Prestel

Template:Short description Template:For2 Template:Use British English Template:Use dmy dates

Prestel was the brand name of a videotex service launched in the UK in 1979 by Post Office Telecommunications, a division of the British Post Office.Template:Refn It had around 95,500 attached terminals at its peak,<ref name=SchofieldJan89> Template:Cite news</ref> and was a forerunner of the internet-based online services developed in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.<ref name=Davenport2023> Template:Cite journal</ref> Prestel was discontinued in 1994 and its assets sold by British Telecom to a company consortium.<ref name=PrestelSaleInd> Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=Rutter />Template:Rp

A subscriber to Prestel used an adapted TV set with a keypad or keyboard, a dedicated terminal, or a microcomputer to interact with a central database via an ordinary phoneline. Prestel offered hundreds of thousands of pages of general and specialised information, ranging from consumer advice to financial data, as well as services such as home banking, online shopping, travel booking, telesoftware, and messaging.

In September 1982, to mark Information Technology Year,Template:Refn the Royal Mail issued two commemorative stamps, one of which featured a Prestel TV set and keyboard.<ref name=CommemStamp-1982> {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In April 1984, British Telecom won a Queen's Award for Technological Achievement for the development of Prestel.<ref name=QueenAward> Template:London Gazette</ref>

HistoryEdit

Invention and developmentEdit

In 1970, Samuel Fedida, a research engineer who had worked at English Electric and a US consultancy company, joined the Post Office as head of the Computer Applications Research Division. Within a year, he had completed the initial design of a viewdata system (the generic term in use at the time) for the general public: it would comprise information stored on a central computer accessed over the public phone network using modified televisions as terminals. By early 1973, the Post Office had decided to develop an experimental system, and was working with the BBC, the Independent Broadcasting Authority, and standards organisations to develop compatible standards for teletext and viewdata. During 1974, it decided to commercialise the viewdata concept.<ref name=Rutter />Template:Rp

Pilot trialEdit

The first public demonstration of viewdata took place in London in 1975 during Eurocomp, the European Computing Conference on Communications Networks,<ref name=EurocompTimes> Template:Cite newspaper The Times</ref> where Fedida presented a paper on the technology and the potential appeal, as the Post Office saw it, of a public interactive information service.<ref name=FedidaEurocomp> Template:Cite book </ref>

Further demonstrations followed, and based on the favourable reactions of TV manufacturers and potential providers of information and services, the Post Office decided to run a pilot trial.<ref name=Rutter />Template:Rp It also agreed with potential information providers (IPs) that it would not select IPs or exert editorial control over what they put on the system.<ref name=Reid-1981> Template:Cite book</ref>

The two-year pilot service began in January 1976.<ref name=Rutter />Template:Rp By mid-1977, IPs included the Consumers' Association, the British Farm Produce Council, British Rail, London Transport, the Open University, the London Stock Exchange, the Institute for Scientific Information, and National Giro.<ref name=PilotTrialTimes> Template:Cite newspaper The Times</ref>Template:Rp Interviewed by The Times, Fedida was quoted as saying that the Post Office saw viewdata playing several roles: as a "centralised information source", an "intelligent interface" to specialised scientific and technical data, a "communication machine" for passing messages, a personal information store, a new information distribution medium, a "channel for education in the home", and as providing an "advanced calculator service".<ref name=PilotTrialTimes />Template:Rp

Test serviceEdit

After some delay,<ref name=Rutter />Template:Rp<ref name=Large-Oct1978> Template:Cite news</ref> the Post Office launched a test service of Prestel, as it was now called,Template:Refn in October 1978. At the end of December, there were 95,500 information pages, growing at a rate of 3,500 per week, and just over 300 users, increasing by 30Template:Ndash50 per week.<ref name=Williams1979 />Template:Rp

Commercial launchEdit

Template:See also In March 1979, the Post Office opened a limited "London Residential Service" for subscribers in the capital.<ref name=StokesViewdataBook />Template:Rp The full commercial service launched in September 1979;<ref name=Rutter />Template:Rp the director of Prestel stated that there were over 130,000 pages in the database and 1363 "sets" connected to the system at the start of that month.<ref name=Reid-Sept79Gdn> Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Rp

By February 1980, there were 131 IPs and 116 sub-IPs. The Post Office categorised the IPs as follows: national and local newspaper groups; magazine and other publishing groups; central government departments, and other agencies (such as the British Tourist Authority and the British Library); nationalised industries (including British Airways, Sealink, and British Rail), and companies in other fields of business, such as banks and travel agencies; new companies set up to exploit the viewdata medium, and those expanding from an existing base of online services, such as Reuters; associations; software companies; and miscellaneous.<ref name=Williams-IPs />Template:Rp

Particularly popular were the travel-oriented nationalised industries; new companies, such as Fintel;<ref name=Fintel-formed> Template:Cite newspaper The Times</ref> and the Consumers' Association.<ref name=Williams-IPs> Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp Overall, popular topics included games, quizzes, jokes, and horoscopes; the Stock Market, company information, and business news; travel and holiday information; national news, sports, and "What's On" locally; cars; and consumer advice.<ref name=Williams-IPs />Template:Rp This was reflected in advertisements for Prestel.<ref name=TimesAd1980> Template:Cite newspaper The Times</ref>

Writing in the winter 1980/81 issue of British Telecom Journal, Prestel's public relations manager stated there were over 7,500 sets attached to the system, 170,000 frames in use, and more than 400 IPs and sub-IPs.<ref name=BTJwinter1980-81> Template:Cite journal</ref>Template:Rp By the end of 1981, according to Butler Cox, a management consultancy,<ref name=ButlerCox1982> {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Rp Prestel had 2,000 residential and 11,000 business users, with 14,000 "terminals"Template:Sic in use. The service was within local call reach of 62% of phone subscribers in Britain. IPs numbered 153, with 593 sub-IPs. Users accessed 190,000 frames per day, and the average time on the system, for each user per day, was 9 minutes. There were 193,000 frames available, including 2,000 response frames. Template:Section link

Prestel GatewayEdit

March 1982 saw the launch of the Prestel Gateway service. This enabled users to connect, via the Prestel network, to external computers operated by IPs or other companies.<ref name=GatewayAslibProc> Template:Cite journal</ref> Travel agents, for example, used Gateway to connect to tour operators' systems and make reservations.<ref name=Rutter />Template:Rp

