1981
The Compuserve internet bulletin board system (BBS) had serious navigational
problems and no visual appeal. There was no graphical user interface.
In any event, nothing unusual here -- All computer screens looked like this. It was the Macintosh windows system, and later the MS windows system, that changed the look and feel of computing.
1984
Teletext experiment in London: The signal is embedded in the verticle blanking interval. Cheap delivery system is good, long wait for page download is a big user problem. Poor graphics compared to basic television makes the system less pleasant to use.
1982 - 1984
Viewtron experiment by Knight-Ridder was based in Miami. Some graphics are possible but users and advertisers are disappointed in the system, which requires not only a monthly subscription fee but also the purchase of an independent terminal. At the very end, Viewtron designs software that lets people use their own computers, but its too late, and the $50 million experiment bombs.
1988
Prodigy was an ISP experiment financed by Sears and IBM.
CBS was also involved in the early stages but decided against it. Minimal graphics made it work - sort of.
1980s
French Minitel system was a combination telephone and computer network. It was the world's first online business network. It worked, and it still works.
c. 1989
A Minitel screen circa 1989. Somehow the French never got much credit for this system which was in effect the world's first web.
1993
Prodigy partnered with the Atlanta Journal and Constitution to create this online information system. The graphics were preloaded on disks sent through the mail or given away with a subscription. Only the text changed from day to day.
January 1994
January, 1994, the San Jose Mercury News in Silicon Valley, California has been using an America On Line interface, rather like the Constitution's (above). The text box in the middle of the right side of the page is the only thing that is downloaded on a day to day basis. This changes dramatically when ...
May 1994
The San Jose Mercury News in Silicon Valley, California tries a new system called the World Wide Web where graphics and text are both sent out over the Internet together. Notice that the columns of buttons and text are very similar to the AOL design approach.
