Computerizing Information: Consumer Reactions to Teletext

Abstract

A teletext trial in Washington, D.C., provides some clues about the public's uses of, expectations for, and fears of electronic text services.Teletext services are rapidly penetrating national markets in Britain, Sweden, Austria, and other European countries. Many expect that teletext will enjoy similar success in the United States within the next few years. Relative to more exotic media for electronic publishing, teletext has the advantages of being inexpensive for consumers and easy to produce for suppliers, for it is transmitted in the vertical blanking interval of broadcast television. Of course, it also has the disadvantages of a one-way rather than two-way capability and a small data base. Put simply, teletext represents a no-frills version of electronic publishing.Associated with the development of teletext services are many practical marketplace questions, production and design issues, and policy concerns. For example, will consumers purchase teletextequipped TVs? What is the relative value of graphics in such a service? What role should public broadcasting play in the development of teletext services?

Videotex and News Reporting

“…In the Washington, D.C., teletext experiment from 1981 to 1982, it was found that willingness to pay extra for teletext was higher among heavy TV viewers and light-to-moderate readers of newspapers and magazines, and lower among heavy readers, suggesting that teletext may appeal in its early phases more to those who rely more on TV than to those who now rely strongly on newspapers, magazines and other forms of print media for information (Elton and Carey, 1983). …”

“…In England, the majority of users said they were "very satisfied" with teletext, and only five percent regarded it as a luxury they seldom used, in the Netherlands, 68 percent of the respondents were "very enthusiastic" about teletext, and only five percent were "somewhat" or "very much" disappointed (Weaver, 1983). In the United States, 90 percent of the Miami Viewtron users liked the service (Broadcasting, 1983), and users of a Washington, D.C., teletext experiment in 1981-82 also generally liked teletext, except for waiting six to twelve seconds for pages (Elton and Carey, 1983). …”

Teletext in Europe: from the Analog to the Digital Era

“…McQuail 2010). According to McKinnon (2012: 20), making reference to Elton and Carey (1983): "Newspapers, magazines, television and radio established the frames through which media industries understood their teletext research, but video games established the frame through which children understood teletext products." This suggests that while teletext was established within a medium of mass (one-to-many) communication, it did not necessarily restrict itself to this type of communication and audiences did not necessarily consider and use it as such.…”

The Electronic Farmers' Marketplace: New Technologies and Agricultural Information

“…videotex/teletext systems and the use of videocassette recorders, satellite receiving dishes, and home computers. Of the farmers responding to each question, about 52 percent had VCRs, 8 percent had satellite dishes, and 11 Finally, we examined the relationship between the adoption of any of the percent had computers. The chi-square results suggest that in this context the function of new technologies is as important as their newness.…”