An electronic service offering people the privilege of paying to read
the weather on their television screens instead of having somebody
read it to them for free while they brush their teeth. The idea
bombed everywhere it wasn't government-subsidized, because by the
time videotex was practical the installed base of personal computers
could hook up to timesharing services and do the things for which
videotex might have been worthwhile better and cheaper. Videotex
planners badly overestimated both the appeal of getting information
from a computer and the cost of local intelligence at the user's end.
Like the {gorilla arm} effect, this has been a cautionary tale to
hackers ever since. See also {vannevar}.
[glossary]
[Reference(s) to this entry by made by: {vannevar}]