Eccobeit Mime

Home , GEC Computers, Prestel, SI 960, Teletext systems

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ED 168 214 CS 205 640

AUTBCR R.Immer Tony II7LE VIEWDATAInteractive Television, with Particular Emitasis on tte Rritish Post Office's PEESTEL. PUB DATE Aug 79 NOTE 57p.: Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association for Education in Journalism (6211d, Houston, TY, August 5-6, ,1979).

ECES PRICE MFOI/PC03 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Automation; Communication (Thought Tran,sfer): *Communications; ComAprative Analysis: Foreign Countries: Euturez (of Society): *Information Networks: Information Science: Mass Media: Technology: *Ielevisior IDENTIFIERS Great Britain: *Viewdata

ABSTRACT An overview of ',Viewdata," an interactive mediumthat connects the home or business television set with a central computer database through telephone lines, is presented in this paper. It notes bog.: Viewdata differs from broadcast Teletext syste.lsand reviews the technical.aspects of the two media to clarify terminology used in the systems. The paper suggests, for example, thatalthough Viewdata is marketed as an Hirterectiveu medium, the degree of interaction so fel: available on the system is still limited. The development cf Prestel, a Viewdata system used by the Eritish Post Office, Is discnssed in detail, and its technicalcharacteristics are described. Some of the problems encountered in introducing the system in Great Brita:in are considered and the relevance ofthose problems to efforts tc market the system in the United States arediscussed. The paper questions whether the need for themedium has yet been demonstrated teyc.nd the speculations of futurists and calls for market research endeavors. It suggests that a delayin the adoption of ary one particular system as standard in the United Stateswould he advantageous in that it would allowcompeting, and possibly more attractive, systems to he developed further. (Author/FL)

************************t********************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. *********************************************************************** sDEPAR7MENT OF MEALTN, EDUCATION&WELFARE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION Newspaper Division TNtS DOCUMENT HAS SEEN REPRO- DuCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED f ROM THE PERSON OR ORGANIZATION OR;CoN . *TING tT POINTS OF VIEW OROPtNtONS STATED DO' NOT NECESSARILY REPRE- SENT OF F fCIAL NA T tONAL thiSti tuTE OF r""11 EDUC AT ION POSITION OR POL ICY co

VIEWDATA - Interactive Television, with particular emphasis on the British Post Office's PRESTEL

"PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS Tony Rimmer MATERIAL HAS SEEN GRANTED BY Graduate Student Tony Rimmer

Department of Journalism University of Texas at Austin Austin, Texas78712 TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES 512 471-7700 INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)."

Paper presented to the Newspaper Division, Association for Education in Journalism Annual Convention, Houston, Texas. Augusti 1979 Newspaper Division

VIEWDATA - Interactive Television, with particular emphasis on the British Post Office's PRESTEL

By Tony Rimmer Graduate Student

Department of Journalism University of Texas at Austin Austin, Texas 78712 512 471-7700

ABSTRACT

VIEWDATA is an interactive medium which connects the home or business TV set to a central computer database through telephone lines.PRESTEL, developed by the British Post Office, is one such VIEWDATA system. It is the first of these to be up and running in what may become a race to dominate the setting of internatibnal standards and capture what is seen to be a new, world-wide, infortrtion and advertising market. There are several other systems being developed round the world and they enjoy such acronyms as VIDEOTEX, TELIDON, TITAN, ANTIOPE and CAPTAINS.

The paper notes how VIEWDATA differs from broadcast TELETEXT systems suchas CEEFAX, ORACLE, INFOTEXT and TELETEX,* and in reviewing the technical aspects of the two media it attempts to clarify terminology used in the systems. It suggests, for example, that although VIEWDATA is marketed as an "interactive" medium, the degree of interaction so far available on the System is barely deserving of the term.

The development of PRESTEL is discussed in some detail and its technical characteristics described. Some of the problems encountered in introducing the system in Britain are considered. These problems cover both technical and institutional areas and raise fundamental questions about the viability of the medium aS it is presently conceived. These problems are relevant to the U.S.A. since attempts are already being made to market the system in this country.

The paper questions whether a need has yet been established for the medium beyond the speculations of futurologists and calls for much needed market research to be done. The paper also suggests that a delay in the adoption of any one particular system as standard in the U.S.A would be advantageous in that it would allow competing, and sometimesmore attractive, systems to be developed further.

Paper presented to the Newspaper Division, Association for Education in Journalism Annual Convention, Houston, Texas. August, 1979.

4.0. 47

Introduction

Apaper presented to the Newspaper Divisionof the 1978 Associatic,

for Education in Journalism Convention noted the development of teletext

and viewdata services in Britain. The paper also noted that an American

publishing firm, Harte-Hanks Communications of San Antonio, Texas, was

involved in viewdata.'The author of the present paper, a doctoral stu-

dent, in communications at the University of Texas at Austin, has, for

most of the past year, been employed by Harte-Hanks helping them develop

materials to input into the British PRESTEL system in order to evaluate

the system's marketing potential in the U.S.A. The author's responsibi-

lity included travelling to Britain in October-December of 1978, to input

this material into the system. To some extent, this paper will reflect

this "hands on" experience.

