A capsule history of online news and information systems
by David Carlson
© 1999-2009 All Rights Reserved

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1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s

The 1970s

1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
Year U.K. U.S. & Canada Europe Asia/Other
1970 Dec. 14: First mention of the concept behind teletext is made in a BBC internal memo.      
1971 Feb. 9: The BBC files for a patent on "Teledata," the first teletext system, later renamed Ceefax.   Commission of the European Community passes resolution to create a network to be called Euronet.  
1971
con't
  The first U.S. teletext system is tested in Reston, Va., by Mitre Corp. Funded by the National Science Foundation, it closes in 1973.    
1972 Feb. 9: Patent application for teletext is filed by the BBC in London. The first e-mail program for Arpanet is created by Ray Tomlinson of BBN.    
1972
con't
Oct. 23: Ceefax is announced by the BBC, which outlines a series of tests to be conducted. First public demonstration of Arpanet takes place at a computer conference in Washington, D.C.    
1972
con't
  First TV program ever captioned with teletext: Julia Child's "The French Chef."    
1972
con't
  November: Atari is founded and ships Pong, the first commercial video game.    
1973 January: First public demonstration of the Ceefax system, takes place in London. Boston: WGBH begins same-day teletext captioning of news programs. First international connections to Arpanet are created in England and Norway.  
1973
con't
April: Oracle, a competing teletext system, is described by Britain's  Independent Broadcasting Authority. New York Times Information Service provides online search of six databases via telephone access.    
1974 The British Post Office's Research Laboratory demonstrates "Viewdata," the world's first videotex system, later called Prestel. First Use of term "Internet" appears in a conference paper by Vinton Cerf and Bob Kahn.    
1974
con't
  December: The microcomputer age takes off when Popular Electronics publishes a cover story on the Altair 8800, a lights-and-switches computer that costs $439 in kit form.    
1975   Manhattan Cable Television, first in New York City, opens prompting Reuters to start "Newsview," a teletext news service on two cable channels. France: An ambitious project to update the telephone system is begun. Leads to creation of electronic phone book, mass-fax and videotex systems.  
1975
con't
  Canada begins development of Telidon, an advanced videotex system.    
1975
con't
  Bill Gates, 19, and Paul Allen, 22, start a software company in Gates' dorm room at Harvard. It comes to be called Microsoft and its first product is BASIC, a simple programming language.    
1976 Jan. 13: First public demonstration of "Viewdata," later renamed Prestel. Ethernet, which allows coaxial cable to move data extremely fast, is described by Robert M. Metcalfe. This is a crucial component in development of LANs.   February: Japan's NHK publishes a proposal for a text television system.
1976
con't
First known E-mail from a head of state: Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom, sends a message via Prestel. April 1: Steve Wozniak incorporates Apple Computer and introduces the Apple I. Cost: $666.66    
1976
con't
  Gary Kildall and Dorothy McEwen form Digital Research Inc., in  Kildall's Pacific Grove, Calif., toolshed. They market CP/M.    
1976
con't
  Washington: FCC rules in December that a portion of the TV signal can be used for teletext.    
1977 Several British newspapers begin experimenting with information delivery via Prestel. Dow Jones opens Dow Jones News/Retrieval. It provides Wall Street Journal articles and information on publicly held companies. Finland: Telset videotex system is announced.  
1977
con't
  First computerized word processor introduced by Wang Laboratories. Price: $30,000. Spain: Telefonica, then the only telephone company in Spain, creates Ibertex, a videotex service. It can connect with other countries using Teletel or Prestel. Access is via a dedicated terminal or installing a card in the computer.  
1977
con't
  Tandy Corp., owner of Radio Shack, introduces a "personal computer."    
1978 October: Prestel test service opens in London. Feb. 16: The first computer Bulletin Board System is launched in Chicago by Ward Christensen and Randy Seuss. Germany: Bildschirmtext, a videotex system based on Prestel technology begins technical trials. Japan: field trials of Captain start in March in Tokyo. Among the services is an electronic newspaper.
1978
con't
  Hayes begins to sell the first commercial modem, capable of 300 baud.    
1978
con't
Financial Times and Extel form partnership called Fintel to deliver business information via Prestel. Salt Lake City: KSL-TV uses Ceefax software to start an over-the-air teletext system. It was the first example of local teletext creation in the U.S. Finland: Trials of Telset begin in June. It goes public in 1982 as the only non-government owned system in Europe. Japan: Philips and Sony unveil the music CD.
1978
con't
Liverpool Post and Echo makes a brief appearance on Prestel. CBS tests both Ceefax and Antiope software on KMOX-TV in St. Louis. CBS settles on Antiope and starts a service on KNXT in Los Angeles. Netherlands: Viditel, a national videotex service is introduced. It's based on Britain's Prestel technology.  
1978
con't
Eastern Counties Newspapers, a consortium, launches Eastel on the Prestel service. The Source is founded by William von Meister to do for computing "what AT&T did for telephones." At around the same time, CompuServe begins offering dialup services to the public. France: First trials of videotex begin in Velizy, Versailles, Val de Bievre while electronic phone book is tested in Ille et Vilaine. Japan: NHK goes on the air with an experimental teletext system late in the year.
1978
con't
  August: Telidon is first demonstrated in Canada. Spain: Spanish Videotex Project enters trials with 200 terminals.  
1978
con't
  The first "hypermedia" presentation, the Aspen Movie Map, is created by MIT researchers.    
1978
con't
  Intel ships the 8086, a 4.77 MHz chip containing 29,000 transistors.    
1978
con't
October: Birmingham Post and Mail launches its Viewtel 202 service on Prestel. Apple introduces the Apple II, the first computer in a beige plastic case and first to display color graphics. Cost: $1,298.    
1979 Spring: Prestel trials open in Norwich and Birmingham, England. Canada: Telidon, the Canadian answer to videotex, opens. The system uses the Antiope standard. Sweden: Test-TV, a teletext system is implemented by Sveriges Radio, and Televerket, a versatile videotex system are under development. Japan: Captain, an ambitious videotex system trial is launched in December. The system can display  some 3,500 characters of Japanese language.
1979
con't
September: Prestel, the world's first videotex system, is launched commercially. It operates until spring 1994. Infocast, a closed-user-group electronic mail service debuts in the U.S. using FM radio signals and packet-switched networks for data transmission. Euronet Diane (Direct Information Access Network for Europe) opens late in the decade.  
1979
con't
  USENET (the decentralized news group network) is developed at the University of North Carolina.   Japan: The first cellular telephone network is built in Tokyo.
1979
con't
After a year of testing, Fintel takes its company information off Prestel to create a private database called Newsbase. April 17: Knight-Ridder becomes the first U.S. newspaper publisher to announce it will undertake a videotex project. It will be called Viewtron.    
1979
con't
  Intel ships the 8088, a 4.77 MHz chip that can address 1 MB of memory.    
1979
con't
  Two extremely successful early PC software programs, WordStar and dBase II hit the market. Then, VisiCalc is released in October.    
1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979

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