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101 Online: History of the American Minitel Network and Lessons from Its Failure

IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, PrePrints, July 13, 2015

Posted: 10 Aug 2015

See all articles by Julien Mailland

Julien Mailland

Indiana University Bloomington - Department of Telecommunications

Date Written: July 13, 2015

Abstract

In 1981, France launched Minitel, a videotext ecosystem that quickly became the world's first successful mass market digital information network. By 1991, all of France was online. That year, in San Francisco, France Telecom launched 101 Online, the American version of Minitel. 101 Online was as massive a failure as Minitel had been a success. Why? Building on interviews with key 101 Online and France Telecom decision-makers, this article reveals the as yet undocumented history of the 101 Online ecosystem, suggests reasons why it failed where Minitel had succeeded, and draws lessons for the current policy debate on what information-network architecture and implementation best fosters digital innovation.

Keywords: Minitel, 101 Online, France Telecom, Telecommunications, Videotex, Ecosystems, Databases, Companies, Computers, History

Suggested Citation

Mailland, Julien, 101 Online: History of the American Minitel Network and Lessons from Its Failure (July 13, 2015). IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, PrePrints, July 13, 2015, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2641921

Julien Mailland (Contact Author)

Indiana University Bloomington - Department of Telecommunications ( email )

Bloomington, IN 47405
United States

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