The object of this paper is to flesh out the very sketchy picture

most of us have of the'viewdata-and teletext systems. The outcome, it .is

hoped, will be that discussion of these new media will tome down from the

grandiose heights of optimistic projections to the more mundane plains of

reality where the limitations of these media might be seen alongside their

virtues. The paper identifies the differences between viewdata and tele-

text systems and notes the simple form of interaction available with

PRESTEL. ,It notes the possible range of services available with interac-

tive televiscn and describes earlier attempts to set up computer-home

services. The development of PRESTEL is outlined and its technical charac-

teristics described. Some of the problems vncountered in introducing the

4 system in Britain are noted and the implications of these problems are

reviewed in considering the viability of PRESTEL as a viewdata medium in

the U.S.A.

Viewdata is an interactive medium which connects the home or business

TV set to a central computer database through telephone lines. PRESTEL,

developed by the British Post Office, isone such viewdata system.2

Teletext is a non-interactive medium which utilizes either (et)a few bands

of the blanking period in a television signal as a transmission inserted

in a broadcast signal. (CEEFFA and ORACLE' are broadcast teletext systems);3

or (b) a full band transmission in a dedicated cable system. Reuters

newswire in the Manhattan Cable System in New York is one such full band

teletext system. In the English versions of viewdata and teletext, although one is over-wire (PRESTEL) and the other over-the-air (CEEFAX/ORACLE), both

have similar decodingicircuitry and character Jots. The on-Screen displays

are similar. Both systems are designed for the dissemination of computer based information.

Futurologists have been looking forward co computer-homehook-ups for

some time. Toffler sees it.as a powerful decentralizing force in society and expresses concern for the significance of this.4 Baran sees it as an exciting new industry with an earning potential'of 20 billion dollars a year before the ena of thel980s.5Whether viewdata or teletext are har- bingers of the wired city or just passing fads remains to be seen.

Along a continuum of computor7home hook-ups, the term "interactive" comes into play. What was once a one-way connection, now becomes two-way.

Home can talk back to computer. Teletext is a one-way computer-home hook- up; viewdata is two-way. There are, however, degrees of interactiveness,

2 and it should be noted that PRESTEL, the British viewdata system with which this paper is concerned, offers so primitive a form of interaction. that is is barely deserving of the term.

A dictionary offers the meaning of interaction between two entities: they act reciprocally, act on each other. A computer text describes the interactive mode as "direct access," "conver=tational."8Acting reciprocally or conversationally suggests that both entities influence one another through the course of their interaction. From the user's point of view, this means that there must be the ability to manipulate the material offered in the computer. There must be a programming function to realize the ideal interactive state for the user. FRESTEL does not offer this.

It is a programmed database-searching system in which a frame or screen of information presented includes directions to other frames as search options guiding the user. The user is not able to manipulate the material, but mere/Y wanders through the database, whether purposefully or"as a browser,under, the system's direction. From the point of view of present users of online information retrieval services, viewdata, with its lack of inverted files and boolean operators, is not a very sophisticated retrieval systen.7

It appears to be suited to users who have simple information needs, who have no computer training and do not intend to undergo such training.

This.suggests a role as a retrieval system in the home and, indeed, this is the intention of the designers of the scheme,8Other media prognosticators have suggested a role for viewdata as part of a "homevideo environment center" around the television set. Just as there has been a revolution in the development of the modular audio systems in the home, so too is a revolution being forecast in home video systems. William J. Donnelly, a Vice- kit President of Young & Rubicam in New York, suggested recently that the

current TV set will become the modular display device for whole host

of electronic information and entertainment resources. Itcould be fed

by several devices: a video cassette machine, a video disc, program-

mable video games, a home computer, a printer (facsimile and computer

printout) and a hook-up to a telephone wire through a transaction tele-

pbone with one or more databases such as viewdata.9

Many more servces have been proposed for interactive television.

As an illustrA.t;on, the following is a list of possible system and ser- 10 vices for interactive television.

SUBSCRIBER-ORIENTED INSTITUTIONAL

Interactive instructional programs Computer data exchange Fire and burglar alarm monitoring Teleconferencing Television ratings Surveillance of public areas Utility meter readings Fire detection Control of utility services Pollution monitoring Opinion polling Traffic control Market research surveys Fingerprint and photograph Interactive TV games identification Quiz shows Civil defense communications Pay TV Area transceivers for mdbile Special interest group conver- radio

t sations Classroom instructional TV Electronic mail delivery Education extension classes Electronic delivery of (dedi- Television municipal meetings cated).newspapers and and hearings periodicals Direct response on local issues Remote calculating and com- Automatic vehicle identifi- puter time-sharing cation Catalog displays Community relations program- Stock market quotations ming Transportation schedules Information retrieval services Reservation services, ticket Education for the handi- sales capped Banking services Drug and alcohol abuse programs Inquiries from verious Health care, safety, legal and directories other public information Local auction sales and ywap programs chops Business transactions Electronic voting Credit checks Subcriber originated Signature and photo identi- programming fication Interactive vocational counseling Facsimile services Local ombudsman Industrial training Eqployment, health care, how!ing, Corporate news ticker welfare, or other social ser- Telediagnosts vice information Medical record exchange Library refe7ence and other :nfor- Cashless society transactions mation services Person-to-Person paid work Dial-up video and audio libraries at home Videophgne Access to ccimpany files Message recording Consumers' advisory service Secretarial assistance Weather bureau Answering services Grocery price list, information, and ordering Past aul forthcoming events Daily calendar and appointment reminder Restaurants Index to system services

Adapted from Baran, P. "Broad Band Interactive Communication Ser- vices to the Hame: Part I-Potential Market Demand." IEEE Trans- actions on Communications, Vol. COM-23. Ma. 1, January 1975. p. 7; and Rubinstean, E. "Societal Aspects of Technology." IEEE Spectrum, January 1974, p. 89.

