Do. Case, THE SOCIAL SHAPING OF VIDEOTEX - HOW INFORMATION-SERVICES FOR THE PUBLIC HAVE EVOLVED, Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 45(7), 1994, pp. 483-497
Citations number
82
Categorie Soggetti
Information Science & Library Science","Information Science & Library Science
''Videotex'' was an early incarnation of what have been more recently
called ''end-user information services.'' This article considers the o
rigins and historical development of videotex over three decades, comp
aring various nationally sponsored and private systems in Europe and N
orth America, and discussing reasons given for the ''failure'' of vide
otex. The influence of nontechnical factors on videotex and perception
s of critical problems and acceptable solutions are described. Accordi
ng to this interpretation, the development of videotex faced four ''bo
ttlenecks'' at once: the determination of transmission channels; the c
hoice of a display device; agreement on coding standards; and the mark
eting of the resulting services. In how it accommodated these problems
, videotex provides an example of how social, political, and economic
elements are inseparable from technical constraints in the development
of new information technologies.