brand partnerships with the
-<em>
-Miami Herald
-</em>
-, JC Penny, and others. From
-the outset, the project was designed to appeal specifically to the tech-phobic
-consumers, at times mailing written directions to its users or notifying
-customers of new applications via automated phone messages AKA RoboCalls. The
-service was later named by PC Magazine as the biggest project failure of
-all-time in the field of Information Technology, despite it's phone-based
-customer service receiving a conglomerated 99.9% satisfaction rating. The
-Viewtron service was initially launched via installation in 125 homes located
-throughout the upscale neighborhood of
-[[error]]
-, Florida in 1980, an initiative
-dubbed "Bowsprit" by the company. Despite the rapid growth of the service in
-the following years it was determined by Knight Ridder that the vast majority
-of subscribers used the service for various kinds of secure "
-<!-- links to pink twilight -->
-[[error]]
-", perhaps paralleling the end-use of
-[[videotex]]
-. Throughout Knight Ridder's
-operation of Viewtron it maintained an almost authoritarian resistance to the
-development of any kind of interactive features, fearing they would lead to "a
-dystopia without newspapers, where [truth is relative and information is
-generated primarily by the user and exchanged rapidly and without expert
-oversight]".
-</p>
-<div class="footnote">
-<p>
-<sup>
-</sup>
-The Sceptre used a standard television set for display and
-included an infrared wireless keyboard and integrated 1200/75 baud 7-bit
-modem. Required for the proper display of NAPLPS geometry-specified pages,
-the Sceptre was initially offered to residents of Coral Gables at a discount
-of $600, with plans for a wide release at $900 (it was reported that each
-unit cost over $1200 to manufacture not including shipping). Upon Sceptre's
-discontinuation in 1986 it was estimated AT&amp;T had lost over $80 million
-dollars on the venture.
-</p>
-</div>
-]]>

Revision as of 21:43, 8 March 2024