Early Attempts at Computer-home Communication

The idea of accessing a computer data bank from a remote point using telephone lines is not new. It was demonstrated in the mid 1960's at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.11 Since then, many commercial computer services have used the system to serve business and scientific clients, either as a computer service bureau or on an in-house basis. View- data, with its more simplified user conditions, is part of a computer system intended more for the general public.than specialist clients.

It is not the first, nor the only attempt to brng computer-based information to the general public. Some other examples are:

(1) DIALS (Calculation by telephone). A system developed by

Nippon Telephone and Telegraph Company (NTT), the public telephone adminis- tration -in Japan. It offered subscribers a real-time, online calculation

service. The transmit and receive terminal is the push button telephones

the computer response is a voice signal. The service, which was introduced

in 1970/71 (it is not known whether it is still available), included simple

arithmetic operations (addition, subtraction, division, multiplication,

square root), trigonometic functions, logarithms, algebraic expressions,

and a call-up for statistical programs suchas compound interest calculations.

It should be apparent that all this computational potIntial via a standard

12 button telephone panel was very ccuplex. There wss considerable doUbltng

up of button function and the coding instructions which had to be followed

to effect a calculation were complex. To compound this problem, the fact

that the only computer response was by voice with its consequent recall problems must underline the problem of complexity that the system had.12

(2) Picturephone. The facility to display computer generated information was included as part _of the development by the Bell System in

13 the United States of Picturephone in 1970. Picturephone's main objective was to provide face-to-face communication between telephone subscribers.

The fact that computer communication was piggybacked into the system as well probably was a hindrance to the long-term development of linking computer systems with the home. Picturephone required extra telephone lines to carry its video signal and the hmme terminal had no storage facilities.

This meant that the screen display required continuous refreshing. The wisdom of hindsight suggests Picturephone was an innovation for which no user demand had eve-: really existed. The increase in cost to the subscriber at the time was apparently too nigh to make the system more attractive than 14 the voice telephone. This technology oriented approach to innovation rather than a user orientation will be discussed later in this paper with

6 r

regard to viewdata. This is a critical factor around which thesuccess of

innovation in the area hinges. Yet, the history of the area is littered

with problems and even failures for want ofa user orientation.

(3) Mitre Corporation's Reston Experiment, 1971.15This system

used the Mitre Corporation TICCIT system (time shared,interactive, computer

controlled, information television)an4required a standard television re-

ceiver plus a video tape recorder in tbe home, connectedto the system th,lugh 4 a wideband cable TV network. The system could transmit 60 different frames

per second. Assuming an information cycle time of 10 seconds, the system

could support 600 users simultaneouslyon a dedicated TV channel, each user

receiving his own selection of information. The user's selection of frames

is communicated to the computer througha push button telephone and tele-

phone connection. The transmitted slide is captured by the home video tape

recorder which retransmits the slide to the TVset. Tbe system worked well,

but was technologically complex and expensive, requiringa TV set, video-

tape recorder, te3ephone connection and a wideband cible. 16 (4) In-Touch banking services. Introduced in Seattle,

Washington in 1973 by the Seattle First National Bank, it usedthe push

button telephone to send instructions to the computer whichgave a voice

respons?1. The experiment failed because the system, with its lengthy book

of procedures, was too complicated for many people.17

(5) Credit Card Payment. As reported in 1976, people in

Minneapolis, Pittsburgh, Des Moines and Seattleare paying their credit

card monthly bills by telephone.18 A system supplied by Telephone Computing

Service, Inc. is being used by 10 banks with an additional 40more under

contract. This represents more than 13,000 merchants' credit cards in

seven states. (6) Catalogue Ordering. In Canada, Sears were reported in 1976 to 19 have tried catalog ordering by Touch-Tone telephone. With a one page in-

strUction sheet and an ordinary Sears catalogue, only 20 percent of 1,150

test orders required operator intervention because of customer confusion.

(7) QUBE, Columbus, Ohio. In 1977, Warner Cable Corporation intro-

duced computer assisted interactive television in their Columbus, Ohio cable ,

TV system. The application of the computer in the system is more as a mar-

keting tool than it is a database to satisfy the inforMation needs of their

customers. TIle computer's main.function is to "sweep" the vieWer population

every 6 seconds to see which charnels are being viewed for billing and ratine purposes. security options (security, fire, medical) are being introduced and would beaccommodated by the computer in its 6 second sweep. On being alerted, the system points ot to the appropriate agency (police, fire department, hot ,s1) the location of the emergency and appropriate historical 20 information about that location or person. Video games may also be iLte- grated into QUBE. Warner owns the Atari electronic game company.21What seams to have excited futurologists is the push-button interactive facility each viewer is provided with. This allows users to enter a choice into the system in response to questions on, for example, political sues, marketing or program preferences. To date, it appears to be meeting the needs of marketing people rather than the social theorists looking for the new order in-democratic society. The QUBE keyboard in each home has five response buttons, sufficientfor a scale approach to user testing, hut hardly inter- . active in the full sense of the word. The user most cerLainly does not initiate interactive activity. He merely responds to questions posed by the designers of the program. As one commentator has noted, QUBE may not be democratic so much as demagogic.22 There are no plans so far for QUBS to

