From: utzoo!decvax!ucbvax!teletext Newsgroups: fa.teletext Title: Re: Future Shock of videotext --> reading ability Article-I.D.: ucbvax.7708 Posted: Sat Jun 19 13:15:14 1982 Received: Sun Jun 20 04:10:07 1982 >From RI.SR@MIT-XX Sat Jun 19 13:14:06 1982 Very good point. Also maybe everyone would learn to type, also important for the widespread use of systems. Also significant for kids, and adults as well in fact--maybe access to bulletin boards and/or videotex will/would teach people to use their curiosity to find things out from other people, rather than stifling their curiosity as kids are taught to do in school. Traditionally kids get such excessive distinctions drilled into them between thinking and so-called research--research is looking in the encyclopedia and assumming a given subject is limited to the explanations of the experts. Of course, these bright visions of the future depend, for the most part, on the development of profitable applications. The chicken and egg problem as usual. To Lauren's point about none of the experiements being commerical so far, I think it is reasonable to begin that way as an attempt to get out of the chicken and egg quandry. AT&T for example never claimed their Coral Gables experiment simulated imminent home use. They were trying to find out if anything at all would be desirable. Now that they have some usage research under their belts, they're getting into a more realistic mode. Their next experiment is going to cost money. By the way, people on this mailing list are likely to be aware of this already, but June 28-30 there is a conference devoted to Videotex--Videotex 82--in New York at the Hilton. This is a regular big time commercial show with exhibits and sessions etc. Among the exhibitors will be IBM, which has just announced a videotex program, with a one-time license fee of $10,000, for the Series/1. The program is supposed to allow you to use an IBM personal computer or an adapted tv or an unspecified (and probably as yet nonexistent) "low cost videotex terminal" to send messages etc. in a Prestel-like scheme. IBM stressed in their announcement that they aren't endorsing any particular protocol for the long term, just starting with "what's available." -------