User chargesEdit

At the launch of the commercial service in September 1979, and in addition to phone charges, users were charged 3p per minute online to Prestel from 8 am to 6 pm Monday to Friday, and 3p for three minutes at other times. Installing a phone jack-socket cost £13, with a quarterly rental of 50p. Business users paid an additional standing charge (i.e., a flat charge regardless of usage) of £12 per quarter.<ref name=BTstaffGuideCirca1979> Template:Cite document</ref>

By October 1982, the online usage charge had risen to 5p per minute (8 am to 6 pm Monday to Friday and also 8 am to 1 pm on Saturdays, free at other times), the business standing charge to £15 per quarter, residential users now paid £5 per quarter, and jack installation cost "from £15", with a 15p quarterly rental fee.<ref name=IPcharges />Template:Rp

GrowthEdit

From September 1986,<ref name=TelematicsTransition> Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp under page *656#, Prestel's publicity department published a "Factframe" showing, at the end of each month, the average number of terminals attached and the respective percentages in businesses and in homes; the number of frames available and the number of frame accesses per week; and the number of messages sent per week.<ref name=Factframe>An example from 1987: Template:Cite document </ref> Actual subscriber figures were not published; Thomas et al. (1992) suggest these were "significantly less" than the number of terminals, as "businesses were assumed to 'attach' more than one terminal", and note that British Telecom stopped publishing figures at the end of 1988.<ref name=SettingStage> Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp

In September 1982, The Times reported there were 18,000 users, of whom 3,000 were residential.<ref name=Times-stats-Sept82> Template:Cite newspaper The Times</ref> Noting that British Telecom had originally forecast 50,000 users at this point, the report went on to outline a new approach to attracting them, quoting senior managers from British Telecom and the head of a joint venture. The plans involved the introduction of a home banking service; the marketing of a Prestel adaptor for computer terminals to the business and higher education sectors; and the launch of Micronet 800, a service for microcomputer users.

Six months later, in February 1983, the same newspaper recorded 22,400 users, of whom 15% were residential, writing that the future of Prestel "could be in doubt by 1985 if it is not approaching profitability."<ref name=Times-stats-Feb83> Template:Cite newspaper The Times</ref>

In mid-1984, the UK Department of Trade and Industry issued a booklet stating that the availability of travel information, the launch of Micronet 800, and the provision nationwide of the messaging service, Mailbox, had contributed to a rise to 45,000 attached terminals by June of that year. 61% were in businesses, and 39% in homes. In that month, on average, the Prestel database contained 320,000 frames that were accessed 14.6 million times. 17 Prestel Gateways to external computers were in operation.<ref name=DTI-1984> Template:Cite book</ref> For July, the Butler Cox consultancy recorded 47,000 users (60% business, 40% residential), and a total of 1,200 IPs and sub-IPs.<ref name=ButlerCox1985 />Template:Rp

After another year, in mid-1985, The Times stated there were 53,000 "terminals, adapted televisions, microcomputers or specially designed units" attached to Prestel, with residential users now accounting for 45% of the total. In the reporter's view, this represented "a change of fortune for [a service] deemed commercially dubious by many commentators."<ref name=Times-stats-03June85> Template:Cite newspaper The Times</ref> The figure of 65,000 was reached at the beginning of 1986Template:Sndabout a third were Micronet 800 subscribers. Prestel had reportedly traded at a profit from the previous October onwards.<ref name=Times-stats-14Jan86> Template:Cite newspaper The Times</ref> Commenting in September 1986 on what it referred to as "only 70,000 users ... growing at a rate of ... a few hundred customers a week", The Times declared that Prestel "had failed to live up to expectations", comparing it unfavourably to the French Minitel videotex service and to British Telecom's own Telecom Gold electronic mail service.<ref name=Times-stats13Sept86> Template:Cite newspaper The Times</ref>

Writing in The Guardian just before Christmas 1988, Jack Schofield reported that Prestel "had become reclusive" about user numbers, with the Factframe, "[a]fter prompting, ... finally updated this summer ... claim[ing] 90,000 users", while the figure of "only 75,000" was being quoted by the British Telecom manager responsible for the service.<ref name=SchofieldDec88> Template:Cite news</ref> In January 1989, drawing on what turned out to be the final Factframe, published at the end of 1988, Schofield wrote that "After ten years, [Prestel] has yet to achieve the number of users it expected to get in its first year", quoting a figure of 95,460 terminals attached.<ref name=SchofieldJan89 /> This was the highest figure claimed during the lifetime of Prestel.<ref name=SettingStage />Template:Rp

DeclineEdit

In October 1991, British Telecom closed Micronet 800, stating, in a letter to customers, that "With over 10,000 members, Micronet is easily the largest online service in the UK specialising in microcomputing. However, it is still not large enough to enable us to maintain a cost-effective service and provide the extra facilities requested by our customers."<ref name=MicronetClosure1991> {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Membership had decreased from a peak of around 20,000.<ref name=Rutter />Template:Rp The Guardian attributed this to the introduction by British Telecom of an off-peak Prestel time-charge in mid-1988, discouraging the use of Micronet's popular "Chatline" service.<ref name=BrownMicronet1991> Template:Cite news</ref> The Times agreed, and also pointed to a steep rise in subscription charges, opining that "BT's failure to provide even this committed group with an economic ... service means that Prestel is destined ... for businesses."<ref name=MayMicronet1991> Template:Cite newspaper The Times</ref> The closure in April 1991 of Homelink, the home banking service launched in 1983 by the Nottingham Building Society,<ref name=HomelinkClosureArticle> Template:Cite journal</ref>Template:Rp also contributed to shrinking the number of Prestel subscribers.<ref name=Rutter />Template:Rp

During 1991, Prestel was closed to residential users.<ref name=Rutter />Template:Rp Towards the end of 1993, it was reported that British Telecom was planning to close Prestel altogether: according to the company, of the around 35,000 subscribers at that point, only some 2,500 used the service regularly.<ref name=ClosureLaurance> Template:Cite news</ref>