8 a

offer access to any information databases. In fact, Warners do not believe'

there is yet a market for 1ar4e databaseeervices.23

(8) Japanese pptical Fiber Network (li-OVIS Higashi-Ikoma-Optical

Visual Information System): In 1977 the Hi-OVIS CATV network began testing.an

interactive system capable of providing 11,..)useholds with twd-way services

ranging from requested entertainment through computer assisted instruction,

cashless shopping, medical assistance, police and fire protection and remote

telemetering.24

(9) Canadian Videotex: (aell Canada's VISTA; Canadian Department of

CommunicatiOn's TETEDON). Bell Canada and two publishing companies are cooper-

ating in a pilot :Fcoject of VISTA this year and a larger emrket study.in 1980.

The system appears to be more sophisticated than PRESTEL in that there is the

facility for terminal to terminal contact which bypasees the central computer.

The Department of Communication's TELIDON offers a more sophisticated image on 7 the TV screen by dividing the screen up. more finely. TELIDON can display

curved lines rather than the more jagged graphics of PRESTEL.TELIDON requires

a more intelligent terminal than PRESTEL to achievethia.25

(10) French ANTIOPE System:26 ANTIOPel'isa terminal display sy6t,pm5.\

which can accept, format and display both teletext (TELETEL) and viewdata

(TITAN). TELETEL, the French teletext system is transmitted via DIDON which

is the French broadcast papket transmission system for telex, teletext, facsimile

and other data transmission. Advantages put forward for ANTIOPE include

greater flexibility in the characters displayed and compatibility between

broadcast and interactive services.

12 This character flexibility has some importance when international aspects

. of viewdata are considered. It has the capacity to backspace and overstrike

and with this, more than one language,can be used.Letter accentig (umlauts,

grave, acute and circumflex) can be accommodated.There is a considerable

amount of dis:mssion in the literature over what is referred to as the'"rivalry",

between the British and the French systems to become "the international

. I standard" and the advantages of one over the other, if any, are clouded by some

,strongly held points of.view. The French report their system .(TITgN) is

operating in the-Paris Bourse, and trials have been run with it in New Orleans,

Montreal, TorontO,'Buenos Aires and in Peru. There is also the suggestion that_

ANTIOPE might be the system used ;for the results and information service at the

Moscow Olympics in 1980. The system has been licensed for trials in the U.S.A.

On the-British side of the rivalry a PRgSTEL packege has Been sold to the West

German Buridepost WhiCh will market the system under the name BILDSCHIRMTEXT.

Holland, too, -has bought PRESTEL and negotiations are underway for sales of the

system to Australia, Hong Kong and Spain. A marketing arm of the British National

Enterprise Board, INSAC Group Inc., is preiently attempting to set up a PRESTEL

system in the U.S.A.

(11) Japanese CAPTAINS System (Character and pattern telephone access 27 infprmation network system): In many respects CAPTAINS appears to be similar

to PRESTEL in concept, except that it can offer an audio service as well as

video. How well integrated the audio and video channels are is not yet clear.

Some reports have suggested that the system has a more refined visual image,

better able.to handle the Japanese text Qharacter. The large number of characters

in the Japanese alphabet suggest the need for some form of central ch'aracter

generation and broadband (cable rather than telephone) transmission. Public

trials of the system, offering a similar information range as PRESTEL, are

presently underway.

10 13, 4

(12) There are several other interactive systems noted briefly

in the literature from the experimental transmissions of facsimile news-

papers in Japan and th- U.S. to a variety of security and firetelemetering

services throughout theU.S.28

Two final problems of name. :lature arise. First, viewdata, as

the British see it, is a system for disseminating andretrieving computer-

based information, using the domestic telephone line Tor communication

and the domestic television set for display. The system could work just

as well, or even better, over cable TV circuits. And this is, perhaps,

, how such a system might go in the U.S. where cable TV services are so much

more extensive than in Britain. The different syStems noted above required

either or both telephone and cable circuits to operate. This has confused

the British concept of viewdata. Since this paper\is primarily concerned

with the British system, what follows will now usetheir system of

nomenclature. Viewdata is an over-the-telephone form of interactive data

transmission.

The second problem of nomenclature is that the British have now

. 'adopted the term viewdata as a generic term to describe all over-the-

telephone types of interactive data transmission. They were not able to

The U.K. Patent Office Trade Marks Registry considered the name too

descriptive of what the service does. So they now call their system

PRESTEL. To remain consistent with the British literature, the term

PRESTEL will be used in this paper. The tendency in the U.S. so far

seems to be to refer to the PRESTEL system asVIEWDATA. A final irony

for the British is that an objection to the new name has been.lodgedby

11 14 an Italian manufacturer namedPRESTEL which sells a range of field strength 29 meters in the U.K.

The Histo-r of Prestel

The telephone system in Britain is owned and operatedby a state

monopoly, the British Post Office. Telephones aw paid for on a rental and

a per call basis. Consequently, there is an ongoing push for the Post

Office to find ways to increase telephone traffic so as toincrease revenues.

