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

Select a decade
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1986-89

1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
Year U.K. U.S. & Canada Europe Asia/Other
1986 Prestel reports 65,000 terminals in use and 1,200 information providers. Users view 8.7 million pages each week. July 16: The first Freenet (Cleveland) comes online under the auspices of the Society for Public Access Computing. France: Parisien Libere, a French newspaper, reports 180,000 videotex calls a day via Minitel, averaging 52,000 hours of use per month.  
1986
con't
  First "personal" laser printer, the Apple Laserwriter, is introduced. Price: $7,000. France: Some 1.4 million Minitel terminals are in use. French Telecom grosses $70 million on the service. April: Japan's Captain expands to 245 cities and expects to sell 100,000 terminals.
1986
con't
  Sept. 16: New York Times and Covidea announce New York Pulse, a service for computer users.    
1986
con't
  The Source hits the 60,000 subscriber mark and becomes profitable. Spain: Ibertex, the Spanish videotex system, goes public, using the  CEPT and Antiope standards.  
1986
con't
  CompuServe is purchased by H&R Block Co. for $23 million.    
1987 January: UK has some 4 million teletext decoders in operation. The Middlesex  (Mass.) News launches Fred the Computer, a single-line BBS system previewing the next day's edition. France's Intelmatique has sold videotex systems in the U.S., Austria, Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Italy, Kuwait, Greece, Holland, New Zealand and Norway. First E-mail message from China is sent to Germany on Sept. 20.
1987
con't
  April: The Source is bought by a venture capital firm.   Japan: Some 15,000 teletext decoders are in operation. Services are carried on 10 stations in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya.
1987
con't
  Microsoft ships the 1 millionth copy of Windows. Meanwhile, Apple introduces "Hypercard," a hypertext system.    
1987
con't
  Ted Turner starts the cable-TV revolution when he launches CNN, Cable News Network.    
1988   Sept. 20: Apple and Quantum Computer Services announce AppleLink, a graphical online service for Apple computer users. Spain: The national teletext system is officially launched. It is  called “Telecinco” (Telefive).  
1988
con't
  June: IBM and Sears change the name of Trintex to Prodigy.    
1988
con't
  July: Prodigy begins test marketing in Hartford, Atlanta and California with a service for PCs.    
1988
con't
  Nov. 2: Internet worm burrows through the Net, affecting 6,000 of the 60,000 hosts on the Internet.    
1988
con't
  Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is developed by Jarkko Oikarinen    
1988
con't
  Oct. 10: New York Times photographers use a Macintosh and 9600 bps modem to send Dodgers-Mets photos from L.A. to New York.    
1988
con't
  Dec. 6: Covidea announces it will close its videotex services, Pronto and Business Banking.    
1989   CompuServe and MCImail test Internet relay of electronic mail.    
1989
con't
  Prodigy begins rolling out service in various metro areas. Pricing is  unique - a flat rate of $9.95 per month plus a $49.95 start-up kit. It also sells modems for $100.    
1989
con't
  January: New York Newsday adds a second phone line to its online system to handle multiple callers.    
1989
con't
  January: Quantum and Tandy roll out PC-Link, an online service for IBM-compatible owners and a  forerunner of America Online.    
1989
con't
  The Atlanta Journal and Constitution launch Access Atlanta via a telephone company videotex gateway.    
1989
con't
  June 29: CompuServe buys The Source for an undisclosed sum and closes it for good on Aug. 1.    
1989
con't
  Knight-Ridder's PressLink opens services to other newspapers.    
1989
con't
  October: Omaha World Herald plans videotex system that does not include its newspaper.    
1989
con't
  October: AppleLink is renamed America Online after Apple pulls out of the partnership. Owner Quantum  says PC software is in the works. The company also offers Q-Link for Commodore users and PC-Link for PC users.    
1989
con't
  Oct. 25: New York Newsday and American CITINET announce an online newspaper on a phone company videotex gateway called Info-Look.    
1989
con't
  Oct. 31: Prodigy says it has 100,000 customers in  households in eight major metro areas.    
1989
con't
  November: USA Today unveils its USA Today Sports Center, a proprietary online sports news and gaming service, at COMDEX.    
1989
con't
  The 80486 chip is introduced by Intel. It runs at 25 MHz.    
1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989

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