ClosureEdit

British Telecom closed Prestel in early 1994, selling it to a consortium. It was rebranded as "New Prestel", focusing on the provision of financial data to businesses.<ref name=PrestelSaleInd /> In mid-1996, New Prestel transferred to the Web, becoming the Internet service provider (ISP) "Prestel On-line"<ref name=PrestelOn-line> Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="PrestelOn-lineArchive"> {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 1999, the financial data component of Prestel On-line was bought by the company Financial Express to become "Financial Express Prestel".<ref name=FinExpressPrestel> {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The service component merged with the ISP Demon Internet,<ref name=DemonPrestel> Template:Cite news</ref> which ran a "Prestel Internet Service". This closed in 2002.<ref name=Rutter />Template:Rp

AnalysesEdit

Writing in early 1979 about the test service that had launched in October 1978, a Post Office executive concluded that:<templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />

"The strengths of viewdata include its visual attractiveness, its ease of use, low cost and its wide range of applications. Its weaknesses include its small information window, unsophisticated search methods, its limited storage capacity and its lack of computer power for users. How rapidly viewdata will become established, and the exact role it will fulfil, is as yet a matter of speculation."<ref name=Williams1979>
Template:Cite journal</ref>{{#if:|{{#if:|}}

— {{#if:|, in }}Template:Comma separated entries
}}

{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Blockquote with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | author | by | char | character | cite | class | content | multiline | personquoted | publication | quote | quotesource | quotetext | sign | source | style | text | title | ts }}

In the aftermath of Prestel's pivot away, in the early 1980s, from a focus on the general public to targeting the business community, the professions, and microcomputing enthusiasts,<ref name=ButlerCox1985 />Template:Rp Noll (1985) studied the possible reasons for Prestel's lack of take-up by households. He concluded that the following factors might have been significant: a shortage, at the beginning of the commercial service, of affordable Prestel-adapted TV sets and, later, adaptors; relatively high frame-access and time-based online charges; the large size of the database, and the difficulty of searching it; and the variation in how information providers (IPs) arranged and presented their Prestel pages.<ref name=Noll-1985> Template:Cite journal</ref>Template:Rp

Noll contrasted the "relative failure" of Prestel with the "success" of teletext, noting that receiving the latter was free and its database much smaller.<ref name=Noll-1985 />Template:Rp Overall, he questioned "the [...] hypothesis that the information needs of consumers can be satisfied by a large, centralized, computerized database of general-interest information."<ref name=Noll-1985 />Template:Rp

After consulting a group of experts in the videotex domain, the information scientists Grover & Sabherwal drew conclusions (1989) that largely concurred with Noll's. In addition, they judged that government subsidies were required to boost public interest and mass take-up.<ref name=Grover-1989> Template:Cite journal</ref> This latter view was also held by Mosco, a political economist, who wrote in 1982: "[T]he British government appears to be prepared to let Prestel sink or swim on its own commercial ability Template:Sic ... It is too early to offer a complete assessment of Prestel. However, the direction of development is clear: the need for immediate commercial success means cutting back on earlier mass marketing efforts and an emphasis on specific business uses."<ref name=Mosco-1982> Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp

In a paper published shortly after Prestel had been discontinued in 1994, Case, an information scientist, examined the motivations behind the development of this and other videotex services from a sociological perspective. In his view, "[E]xplanations of videotex require consideration of higher-level phenomena [such] as policy, ideology, belief, and vision".<ref name=Case-1994> Template:Cite journal</ref>Template:Rp He identified the envisioning of videotex as a facilitator of mass participation in an emerging information society<ref name=Crawford-1983> Template:Cite journal</ref>Template:Snda belief held and promoted by many politicians, futurists, sociologists, and business leaders in the 1960s and 1970sTemplate:Sndas a crucial spur to the development of the technology, sustained investment, and the roll-out of services.<ref name=Case-1994 />Template:Rp This vision was animated, according to communications technology researchers Harmeet & Sandvig's summary (2006) of scholarly views, by the "converging agendas of myriad players ... all seeking to increase revenues in otherwise saturated markets": phone companies (increased network traffic), set and terminal manufacturers (more sales), newspapers and news agencies (additional outlets for content), and business sectors such as banks and the travel trade (looking to reduce transaction costs).<ref name=HarmeetSandvig-2006> Template:Cite conference Template:Requires subscription</ref>Template:Rp

Regarding Prestel, Case summarised the problems it faced (as described by a former chief executive)<ref name=Hooper-1984> {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} Reprinted in Template:Cite book</ref> as the lack of a trigger service,Template:Refn low-quality information, complicated charges, competing services, and uncoordinated marketing by IPs, British Telecom, and terminal and adaptor providers.<ref name=Case-1994 />Template:Rp Insufficient market research into "what sorts of information people actually use, and what delivery modes are appropriate for them" was identified by public policy researchers Thomas & Miles (1989) as a further reason why Prestel failed to live up to expectations.<ref name=TelematicsTransition />Template:Rp

Poor, a communications researcher, suggested (2006) that the failure of Prestel to achieve significant mass-market take-up was linked to its "highly centralized and closed" nature.<ref name=Poor-2006> Template:Cite conference Template:Requires subscription</ref>Template:Rp He cited the control over content exercised by IPs and the system operator, British Telecom,<ref name=Poor-2006 />Template:Rp coupled with a lack of connectivity to both non-videotex online services and other videotex services based on different technical standards.<ref name=Poor-2006 />Template:Rp On standards, Poor (2004) believed that "A universal videotex standard would have been like the common gauge for railroad, or common standards for the telegraph or the telephone. Disparate systems could connect, and enjoy network externalities due to scale."<ref name=Poor-2004> Template:Cite thesis</ref>Template:Rp

DatabaseEdit

Pages and framesEdit

NumberingEdit

Information on Prestel was held in a database of "pages". Each page corresponded to a screenful of information, and had a unique number up to nine digits long.Template:Refn

A page could have up to 26 sub-pages, with each sub-page labelled with a letter from "a" to "z". A sub-page was called a "frame": the page itself was frame "a". Neither pages nor frames could scroll.<ref name=E-Bookstall> Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp<ref name=CustomerBrochure1982> Template:Cite document</ref>Template:Rp<ref name=BBCmicroPrestel1984> {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Rp

Each IP rented a three-digit number as its master page. For example, the Meteorological Office's was 209,<ref name=Handbook1987 />Template:Rp and the numbers identifying all its pages began with these digitsTemplate:Snd such as for 20971, the page for "Aviation forecasts".<ref name=StartUpDir1987 />Template:Rp

Single- and double-digit pages were reserved by Prestel for system information purposes, such as page 1, which showed the main index. Pages starting with 9 were for account and other system management functions: page 92, for example, showed details of a Prestel user's bill.<ref name=CustomerBrochure1982 />Template:Rp

TypesEdit

Most frames were set up to provide information. Other types were for messaging, or provided a gateway to services on other computers. A "follow-on" type caused the next frame in sequence to be automatically displayed as soon as the current frame had filled the screen.