This is particularly relevant to the home telephone where usage ischarac-

teristically just a few minutes a day. PRESTEL was one of the responses of

the Post Office's researdh arM to meet this need to promote traffic. The

man behind the idea is generallyconsidered to be Sam Fedida, whoejoined

the Post Office as managerof theircomputerapplications and research and

development in 1970. He was formerly Assistant Director of Research f9rthe

English Electric CoMpany and now works as anindustrial consultant mainly

in the field of promotion of PRESTEL.

Fedida had drawn up his concept of PRESTEL by 1971. After

several years of development at the Post Cffice'sresearch establishments

at Dallis Hill in London and Marylesham, nearIpswich, it appears to have

first been unveiled tc5 the public early in 1976. Developmentin the early

1970's meant that the researchers were able to draw onthe new technologies

of large scale Integrated (L.S.I.) circuitrywhich permitted miniaturi-

. zation of subscriber equipment.

The promotion of PRESTEL has coincided with severaladministrative

and technical innovations made by thePost Office: (1) ,To make the medium

more receptive to market forces, thePost Office telecommunications division

has set up its PRESTEL department as a ceparate profit making operation: (2). Along with many telephone administrationsaround the world, the British

Post Office formerly did not permit the use of foreign attachments, including

hardwired modems. However, the expense of existing commercial modems, com-

bined with the desire to stimulate electronics manufacturers to enter the

market and develop inexpensive local service modems, eventually led to the

dropping of the.foreign modem ban." (3) The Post Office has undertaken

only to underwrite early development,,and in the long term, provide storage

and networking facilities. It has made a unique arrangement whereby TV

r irmanufacturers and the information i ustry are involved in the development

of PRESTEL. The Post Office looks to the TV manufacturing industry to

develop and market TV sets with integral modems (for reasons noted above

in #2) and it looks to the information industry to develop and input the

information into the database. This, too was an innovative idea and

conceptually .overcomes several ethical problems for a state organization

of having editorial.control over a database aimed at the general public.

The Post Office offers no editing censorship or monitoring facilities.

What is lost.with this approach is the potential for a comprehensive, inte-

grated database.. What remains is a system where information providers

.(IPs) come to the database facility on an ad Wic basis to enter their

information more or less independently. The Post Office does provide a

crude indexing service 'which identifies Information Providers and their

subject areas. A database searcher might access this index for preliminary

subject guidance.

How PRESTEL Works

The designer of the system, Sam Fedida, has outlined some initial

design assumptions, the consequences of which have some impact on the way

13 16 31 PRESTEL works.

(1) The database.had to be very large in order to sAtisfy the information needs of modern society and to ensure that the range was broad enough to attract a sufficiently large body of users to establish a low cost mass market.

(2) The communications medium between user and data bank was to be the existing telephone network, a well developed, but essentially narrow band service.

. (3) The time taken for informatipn retrieval had Co be very short, a maximum of two seconds to ensure satisfactory quality.

(4) The viewdata system potentially had to be capable of supporting a host of communications and other facilities, e.g. person to person messages, educational services, and computational services for the student and small business.

The consequences of these assumptions were that the information provided had to be based on a dj.stributed network of computers (to give users local call rates) eadh of which would be capable of storing the data in a random access device. A wideband medium such as cable TV could have been used, but the cost to install such a network nationwide was so high that the idea was discarded. In any case, it would not serve the purpoie of increasing telephone usage and hence revenues on the existing net:ork.

Though developed on an HP2100, PRESTEL now is running on a GEC

4080 computer. The PRESTEL software is written in CORAL/BABBAGE and the GEC operating system is written in CORAL. It is claimed that the PRESTEL

32 software took some 20 man-years to write. The GEC 4080 is a process cont- trol computer rather than a "number cruncher," since the need c.as for data coficentration and.communications switching to give quick response times.

14 It is a small machine, virtually a mini-computer. The nearest comparable system

in,the U.S.A. would be the PDP-11/70.

To establish a connection with the PRESTEL computer, the user

dials the computer's telephone 'umber (or pressesan autodialer button

on the keypad). The signal iL then switched from the telephone set to

a modem (modulator-demodulator). This device modulates the code on to tl a voice frequency carrier, within the speech band, thus obviating the

problems encountered with very low frequency transmission over the

telephonenetwork.33 It converts analogue telephone signals tc a digital

signal.. The modem is part of the decoding apparatus of the terminal.

Other 'elements of the deeoderAthis list is oversimplified)

are a line isolator (to protect-the telephone network from dangerous

high voltages present in the TV), a memory (to store data foe divlay),

a display generator (which transforms characters stored in the memory to

the dot patterns required for display), and a controller/processor (to

synchronize the operation of the components). TranSMission to the computer

from the terMinal is at 75 baud (75 bits per second) and from the computer

to the terminal at 1200 baud.- This standard was arrived at to fit in with

a well tried and readily available iodem.

On connection with the system, the computer transmits a first

frame-which requires the user to enter a user number. An autodialler could

conceivably do this without the user being aware. The user is then offered

the first of a series of PRESTEL'index frames. To.access the information

, desired, the user has two options: (1) If the frame number is known, he

can key directly to it by pressing the three button keypad sequence,

15 18 Diagram 1 - Simplified layout ofthe PRESTIL system showing the telephone system at the topand the hOme and office terminal at the bottor.

