A CRITICISM OF THE DOnINA NT MCDEL OF VIDEOTEX AS A TELECOf4BUNICATIONS SERVICE AS EXEMPLIFIED BY PRSSTEL AND TELIDON Udo Ruediger Ked ing B. A, Siaon Fraser University 1978 THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF XASTER OF ARTS (COMPIUNICATION) in the Department of Corn munication @ Udo Ruediger Keding 1983 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without permission of the author, APPROVAL Name : Udo Ruediger Keding Degree : Master of Arts (Corrununication) Title of Thesis: A Criticism of the Dminant Model of Videotex as a Telecommunications Service as Exemplified by Prestel and Telidon. Examining Cornmi ttee : Chairperson: Thomas J. Mallinson, Professor. William D-. Richards, Dr. Assistant Professor Senior Supervisor Margaret L. Bensto~~ Assistant Professor Departments of Cmputing Science and Women's Studies I Donald A. Cep&e Dean, Facul,Ty of Fhgineering Sc imce Simon F'raser University External Examiner Date Approved: ky 5, 1983. PART l AL CWYR IC&T L ICENSE- I hereby grant to Simon Fraser Unlverslty tho fight to lend my thw,is, pro.ject or extended essay (the title of which Is shown below) ' 11, uwr s of the Simon Fraser Unlbersi ty Library, and to make partial or ;i rqle copid5 orrly for such users or in response to a rsqbest from the I ibrary ot nny ather unlvorsity, or other educational Institution, on ~tso*n hehalf or for one of It5 users. I further agree that permission tor multiple copying of this work for scholarly purposes may be grantee by me or- the Cenn of Gradudte Studies. It Is understood that copying or pu!~llcationof this vork for flnanclal gain shall not be allcwed without my written pevisslon. -- A Criticism of the Dminant Kodel of Videotex as a Telecomunications Service as ZxunplLf ied hy Prestel -md Yelidon. Udo Ruediger Yeding -- - ---- ABSTRACT In aany countries including Canada, a great deal of activity has been directed towards the develo~ment, testing, and implementation of a new computer-mediated interactive informa tion retrieval technology -- generically referred to as Videotex, The activity has been untfertakcrl ir, the belief that videotex will sccii become a mass medium as a telecommunications service, The thesis ex.amines and criticizes this belief, beginning by examining the current thinking in the literature about videotex, Pour basic assumptions underlying current a [proaches 3 re derived from an exa~~inationof the literature: 1, Frest-el an3 Telidon are viable, both technically and econocically, and can Frovide a service thdt is desirable (in t.he sense that people are willing to Fay for it). 2, There can be a clear separation between the systems provider and the informaticn or content providers, 3. The level of interactivity provided by the systens will be sufficient tc ~rovideaccess to many distinct informat.iona1 anti communications services, 4, ?restel and Telidun dre capable of storing and providing access to all kinds of content. A detailed description follous of the hardware, access software, and serviceware of two major systems -- the grrtish Prestel and Canadian Telidon, The assurn~tionsare then analyzed critically- The thesis argues that the assumptions cannct be considered valid under present circumstances because the development of Prestel and Telidon was undertaken primdrily to meet institutional and econcmic goals, rather than to address specific social needs for information access, The thesis concludes that a mass market for videotex services will require a long time to develop. DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to the memory of my father, ACKNOYLEDGEEUTS I would like to thank my supervisor, Bill Richards, for his patience and confidence in me, I would also like to thank my very good friend, Colleen ceaser, for her kind assistance with the typing and for putting up with me while I was writing this thesis, And most important, I would like to express a very special note of thanks to Jean McNulty, of the Telecommunications Research Group, for her valuable advice and kind assistance. TABLE OF COlTElTS I, Chapter Cne: Introduction ,,,,,, .,,,,, ,.,,.,,,,. ., ...---1 1- 1 General Introducticc ,..,, .,,-..,..,,,.,.,.,, I-.--.l 2- 1 Son€ Ccicaentn 011 ulecl~nolc~yw .,, ,,,, ., ,,-.,.. .. .,-8 2.2- The Social Implicatians of Telematics ,. -. -. -...--" 111. Chapter Three: The Social Significdnce cf Videctex 10- 3, 1: Scmf Ccmuents cn Ternirrolcgy ..-,,--,,,,-.,,.,...-1 i 3.2: The uPoter~tialllof Videotex --..-., .,.,. ,,,.. .. .-.~i 3.3 The Assum~tio~sIJcdfrlying the Videotex Ccnce~t.-23 IV. Chapter Fcur: An Overviek a: International Activities in Videotex Development tc 1982 ,.,, ,.,,..- 3; 4- 1 Videotex Activities in Europe -.--.. ,.--- .. ,---..- 36 41.1 Videctex Developrents in Great Britain ,,,,---.