By embedding cursor-control characters in the page, simple animations could be produced by rewriting parts of the screen already displayed. These were known as "dynamic frames".<ref name=Dynamic-1> Template:Cite magazine</ref>Template:Refn Combined with the follow-on attribute, this provided a way to continue animations that could not fit within the number of characters available in one frame alone.Template:Citation needed

This follow-on frame attribute was also used for telesoftware, enabling computer programs, such as those for the BBC Micro, to be downloaded from Prestel.Template:Refn<ref name=BBCmicroPrestel1984 />Template:Rp

Layout, design, and writing for PrestelEdit

Each frame had 24 lines of 40 characters each, and as in the format used by the Ceefax and ORACLE teletext services, could contain a maximum of 960 characters. The bottom line was reserved for system messages, leaving 920 characters for the Information Provider (IP). The top line, showing the name or logo of the IP, the page number, and the price,<ref name=CustomerBrochure1982 />Template:Rp occupied at least 43 characters, depending on the design of the logo. This left 22 lines and a maximum 877 characters available for the IP to present information to the user.<ref name=BUS1981> {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Rp

When preparing and editing a page, an IP could use upper- and lower-case letters, digits, punctuation marks, a few arithmetic symbols, and a set of "mosaic characters" for composing rudimentary graphics.<ref name=Handbook1987 />Template:Rp Template:Refn The appearance of a character could be changed using a display-attribute code.<ref name=PrestelTermSpec1982 />Template:Rp These modified the appearance of subsequent characters on the same row of the screen, and themselves occupied one character position, which was displayed as a space.<ref name=PrestelTheTechnology> Template:Cite document</ref>Template:Rp

In early 1978, at the end of the pilot trial, Post Office Telecommunications commissioned a study of the content and function of Prestel and how these aspects related to the graphic design of Prestel pages.<ref name=M&A-stage1> {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Rp Several graphics designers were consulted (including the designer of Prestel's logo and its index and system pages),<ref name=Kurlansky-1982> Template:Cite journal</ref> along with professional writers, journalists, media specialists, and database managers.

On graphic design, the main conclusions reached were to encourage IPs to use only a few colours on each page; to take into account the variety of TV sets and other terminals in use (colour or monochrome, different screen sizes, a range of serif or sans-serif typefaces); and to accommodate users with poor sight or colour blindness.<ref name=M&A-stage1 />Template:Rp Building on the study's results and the outcomes of other research, Reynolds (1979) made recommendations for presenting text, tables, indexes and graphics in Prestel-type videotex systems and in teletext.<ref name=Reynolds-1979> Template:Cite journal</ref>

On writing for Prestel, the main finding of the study was to never undertake the composition and editing of content without considering the physical and technical limitations of the Prestel page and the overall structure of the information of which it formed a part.<ref name=M&A-stage1 />Template:Rp On style, the study's report highlighted the views of the writer and academic Raymond Williams:Template:Refn "The English sentence is a very flexible animal, and we all know what happened to it with the invention of printing. We shouldn't feel confined by it in Prestel."<ref name=M&A-stage1 />Template:Rp

Surveying how Prestel's content had developed a year or so after its commercial launch, Rex Winsbury, a media journalist and editorial director of Fintel,Template:Refn a major IP, wrote:<ref name=WinsburyInAction>

Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp<templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />

[E]diting demands that something useful be said on each page without fuss or flannel in a very short space. Viewdata does not like long sentences or qualifications. Nor must you cram too many words on to the screen; otherwise it looks a mess. Each page has to have a single message, and a clear one at that. Two short paragraphs ... or a few columns of figures to a page, are the most you will find ... It comes down to what newspapermen Template:Sic call "tight subbing".{{#if:|{{#if:|}}
— {{#if:|, in }}Template:Comma separated entries
}}

{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Blockquote with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | author | by | char | character | cite | class | content | multiline | personquoted | publication | quote | quotesource | quotetext | sign | source | style | text | title | ts }}

LinksEdit

A page could be directly linked to up to ten other pages by specifying, during editing, the number of the page whose content would be displayed when a user pressed a digit from 0 to 9 on their keypad or keyboard.<ref name=E-Bookstall />Template:Rp Double-digit linksTemplate:Sndsuch as "56"Template:Sndwere achieved by linking the first digit to an intermediate, stepping-stone frame on the IP's database: this, in turn, connected the second digit to the target page.<ref name=White-1978> Template:Cite journal</ref>Template:Rp

The content of pages ranged between two poles: at one, a menu listing the topics available and the number to key to reach them, with no, or minimal, further informationTemplate:Sndreferred to as an "index page"; and at the other, a screenful of information with few, if any, links to other pagesTemplate:Sndan "information page". According to Rex Winsbury, as experience with the viewdata medium grew, IPs "gave information on all or most pages, simply varying the amount according to the number of routings [links] that have to be given as well."<ref name=E-Bookstall />Template:Rp

StructuresEdit

File:Prestel videotex service database - "inverted tree" structure.png

Original Prestel "inverted tree" database structure: each page could be linked to up to ten other pages

When the public Prestel service began in 1979, a user connecting to the system was presented with the main index page. As they made and keyed successive menu choices, they moved down a subject hierarchy, from the general to the specific, to finish with the information page they sought.<ref name=Orna-1986>

Template:Cite journal</ref>Template:Rp The Post Office, academics, and the media referred to this hierarchical database arrangement as a tree structure or "inverted tree".<ref name=Williams-1978> {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} Note: this Post Office document was published by WhatDoTheyKnow as part of the outcome of a Freedom of Information request made to The British Library in February 2010.</ref>Template:Rp<ref name=Storey-1982> Template:Cite journal</ref>Template:Rp<ref name=SchofieldGdn-1> Template:Cite news [column 2]</ref>Template:Rp

File:Prestel videotex service database - backlinks.png

Links back to the main index were the first refinement made

Though simple in theory, in practice this structure could lead a user to a dead end: they might find that how a subject was described in a menu did not match what they saw on the final destination page, or formed only part of what they were looking for, or provided information without the means to look up related material. Going back through the sequence of menu choices (using the *# command) to try another series of links was limited to three steps in all.<ref name=Orna-1986 />Template:Rp