Ckta banits Overall pictwv of connections in Viewdata, showing the telephone system cut the top and thehome and olnke terminal at the bottom.

Serturger, exessair or vs( misaaftse

749 bits/save

Ojos or . ammiwom. tessnon

ee wee eNef,

breystas

weft touowerir IN NIE CM= IPSroe Nome ietniPme4T ;Zw ft - 4.ftomee 00.4 ".

From S. redid*, "Viewdata3 - Operation of the system: terminals and codes." Wireless World83:1496:65(Apri1,1977)

. 9 * frame number #;(2) The user can interactively search throughthe database using first the index alkd then key options offeree on eachframe as the

search progresses.

The database is structured as an hierarchical tree. Other database 0 retrieval systemswhich could have been used are: (1) Print'and publish a

total index and make it available to ail users. This involves an added

expense in printing and distribution andpresents updating problems. In

fact, an abbreviated subject and Information Providerindex is being pub-

lished and three different magazines (one each publishedby International

Printing Corporation, Eastern Counties Newspapers and thePinancialTimes;

have arisen around this index as service industries; (2) Use a Keyword

index approach.. This posed threepioblems which, although suited it to

professional use, had facets which w,.!re seen asinappropriate toPRESTEL:34

(a) the keyword approach requires a thesaurus ofsYnonyms or

descriptors which are meaningful to the computer.

(b) a more complex.keyboardwould be required.

The tree structure Appears to-be the most appropriatehierarchy

for a medium like PRESTEL. It has been suggested that this isbecause the

tree approach seems to replicate thestructure of cognitive.thought pro- 35 cesses in humans most closely. 'Earlier work has suggested that tb f. common

classification systemsare too shallow and too broad,whereas the optimal

shape for a structure (in terms of minimum usersearch time) should be

narrow and deep, three tofive information items to be selected at each

successive level of the structure,and with as many levels as necessary 36 for the datAbase size. This is more or less the PRESTEL situation.

17 The system has 10 levels with 10 potential choices at each level, giving

a present theoretical 'capacity of sc e ten thousand million frames. In

reality, Information Providers are being placed in the system at the

third level, which positions them above some 10 million frames. In

practice, although ten selection choices are available from each frame,

information providers seem to ese no more than half of them once preliminary indexes have been offered and the search becomes more specific.

SoPRESTAappearsto meet the format suggested by Thompson. At least

in general terms, it'is deep and not too broad. A powerful option available in PRESTEL is the crossreferencing facility which allowsre- direction to other points in the database rather than just step by step r vertical movement.As an example of database design, diagram 2 shows. a "Travel to the U.S.A." promotion.

The Onscreen Display

PRESTEL displays static alphanumeric information in the ISO-7 sub-set of the international ASCII code of 96 characters. Seven colors are available: red, rreen, Amdlow, blue, cyan, magenta, and white. In this writer's experience, aome of the colors are "more equal" than others and this tends to restrfct the color range to fewer than seven. Red and blue are dark colors which tend to blur along character edges making the characters indistinct. Since the usual background color is black

(more recent terminal developments allow the back4round color to he varied), this aggravates,an already less than desirable situation.Given does not blur across character edges, but it, too, is a dark color whose use might be discouraged because of this feature. Magenta is a strong color, almost'too strong, in the sense that it is uniettling (dissonant?

. le 2 1 mit

-Lima ' trl II 11 3 Fam-h 3 igi*Eas" US dex US HistoryGeneral Trave Reg ons Major Ne3 co & FactbookVisitor 'Ito US of US Cities sax Information 01,mfals 1;54,00 ...t Sa 1 US ndex Regular . Budget Airfares Destination Des ination 441346 Airlines Standby 10 Cities Region :ow*ow. A./six -eharters sir 2 prne 0r Poo0 3b 1 2 4 21.6 U S ndex , New York &WashingtonHiami & Chicago & Atlanta Dallas & Los Allgeles,._ Nth East D.C. & Sth East Mid West & South Sth West & West ""a) t Nid-Atlantic

3c 0 1 2 4 5 7 8 9 Atlanta Boston Chicago Dallas Los AngelesMiami New Orleans New York San Washingt Fransisco DC

1 2 --Traw r 17 18 -19 US Index General How to aet Where to What to Where to Where to Sports & Theatres Regional Information Aroun Stay See Eat Shop Recreation & Clubs Trips

21 22 To4,51

offensive?) to the eye. It is appropriate for use only as an effect and

does not seem tocoordinate well with the other colors, which probably will

further limit its u3e in combination with others.

After sustained use of an editing terminal, white, too, became

an outcast', if only because it seemed like a "hole" waiting for a color

to bAinserted. This effectively.left just cyan and yellow as base

colors for the text. They are bright, intense colors, attractive and easy

to read.

How these colors perform on the gray scale of a monochrome

screen was never observed, nor is it mentioned anywhere in the literature.

Yet monochrome sets are planned to be the basic terminal CRT for the

business market. The display format is 24 rows each of 40 characters

giving a total capacity of 960 characters per frame. In practice, frame

capacity is less than this. 'The top row is reserved for frame identity

information, the Information Provider name, the frame's unique number, and

the frame cost to the user. The bottom row is used for computer control

messages. Control characters are invisible, e.g. color change characters,

ige graphic/letter change characters between word spaces, and these make up a

proportion, say 10 percent of the total character allotment. Distortion

and cutoff on the edge of the TV screen suggest the television production

:faction area" allowance should be made, thus avoiding the fringe of the

screen in frame layout. Thus, aesthetic reasons also limit the total

characters used per frame. In a text only frame, the limit approaches

100 words. If a graphic was also included, the word count drops away

sharply. This writer further found that certain graphic formats could

force the 960 character limit to be exceeded early in the frame design.

