The Prehistory of the Internet and its Traces in the Present: Implications for Defining the Field

Abstract

This chapter describes how relevant the study of new media and telecommunication innovations, such as videotex, has been to research on developments around the Internet and the Web. It elaborates the distinctions between the Internet and the Web. Additionally, some of the more interesting links between research issues from long ago (in Internet time!) and those of significance today are explained. Online databases developed the initial designs for information services that would appear on the Web. CompuServe and The Source are the best-known ASCII videotex services. These videotex services provide links to other organisations with which the companies did business. The Internet was initially an infrastructure that efficiently transmitted data and at very low cost; fairly soon, it also became able to transmit asynchronous and real-time voice and video. The Internet community resolved the problem of interlinking disparate computer systems so as to produce new and synergistic wholes.

Web Science: Understanding the Emergence of Macro-Level Features on the World Wide Web

“…The Web (a) brings nontechnical and non-professional users to the Internet, (b) provides the protocols that made the diversity that Dutton identifies possible, and (c) bridges the training gaps and digital divides that could have prevented the democratisation of online content creation. Elton and Carey [121] provide a historical survey of the precursors to the Web, and argue that much of the Web's functionality, such as online banking, news, commentary and discussions, had already appeared in various standalone applications or in technologies such as Videotex systems (Minitel and Prestel) which had accustomed their user bases to important types of interaction. In particular, the experience of these technologies demonstrated the importance of content provision and conversation (unidirectional communication rarely succeeded, and interaction was often important), and showed how open systems were generally more successful than walled gardens.…”

A Historical Perspective on Student Affairs Professionals’ Use of Digital Technology

“…Warschauer and Matuchniak () argued that people began to consume and produce Internet content educationally more frequently. The diverse sets of practices, beliefs, and attitudes evolving around these uses has brought prominence to key related issues, including privacy, freedom of expression, and quality of information (Elton & Carey, ).…”

Internets: The Changing Role of Internet Protocols in Evolving Broadband Technologies

“…Although TCP/IP is our contemporary public internet, during the ARPANET program, other countries were also working to develop computerized communication for their citizens in their borders. These were called videotex systems where computerized tasks such as banking, telephone books, advertising, communications, and accessing online content were marketed to citizens of various countries to aid in those nations' computerization (Elton & Carey, 2013). The first videotex systems are reported to date back to the early 1970s in the United Kingdom (UK) through research and development by the British Post Office throughout the 1960s developing the Prestel system (Elton & Carey, 2013).…”

“…These were called videotex systems where computerized tasks such as banking, telephone books, advertising, communications, and accessing online content were marketed to citizens of various countries to aid in those nations' computerization (Elton & Carey, 2013). The first videotex systems are reported to date back to the early 1970s in the United Kingdom (UK) through research and development by the British Post Office throughout the 1960s developing the Prestel system (Elton & Carey, 2013). Other national developments quickly followed in suite including countries like Canada (Telidon), the US (CompuServe and The Source, then later Viewtron and Gateway), 7 Germany (Bildschirmtext), Japan (Captain service), and France (Minitel) (Elton & Carey, 2013).…”

“…The first videotex systems are reported to date back to the early 1970s in the United Kingdom (UK) through research and development by the British Post Office throughout the 1960s developing the Prestel system (Elton & Carey, 2013). Other national developments quickly followed in suite including countries like Canada (Telidon), the US (CompuServe and The Source, then later Viewtron and Gateway), 7 Germany (Bildschirmtext), Japan (Captain service), and France (Minitel) (Elton & Carey, 2013). These systems quickly faded out of public purview in part from poor deployment efforts, however, France's Minitel was a strong precursor to the Americanreleased internet in 1993 but failed as any type of international communication standard like the TCP/IP suite.…”