-3t) vii 4.1-6 Videotex Developments in France ,,,.--.-..-...,,41 4.2 Videotex Cevelo~mentsin North America ,.-.--.,-,-43 4.2.1 Videotex Developments in Canada -.----------.---44 4-2.2 Videctex Developments in the fJnited States ,, .,,47 V, Chapter Five: Frestel and Telidon: A Descripticn of Hardware, Access Software and Serviceware --.,.-.,..--53 5-1 The Hardware of Prestel and Telidcn ,,.,.,. .,,.--.53 5.1- 1 Frestel and Telidon Terminal Arparatus .. ...-,,,53 5.2 The Access Sof t.warc cf Prestel and Telidon .,,..,,72 5-2-1 Organization cf the Prestel Data-Base ,,. .-,-,,-73 5-2.2 The Prestel Inforaation Retrieval Procedure ,-.,76 I 5.3 The Serviceware of Prestel and Telidon .,,. ,, ,.,--, 77- 5.3-1 Description of Prestel Serviceware -- .. .. ....---78 5.3.2 Information Provider Activities in Canada -..,--82 VI. Chapter Six: A Critical Examination of Assumptiofis Underlying Present 'Ihinkirg about Prestcl and Telidon ---,.,,,.,,,,,,,,,,,I),~.....~,-,,--.,*.-,-.s--~7 6.1.1 'Ihe 7cchr;ical Viability ct Prestel and Telidon .Fit1 6,1,2 The Economic Viability of ?restel and Telidon --90 viii 6-2. 1 Advantages of a Ccntent/Carriage Separation in Prestel and Telidon ..................... ..,,,...,.90 6,. 2.2 Froblems xith the Sepdration CcnceF t ,, ,, ,,,, ,,, 99 6.. 3 Criticisn! of the Third Assumption .........,..... 105 6.3.1 I~lteractivity in Videotex Services ............. 105 6. 3.2 Hardwdre Zonstraicts on the Level cf Interactivity Available in Prestel and Tell-don . .lo'; r; f7riticjsn cf the Fourth Assu~n~+ion................ 11 ; lb.4. 1 T+XfllliCd~Limita+ions on Prestel and T.e_l.ic\on Serviceware ...................................... -722 6.4-2 Attractiveness of Vidzotex as an E1.ect.ronj.c Publishing fledium ., ..,, ., ., ..,,..,,.^.,., ,,,, .,.. ,, 125 VII- Chapter Seven: Summary and Conc1u:ions -,,,,,,,,..,.1.31 7.1: Sulcinary cf the Argument5 .I....................- 131 7.2: Videotex in the Near Future: A Scenaric ........ 137 7. 3: Final Ccnclusions .............................. 142 Bibliography ................................................ 147 LIST OP TABLES TABLE PAGE Table 5.3.1 Informaticn Providers on Prestel .,,,,,,,, .-.-.,,.,--.81 Table S.3-2(a) Potential Information Providers in Canadian Videotex ,,,.,.-..,.,,,,,,,,,.,.,,,,,, ,-.,-,.-,...- 83 Table 5.3,2(b) Soae Information Products Available on the Canadian Videotex Services ...... ..., ,., ....,.--...-84 Table 6.1-3 Existing and Possible Telecolomunicaticns Services in the Home .-.,,...,,..--.-----..,-,..--- 95 LIST OP PIGURES PIGUBE PAGE 5.1-l(a) Block Diagram of Prestel Terminal -,.--......--....----56 5.1.1 (b) Telidon Ter~inalwith Bit-Map Wmory ,,,-,---..-...--.59 5. 1- 1 (c) Telidon Terminal with Character Oriented Memory ---..-60 I. Chapter Dne: Introduction &1 1 ----General Introduction---- -- A variety of sources tells us that in the near future we nil1 be able to do our banking, shopping, consult our libraries, exchange electronic aessages with friends, access conpu ter software and data- banks and obtain legal, medical and financial assistance, all from within the comfort and security of our homes, Furthermore, these exotic services will not only be available to the wealthy few but will be so inexpensive that everyone who desires will have access to them, This promise is nothing new, It has been known for many years that computer-mediated communications systems are quite - capable of providicg such services on a mass scale, The problem has aluays been that. the necessary technology has been quite expensive, Over the last few years, however, this situation has changed dramatically, For instance, small, yet powerful I I I1 computers have become a consumer item -- being, in some cases available at a cost substantially less than a colour televisio~l (Toong and Gupta, 1982)- Relatively low-cost information retrieval services are available to any person who has a telephone and a personal computer (Cavuoto, 1982)- Some cable television com~ani~sare providing multi-channel informational or non-broadcasting services, enabling viewers to have convenient access to community informa tion via their television sets- 1 In the business world as well, there are many electronic information technologies including: optical character recognition, communicating word processors, electronic storage and filing and intellegent printers, which are encouraging the move towards the integrated electronic (paperless) office (Giuliano, 1982; Coates, 198 1 ; Tapscott and NacFarlane, 1979)- As these trends seea to indicate, low cost computer-based information and communications services can be provided by a variety of different technologies and operating systems -- all of which are at present in