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The other path to the web: the forgotten role of videotex and other early online services

Fordham Business School, USA, JohnCarey{at}Fordham.edu

Martin C.J. Elton

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel, Martin.Elton{at}nyu.edu

Accounts about the origins of the web generally start with a US Department of Defense project that began in the late 1960s, which subsequently expanded to include universities and research laboratories, then later evolved into a service for the public in the mid-1990s: ARPANET, NSFNET, the internet—world wide web. However, the content that eventually populated the web as well as how the public learned to interact with online content had a long history of development via videotex and other online services.These are largely forgotten, except by a few scholars who have kept the history alive. What was learned in the extensive research about these services is very relevant to the current new media environment. Also, it can inform us at a theoretical level about the diffusion of innovations and at a policy level about the role of government in developing new media services.

Key Words: computer conferencing • diffusion of innovations • early web • electronic banking • email • videotex

New Media & Society, Vol. 11, No. 1-2, 241-260 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/1461444808099576


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