Abstract
During the late 1970:s and 1980:s, telecom operators across the world developed and deployed Videotex-systems; new public information services usually based on dumb terminals, of which the most well-known was the French Minitel. The systems were at the time of deployment regarded as the technology of the future but they almost universally failed commercially. In this paper, using an in depth case study based on extensive archival sources from the Swedish Telecom monopoly Televerket, and data from e.g. France, Australia and the United States, and combining policy, technology, social and business history, the origins and the introduction of Videotex systems are analyzed. It is argued that the systems, both in Sweden and in other countries, could be uses as a social mirror, reflecting the contemporary view on computers, industrial policy, and competition. It is also argued that the systems initially made sense in the context of contemporary computer development and market organization, but also that most of them would rapidly have been discontinued had it not been for the monopolist logic of telecom operators.