As Prestel developed, IPs accommodated the particularities of the different types of information and services they provided, and the expectations of their users, through the extensive use of backlinks and crosslinks between their pages.<ref name=Yeates1988 />Template:Rp This resulted in a variety of database structures<ref name=Williams-IPs />Template:Rp that acquired labels such as cartwheels, ring-of-rings, Chinese lanterns and lobster-pots to help visualise how pages were connected.<ref name=E-Bookstall />Template:Rp

Navigation and searchEdit

Template:Multiple imageThere were three basic navigation commands:<ref name=Handbook1987 />Template:Rp

*number# took the user directly to the first frame of the page number specified: for example, *5052# displayed the contents of 5052a onscreen;
# moved the user successively forward through the frames: 5052b, 5052c, and so on;
*# returned the user to the previous page in strict sequence, and could be repeated three times.

Keyword access was introduced in 1987, with *keyword# taking the user directly to the subject (or subject index) specified.<ref name=Yeates1988> Template:Cite journal</ref>Template:Rp<ref name=Handbook1987 />Template:Rp

A topic index, updated daily, was published on page 199, and an IP index on page 198. A printed ATemplate:NbndZ Start-Up Directory of the topics available on Prestel, with the appropriate page number to key, was sent to new users. From 1987, the topic names could also be used as keywords.<ref name=StartUpDir1987> Template:Cite document</ref> Micronet 800, an IP, visualised the relationships between its pages in a London Tube-style schematic map as part of a guide for users.<ref name=MicronetTubeMap> {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

From 1983 to mid-1987, The Prestel Directory, a quarterly magazine, was distributed free to all Prestel users and also available on subscription: it contained a user guide and subject index, a list of IPs and sub-IPs, feature articles, and videotex product news.Template:Refn This was superseded by Connexions, sent to users every two months till May 1988.<ref name=ConnexionsMay88> {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> A directory was also incorporated into the quarterly Prestel Business Directory published by the Financial Times from 1979.<ref name=BizDir1981> {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

From January 1986, Prestel published Focus magazine on page 123 "to show you the most useful, entertaining and topical pages from the thousands available."<ref name=PrestelOfflineJan86> Template:Cite document</ref> It spotlighted news, sport, weather, and entertainment information on a daily basis, and included weekly features.<ref name=PrestelDir1986edn2> Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Information providersEdit

There were two types of information provider (IP): main IPs, and sub-IPs.

ChargesEdit

Page rentalEdit

A main IP rented pages from the Post Office (initially) or British Telecom (later), and controlled a three-digit master-page in the database. In 1982, this cost an annual £5,500 for a basic package,<ref name=IPcharges> {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Rp equivalent to around £29,000 in 2021.<ref name=MeasuringWorth> {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The basic package included 100 frames; the ability to enter and amend information, retrieve response frames, and store 10 completed response frames; staff training in editing (a two-day seminar), and a copy of the IP editing manual; and, if required, bulk update facilities and an annual print-out of frames in use. Additional frames were available, in batches of 500, for £500 a year (over £2,600 in 2021),<ref name=MeasuringWorth /> while using "Closed User Groups" (CUGs)Template:Refn and the sub-IP facility each cost £250 annually<ref name=IPcharges />Template:Rp (over £1,300 in 2021).<ref name=MeasuringWorth />

Sub-IPsTemplate:Sndthose with smaller requirements or budgetTemplate:Sndrented pages from a main IP.<ref name=Broadhead> Template:Cite journal</ref>Template:Rp A main IP could rent out pages at the market rate. Such IPs were known as "umbrella" IPs. Sub-IPs paid a per-minute charge for editing online: in 1982, this was 8p per minute from Monday to Friday between 8 am and 6 pm, and 8p per four-minute block at all other times<ref name=IPcharges />Template:Rp Sub-IPs had a four-digit (or more) master-page within a main IP's area. Generally speaking, they could only edit existing pages, and were not able to create or delete them.

GatewayEdit

The cost to an IP of connecting an external computer to the Prestel system varied according to the number of simultaneous users required, the distance between Prestel and the IP's computer, and whether the connection was made using a private line or via the PSS packet-switched network. There were also time and data-volume charges.<ref name=GatewayCharges> Template:Cite document</ref>Template:Rp Other factors to be taken into account included the traffic pattern (i.e., the expected volume and frequency of data flows), the response time required (as perceived by a user), the size of the database to be accessed, and the changeability of the information stored.<ref name=GatewayWelcome> {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Rp

In 1985, British Telecom estimated that for an IP using a typical minicomputer (such as the PDP-11) located 100 km from London and handling up to 10 users simultaneously at peak times, the one-off software set-up cost would be at least £16,000, communication costs would range from £4,280 to £5,550 a year (depending on the type of connection), and Prestel usage would cost £8,600 a year.<ref name=GatewayCharges />Template:Rp

RelationshipsEdit

Several typical relationships developed between umbrella IPs and their sub-IP clients. A sub-IP could be:<ref name=Williams-IPs />Template:Rp

An independent supplier of information, with exclusive or partial editorial control and full or partial editing rights.
An organisation making information available to an IP, sometimes on a royalty basis.
An organisation advertising on an IP's pages.
An individual authoring articles or columns for an IP, usually on a royalty basis.

In addition, the IP Micronet 800 used the sub-IP facility to offer the "Gallery" service, where a group, club, or individual could rent one or a number of frames cheaply, and for short periods if required.<ref name=LogOn7>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

An analysis in 1981 of the pros and cons of using an umbrella IP to publish information on Prestel concluded that if the owner of the information needed less than 500 frames, it would be cheaper to use an umbrella IP, but if over 5000, this would be more expensive than doing it themselves. In between these two figures, speed, convenience, and the need for design skills favoured using an IP, while going it alone assured confidentiality and provided more control.<ref name=Chapman-1981> Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp

Editing pagesEdit

Template:See also

File:Prestel Deccafax-viewdata-terminal +-Cherry-Editing-Keyboard.jpg

CitationClass=web }}</ref>

There were two ways to edit pages: directly, by creating or amending them using special editing keyboards while connected online to the main Update Computer; or offline, creating pages locally and uploading them in bulk. Bulk update required that pages be created offline using editing terminals that could store pages, or by using microcomputers. The pages were then either transmitted to the Update Computer online as a batch via a special dialup port and protocol, or sent on magnetic tape to the Update Centre (UDC), where they were uploaded.<ref name=BUS1981 />Template:Rp

Using the online editor, IPs were also able to view information about a page hidden from ordinary users, such as the time and date of its last update, whether the frame was in a Closed User Group (CUG),Template:Refn the price-to-view (if any), and the "frame count"Template:Sndthe number of times the frame had been accessed.Template:Refn

IPs and sub-IPs accessed the Edit computer using their normal ID and password, but had a separate password to access the editing facility. Bulk uploads only required the edit password and the IP's account number.