24 If a vertical line was set up near the right edge of the frame, the

character counter in the system appeared to count all character positions

to the left of the line as used, even if they were not. This aspect

prohibited the use of continuous vertical lines in design which tend to

the right of the frame.

Characters are formed on the screen using a 9x5 dot matrix. 41, "." ; Upper case characters used a 7x5 matrix with the two extra lines of the

matrix aVailable for lower case descenders.Graphic displays are based on

-a character posiiion,dividellintoa 2x3 matrix. A color could occupy 0- just one cell in the matrix or all 6. But each matrix can only take one

color. This matrix system leads to a "stepped graphic" format in visuals

which does not lend itself to curves or diagonals. In earlier editing

terminals, a blank character position was required to hold a color change

control character. In other words, colors could not butt against each

other in tkie same row. This has been overcome with a specification amend-

4 V t. Other display facilities include a larger (three row) text format

ca, i alphagraphics, double size lettering, flashing of specified

characters, and background colors other than black. An example of a

"stepped graphic" visual is included as Appendix II.

'The Editing Terminal and the Input Mode

The manual inputting of materials is a slow and laborious

business. Yet, to date, it is the only way to ensure a unique frame

design. Bulk inputting, so far, does not lend itself to anytitinq more

than the inputting of text. Manual inputting times range from 5 minutes

for a text only frame to an hout for a complex graphic and text frame.

21 a. s- Although this writer kept no down-time stacistics, his experience in

Britain from October-December, 1976, suggestel 10-20 percent,of time was

spent recoverine from system error. Line interference distorted portions of frames which then had to be i:ebuilt. Half-built frames could be "lose

in transmiseion and Would have to be rebuilt. Experience suggested

that complex visuals be built and sent for encoding in the computer a qua-ter of a frame at a time to cover the potential for loss of a sub-

stantial inputting effort. The check-recheck process to ensure that a

frame was encoded error-free further aggravated the heavy time investment of operators. The transmission speeds are slow and are afusrtherencum- brance to a proficient operator. Ali this points to offline, intelligent editing systems with bulk transfer to PRESTEL in order to exploit advanced editing.facilities not available to the online terminal.

There are five change modes available online to an editing

terminal:

(1) Enter- the creation of new fram.-.

(2) Delete- the deletion of frames.

(3) _Amend- the alteration of frames, but not their -ross refer- .

encing selections.

(4) Overwrite- the alteration of frames and cross referencing

seleitions.

(5) Copy- the copying of frames from one part of the database to another.

All these modes are heavily constrained, ostensibly to protect frames in the tree below the one being edited.. these restrictions are sometimes difficult to comprehend. For example, bulk deletion is difficult, but

22 26 rather deletion has to be effected frame by frame.

Types of Services on PRESTEL

(1) General access infOrmation. This is material available to

-anY user, theerange of which is indicated by the subject and Information

Providerindez in Appendix I. Three examples which might have diffekent

updating requirernts are sports results (updated constantly); news,

weather, and classified ads (updated daily or more frequently); travel time- 4 tables (updated infrequently).

(2) Closed user groups (CUG). This is a restricted access

facility of interest perhaps to_ trade organizations, multi-plant com-

genies, suppliers to a specific commodity area. (e.g. pharmacies or travel

agencies in Houston) or subscribers to a specialist research service.. In

eath Closed User Group, there is a gammunitir of interest on the one hand

and some proprietary information to be distributed on the other. AcCess

to the CUG hy its members would 5e controlled through a special passv-rd;

(3) Action Frame. This is one of the strOngest marketing

features of PRESTEL. It is a facility which allows a user to respond to

an.inquiry by sending a message to an Information Provider through the

system. The user can do this either 1y authorizing the release of his

-name and address or by entering a credit card number. All this is done

merely by pressing the appropriate keys on the user keypad.The user

responses are stored in the central computer where they can be called up

by the appropriate Information Provider kor display on his screen. Future

enhancements could involve ;a) storage of user responses downstream:at

an Information Provider's intelligent terminal; (b) compatibilitywith a

23 third party database, e.g. an airline reservation system, whereby a user

could make timetable inquiries, reservations and,ticket purchases all off

his 'lime scrip. -Possible exploiters of this facility include Book of

the Month Club,.Record of the Month, magazine and club subscriptions, mail order retailersutilities bill payments.

(4) Messages. This is a facility whereoy USers can send messages to each other using the computer to store the message,until the receiver calls it up. Since the user keypad so'far has only a numeric facility, the message would have to be of a preformatted nature, e.g. birthday greetings, personal travel schedules--"I will be home at (enter timel tonight:"The message facility is not available at the moment. A future enhancement might be terminal-to-terminal message exchanges without going through the central computer. Another enhanCement might be an alphanumeric keypad so the user can actually compose his own messages.

(5) Conversation. Although not generally available, this facility was derdonstrated in 1978 as an aid to the'deaf. Using a split screen, 2,users can carry,on a liye conversation written on screen.