Information and servicesEdit

Prestel's pre-launch promotional material focused on the general public:<templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />

Template:Error Template:Main other{{#if:|{{#if:|}}
— {{#if:|, in }}Template:Comma separated entries
}}

{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Blockquote with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | author | by | char | character | cite | class | content | multiline | personquoted | publication | quote | quotesource | quotetext | sign | source | style | text | title | ts }} When the service launched in late 1979, Post Office Telecommunications had a hands-off approach towards managing whatever IPs placed on the system.<ref name=ButlerCox1985>

{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Rp This changed in early 1980, when British Telecom (its successor) started targeting the business, professional and hobbyist markets via joint ventures with companies and organisations with specialised expertise.<ref name=ButlerCox1985 />Template:Rp

Specialised servicesEdit

By the mid-1980s, the specialised services on Prestel included:<ref name=Handbook1987 />Template:Rp

Prestel CitiService, involving the London Stock Exchange and ICV Information Systems, targeted three groups: the business community as a whole, with mainly company information; private investors in a closed user groupTemplate:Refn, offering regularly updated share prices; and for brokers and other investment professionals, continuously updated share prices, also in a closed user group.<ref name=CitiService-News>

Template:Cite news</ref>

British Telecom Travel Service provided travel agents with information from tour operators, airlines, and other transport operators, and enabled online reservations. Services for other users included flight arrivals and departures, car rental, and exchange rates.

Prestel Farmlink packaged information for farmers from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the Meat and Livestock Commission, the Meteorological Office, and others. A link to Prestel CitiService provided farm commodity prices, and farmers could calculate, online, weekly wages and the formulation of feedstuffs.<ref name=FarmlinkCMA1985>

Template:Cite book</ref>

Banking: the Nottingham Building Society offered Homelink, and the Bank of Scotland HOBS, the Home & Office Banking Service.<ref name=BoSHomeBankAd>

Template:Cite newspaper The Times</ref> Subscribers were provided with free or subsidised Prestel terminals.

Prestel Microcomputing offered downloadable software (telesoftware), noticeboards, newsletters, and reviews. It incorporated Micronet 800 from EMAP, Viewfax 258, and Clubspot 810.<ref name=MicroLaunchLetter>

Template:Cite document</ref>

Prestel Education targeted schools and colleges, and provided course and careers advice, educational software, and help with using computers.<ref name=EducationTimes>

Template:Cite newspaper The Times</ref>

British Telecom Insurance Services provided financial information to insurance intermediaries and enabled them to get online quotes from major insurance companies.<ref name=BTInsuranceGdn>

Template:Cite news</ref>

Prestel Teleshopping was a specialised e-commerce service for the residential market, and involved Littlewoods, Grattan, and Kays Catalogues, among others.<ref name=TeleshoppingBTJ>

Template:Cite journal Shows two "Kays Catalogues Teleshop" frames.</ref>

Prestel for Medical Practitioners packaged material from bodies such as the Royal College of General Practitioners, the British Medical Association, and the Department of Health and Social Security with drug data from pharmaceutical companies, information on locum vacancies, conference and training diaries, and research news.<ref name=MedProgRep />

MessagingEdit

Response framesEdit

A "response frame" enabled a user to send a message to an IP using a preformatted page to order goods or services<ref name=Broadhead />Template:Rp or to transmit data.<ref name=MedDataCollect> Template:Cite journal </ref> The user's name and other information needed (such as their address) were automatically added to the frame from their Prestel account details.

Initially, response frames had to be collected by an IP from each IRC in turn; later, they were ingathered at the UDC, where the IP concerned could retrieve them. Eventually, with the introduction of Mailbox, response frames could be retrieved from any IRC. Template:Section link

MailboxEdit

File:Page-7.png

Launch version of Prestel Mailbox entry page, *7# (1983).

Prestel Mailbox was launched in 1983. Initially hosted on a computer in London, it was later made available UK-wide. Template:Section link

The entry page was *7#. This linked to pages where messages could be composed, stored messages retrieved, and standard, pre-formatted messages completedTemplate:Sndmany designs were available, including greetings cards, invitations, and seasonal messages such as valentines.<ref name=Mbox1983UserGuide> {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

To prepare a basic message, a blank message page (*77#) was displayed, with the sender's Mailbox number pre-filled and blank fields for entering the recipient's number and the message text. There was space for about 100 words, and fewer if graphics were used. After addressing (with a Mailbox number) and writing the message, the user was offered the choice of keying 1 to send, or 2 to not send. Successful dispatch led to a confirmation page; if there were problems, such as a mistake in entering the recipient's number, an error message was displayed.<ref name=Handbook1987> {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Rp Sending a message to more than one recipient meant re-keying the text into a new message page, although some microcomputers allowed the original message to be stored and then copy-pasted.<ref name=BBCmicroPrestel1984 />Template:Rp

File:Prestel-Mailbox message-received screenshot-1984.png

Screenshot of a received message. The name of the host computer is at top-right. The Mailbox numbers start with 01999, so are ex-directory. At bottom are instructions for storing or deleting the message.<ref> Template:Cite episode</ref>

Mailbox numbers were derived from the last nine digits of a user's phone number. For example, the Mailbox number for Prestel HQ, with the phone number 01-822-2211, was 018222211. Numbers were listed on page *486#. Ex-directory numbers were available on request.Template:Refn

File:Prestel-Mailbox lapel-badge.png

Prestel Mailbox promotional badge, Template:Circa1983. Metal, 5.6 cm diameter

When a user connected to Prestel, a banner on their Welcome page alerted them to any new messages, and when signing off via *90#, a warning would appear if any new messages had arrived in the meantime, with the option to read them before disconnecting. Messages were retrieved from page *930#, where they were presented in chronological order. After reading a new message, a user had to choose between deleting or saving it before the next message was presented. Three messages could be stored at a time, and were accessible via page *931#.

Using this first version of Prestel Mailbox was free of additional charges. Template:See section

SimpaticoEdit

File:Prestel Simpatico index page on 4 September 1985.tif

Simpatico entry page (1985).

Simpatico was a free small ads service run by Prestel on page *787#. Users sent in their ads on a preformatted Mailbox page, with responses made via Mailbox. Ads were vetted and grouped under the headings of Heartsearch, Penpals, Interests & Hobbies, Meetings, Groups & Events, Friendsy (for younger users), and Life Begins AtTemplate:Nbsp...<ref name=Simpatico-1984> Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Telex LinkEdit

Prestel Mailbox was extended in 1984 to give access to the Telex service via "Telex Link". On *8#, the Telex Link entry page, a message could be composed, the destination country chosen, and the telex number entered before sending the telex like a standard message. Telex Link added the necessary telex codes and tried to send the message several times before confirming receipt (or failure) via Mailbox.

A telex could be sent to a Mailbox user from any telex terminal by using 295141 TXLINK G, the Telex Link number, as the telex address, and entering "MBX", followed by the Prestel user's Mailbox number, as the first line of the telex. An incoming telex appeared to the Prestel recipient as an ordinary Mailbox message, with the telex number of the sender added at the top of the screen.

Sending a telex cost 50p for UK destinations, £1.00 for Europe, £2.00 for North America, £3.00 for elsewhere in the world, and £5.00 for sending to ships (via INMARSAT). There was no charge for receiving one.<ref name=TelexLink> {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Telex Link was upgraded in 1987, with connections to more telex lines and faster delivery times, and its address changed to 934999 TXLINK G.<ref name=PrestelOfflineJan87> Template:Cite document</ref>

Mailbox upgradeEdit

A new messaging system was introduced in July 1989. This enabled messages up to five frames long, storing messages before sending, sending to multiple recipients (either individually or via a mailing list), message forwarding, and acknowledgment of receipt.<ref name=MboxUpgradeMicronetArticle> Template:Cite magazine An interview with Chris Ramsey, the Mailbox manager.</ref> Basic word-processing was also possible.<ref name=Mbox1989UserGuide> {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Rp

Sending a message without using any of these new facilities remained free: all the new options were charged at 1p per use per recipient. For the first time, sending spam was permitted at a cost of 20p per message per recipient. In addition, the stored message facility was replaced by a summary page listing all the messages, both new and old, that were waiting: the user could then pick which message to view, rather than needing to read through them in chronological order.<ref name=MboxUpgradeCharges> {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Message statisticsEdit

By 1984, Prestel users were sending messages at the rate of around 71,000 per month via a computer in London.<ref name=Rutter />Template:Rp The average number per month in early 1984 was 186,000, of which 125,000 were response frames and 61,000 Mailbox messages.<ref name=PrestelBriefingIssue-1> Template:Cite document</ref>Template:Refn

In September 1985, after Mailbox became a national service, the chief executive of the part of British Telecom responsible for Prestel stated that 100,000 "electronic mail messages"Template:SndMailbox messages and response framesTemplate:Sndwere being sent each week, with 60,000 terminals attached to the system.<ref name=Hooper1985> Template:Cite news</ref> The average weekly figure rose to 130,000 in December 1985.<ref name=PrestelBriefingIssue-4> Template:Cite document</ref> Template:Expand section

HackEdit

A security breach of the Prestel mailbox of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh occurred in November 1984<ref name=HackTimes> Template:Cite newspaper The Times</ref> as part of a wider hack of Prestel.<ref name=HackBBC> {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

InfrastructureEdit

TerminalsEdit

During the development phase of Prestel, British Telecom's research department produced a Prestel terminal specification. This formed the basis of design and type-approval discussions with, initially, manufacturers of TVs, and later with suppliers of other forms of terminal.<ref name=PrestelTermSpec1982> Template:Cite journal Pictured in the article are a Philips residential terminal equipped for Prestel, teletext and normal television reception, a Sony business terminal with message keyboard, a Zycor Prestel adaptor with a normal domestic television, and a Metrotech information provider editing terminal.</ref>

Several types of Prestel terminal were produced:<ref name=ButlerCox1985 />Template:Rp

integrated residential terminals, typically based on television sets;
integrated business terminals;
adaptors for television sets;
adaptors for microcomputers, with associated or standalone editing software;
editing terminals.

NetworkEdit

Configuration and growthEdit

In March 1979, the Post Office launched a limited "London Residential Service" for subscribers in the capital. This was based on the computer used in an earlier test phase to both store the Prestel database and enable IPs to make updates to their pages.<ref name=StokesViewdataBook> Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp

When the full commercial service launched in September 1979, three new computer centres were opened in London.<ref name=Broadhead />Template:Rp Two, known as Byron and Juniper, were "Information Retrieval Centres" (IRCs): their computers each contained a copy of the Prestel database, and were accessible by users. The third, Duke, was Prestel's "Update Centre" (UDC): IPs used this to create, modify or delete their pages, with their updates sent to the IRCs.Template:Refn A fourth IRC, Dickens, opened in Birmingham in December.<ref name=Rutter />Template:Rp

IRCs were connected to the UDC in a star network configuration using leased-line connections (based on the X.25 protocol) operating at 2400 baud.<ref name=Scott> Template:Cite report</ref> This network handled about 2,000 Prestel terminals and provided users with over 160,000 pages supplied by around 130 IPs.<ref name=Rutter> Template:Cite thesis</ref>Template:Rp By mid-1981, this arrangement had been replaced by dedicated X.25 circuits using the then-new PSS packet-switched network and operating at 4.8 kbit/s. Each IRC typically housed two information retrieval computers, though some in London had a single machine. IRCs were usually located in telephone exchanges.<ref name=Broadhead />Template:Rp

By June 1980, the network had grown to four individual information-retrieval computers in London, and six others installed in pairs in each of Birmingham, Edinburgh and Manchester, making ten in all.<ref name=NTIA> Template:Cite report</ref> These ten computers could initially connect to around 1000 user ports, expandable to 2000.<ref name=Broadhead />Template:Rp At this point, the Prestel database contained about 164,000 pages with expandability to up to 260,000 built in: allowing for system management pages, this arrangement capped the size of the public database at around 250,000 frames.<ref name=Broadhead />Template:Rp

By September 1980, there were five IRC machines in London and pairs of machines in Birmingham, Nottingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, Liverpool and Belfast, offering a total of 914 user ports. Further IRCs were planned in Luton, Reading, Sevenoaks, Brighton, Leeds, Newcastle, Cardiff, Bristol, Bournemouth, Chelmsford and Norwich by the end of 1980.<ref name=Scott /> By the end of 1980, 1500 user ports were available.

As of July 1981, the number of IRC computers had grown to 18: this increased the percentage of phone subscribers who could access Prestel at local call rates from 30% to 62%.<ref name=Broadhead />Template:Rp In April 1984, Prestel announced that this had risen to 94%,<ref name=PrestelBriefingIssue-1 />Template:Rp and in February 1986, to 98%.<ref name=PrestelBriefingIssue-4 />Template:Rp

International accessEdit

In late 1981, an IRC called Jefferson opened in Boston, Massachusetts, giving US subscribers access to Prestel via the American Telenet packet-switched network.<ref name=USaccess> Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name=BTJwinter81-82> Template:Cite journal</ref>

Mailbox computerEdit

Template:See also Mailbox, the Prestel messaging service, was launched on Enterprise computer, and allowed messaging only between users accessing that machine. By 1984, Mailbox had been rolled out nationwide using a dedicated computer in London known as Pandora.<ref name=MboxUpgradeMicronetArticle />Template:Rp

HardwareEdit

Prestel's computers were based on the GEC 4000 series minicomputer. The main IRC machines were originally model GEC 4082s equipped with 384 Kbyte memory-core stores, six 70 Mbyte hard disk drives, and 100 ports.Template:Refn This set-up accommodated an initial 1500 Prestel users.

Each IRC computer had 208 ports. With eight reserved for testing and control, a computer could support up to 200 simultaneous Prestel users. For the ordinary user, access was via an asynchronous, duplex interface provided by banks of multiplexers. These, in turn, were accessed via standard modems, operating at 1200/75 bit/s, directly connected to the public phone network.<ref name=Broadhead />Template:Rp

Besides the multiplexers required to support 1200/75 dial-up access, the Update Centre machines were also connected to special modems that handled online bulk updating by IPs. Banks of 300/300 bit/s full-duplex asynchronous V.21 modems supported direct IP-computer-to-Prestel-computer links, while 1200 bit/s half-duplex V.23 modems supported access by IPs using editing terminals that stored frames offline before uploading them. In addition, twin 9-track NRZI tape decks of 800 bytes/inch capacity were provided for bulk offline updates.<ref name=Broadhead />Template:Rp

File:GEC4000computerRoom.png

GEC 4000 series computers at GEC Computers' Dunstable Development Centre, 1991

Though categorised as a minicomputer, GEC 4000 series machines were large: one occupied several standard computer cabinets each standing Template:Convert high by Template:Convert wide. The CDC 9762 hard disc drives were housed separately in large, stand-alone units about the size of a domestic washing machine.Template:Refn A GEC machine cost over £200,000 at standard prices, in addition to which were the costs of the associated communications equipment. Combining the two to assemble a single IRC was a major undertaking, and took some 15 months from order placement to commissioning.<ref name=Broadhead />Template:Rp

SoftwareEdit

GEC 4000 series computers could run on several operating systems. The Prestel machines used OS4000, which was developed by GEC and supported BABBAGE, the high-level assembler in which all Prestel software was written.

The pilot-trial system had five core software components: Template:Sc process, Template:Sc process, Template:Sc process, Template:Sc-handler process, and several Template:Sc processes. Template:Sc received data from a Prestel user; Template:Sc accepted characters, one at a time, from Template:Sc and fed them to a Template:Sc; the key frame-getter Template:Sc fetched a fresh page or the next frame of an already-displayed page from Template:Sc. Template:Sc then displayed a whole frame, preceded by a clear-screen command, to the user.<ref name=ClarkeViewdataDesign> Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp

The commercial service had several important additional functions, including an editing program and bulk update facilities, closed user groups,Template:Refn messages, user billing and IP revenue allocation, optional additional user passwords, error-reporting routines, system manager facilities, and statistics-collecting routines.<ref name=ClarkeViewdataDesign />Template:Rp

In 1987, a Prestel Admin computer was introduced to support the user registration process. It captured a new user's details from the paper Prestel application form, transferred the data to the relevant Prestel computer, and then printed the welcome letter to be sent to the user concerned.Template:Refn

MonitoringEdit

Users' connections to Prestel were monitored by a device known as VAMPIRETemplate:SndViewdata Access Monitor and Priority Incident Reporting Equipment. Via private circuits connected to an IRC computer's ports, this produced a continuously updated display on a monitoring screen at the Prestel Regional Centre responsible for an IRC.<ref name=Broadhead />Template:Rp The screen showed a matrix of small squares, each corresponding to a port on an IRC computer. Free ports were green, occupied ones yellow, incoming calls-to-connect by Prestel users were pale blue, and faulty ports red. In this way, the overall status of an IRC machine could be summarised and seen at a glance.

The response time of the Prestel system was measured by a microcomputer-based device known as PET. This monitored frame retrieval times for users and how quickly frame-editing commands issued by IP editors were implemented. PET operated in conjunction with a hardware performance monitor that recorded central processing unit and disk-drive usage.<ref name=BTJ-Cantwell1982> Template:Cite journal</ref>Template:Rp

International salesEdit

Prestel software and knowhow was sold to the state PTTs of several countries, including Austria,<ref name=SaleAustria> Template:Cite news</ref> Australia,<ref name=SaleAustralia> Template:Cite news</ref> former West Germany,<ref name=SaleWestGermany> Template:Cite newspaper The Times </ref> the then-British colony of Hong Kong,<ref name=ButlerCox1982 />Template:Rp Italy,<ref name=SaleItaly> Template:Cite magazine</ref> Malaysia,<ref name=SaleMalaysia> Template:Cite newspaper The Times</ref> the Netherlands,<ref name=StokesViewdataBook />Template:Rp Singapore,<ref name=SaleSingapore> Template:Cite journal</ref> and Switzerland.<ref name=StokesViewdataBook />Template:Rp A private telecommunications company, GTE, bought the system in the USA.<ref name=StokesViewdataBook />Template:Rp

NotesEdit

Template:Reflist

ReferencesEdit