(61 There are several other Uses which exploit a more interactive mode through algorithmic conptruction. These include (a) calculations

(mortgage payment analysis, for example), (b) questions with choice of answer dictating subsequent computer responses (e.g. a question sequence

to identify eligible adoptive parents (c) teaching exercises, e.g. a ' demonstraiionQf the principle of mothents in which balance is displayedon screen and the user selects choices of pivot position and Weight. SubSequent frames display the effect of these pivot and weight choices on the balance.

The system can also impose a time limit within which the user should complete the problem.

24 28 Future Enhancements Possible on PRESTEL

,Mlany opportunities and directions for development are offered in

the literature surrounding PRESTEL. Estimates of the time these develop-

ments might vane 'online are necessarily vague, hanging as they do on:

(1) User acceptance of viewdata systems, which in the view of this writer

is the most critical yet least understood factor of all;(2) The Post

Office's ability to ineet system development deadlines.So far, failures

in this area have caused serious credibility problems in the launching of

the system.(3) Developments in the transmission network, for example, _into

eptical fiber technologyi with consequent higher transmissicin speeds. These

are seen as becoming available in the 1:::e 1980s..

There are a lot of enhancements possible under the current standards

of the system and projections have them coming online through the mid 1980s.

.1 Some examples of future enhancements are:

(I) Intelligent terminals. These are terminals with built-in

. computing and storage facilities which could operate offline or online with

the PRESTEL system and cope with bulk transfer of material. 41.

(2) Portable terminals.. These are small handheld terminals which,

dOuld be connected t, the.PRESTEL system through any telephone receiver.

(3) Radio terminais. These are terminals with the facility to hook

into the telephone system from some.remote location by radio.

(4)- Public terminals. These are coin operated and, in fact, are

already available. They wou.ld be plaaed in public areas such as libraries,

railway stations, large building lobbies.

(5) Clustered terminals. At the moment, transmission speeds are such

29 that one terminal connection to PRESTEL usesthe telephone lines for,only about one fifth of the time. Thus, with multiplexing, it is possible to have 4 or 5 terminals connected to the sameline and operating at the sane

time with consequent line charge economies.

(6) multi-language terminals. Expanded terminals which can aCcommo- date, for example, the Cyrillic alphabet of Eastern Europe orthe accented

langua4es 'of western Europe. HoweVer, this intrudes on the sensitive area

of international standardization (if across the border networkingis the aim).

The situation is further aggravated by the fact that same Europeancountries

(e..g,. France, Sweden) are developing their own viewdata systemsand to dif-

1' ferent standards.

(7) Terminal attachments. This is a poten4ally prolific area, the

range of which is probably only limited bythe ingenuity of suppliers. Same

examples might,be: a) Printers--2 types of printers are possible, one which

. gives a crude facsimile of what haS appeared on screenfor.recoidkegping

purposes only. The other need, of perhaps more.appeal to bUsiness than the

home, is a high quality print format which can produce material offscreen to

be used as a.medium of communication in its own right, e.g. letters,.nemoranda.

b) Ca ette retorder--as an alternate storage device of onscreen material. r c) Call indicator--perhaps a small light on'the terminalWhich would indicate

to a user that.a message awaits him in the system.This is analogous to the'

message indicator seen on a hotel telephone. '

(8) Access to third party databases. This facility could be of

considerable importance to the success of the system.At the moment, there is

nocompatibility, with other databases and new information fer PRESTEL has to

be entered frame by frame. This is obviously a limiting factor on the amount

26 of information whial can ever be available on the system.Experience in

existing interactive online systems, which are primarily in the dreaof

bibliographic'search, underline the need for access to more than one data-

base. This same experience, however, also underlines the fact that campati-

37 ° bility across different systems is not easily achieved. An example of

-the advantages from access to third party databases is that of accessing an

,aiiline'and a hotel 'database in order tc plan, reserve and purchase a trip

all from one terminal.

A qualification should be made to the point that there ispreSently

no compatibility with thirdIdatabases. There are, in fact, two options which

give a rather tenuous form of coipatibility:

a) Private viewdata systems. These are an elaboration of the

intelligent terminal. Two electro4cs firms have announcedprivate viewdata

systems (Philips & GEC) and claim compatibility with PRESTELinaofar as

-bulk transfer of information is possible between them.The facility for a

.PRESTEL usei to search a database on these private systems is notavailable.

GEC system'smai'n\parketing thrust (as of DeceMberc 1978) was at

the Information Providerpopulation.38For larger IP operations, the faster

transmission speeds available on the closed systems (2400-9600 baud)and the

ability to program special editing features to be performed automatically can

39 lead to improved operator productivity. Although Philips has announced a

Private viewdata system for small office Computers, no company has announced

a private viewdata system in competition forthe same market as PRESTEL. The

Post Office claims it is geared, as a common carrier, toprovide netwcirks as 40 required, and that it would welcome competition for PRESTEL. It remains to

be seen whether the Post Offiqg can, institutionally, tolerate competition to

27 PREsTEL.

b) A seocond approach which points to compatibility withthird party databases is tbat of software packages for converting informationheld on con- ventional computer filet into the format and structure required forloading 41 onto PRESTEL. One such package is PREvIEW. Such packages are a step in the direction of transparept interactive televition't i.e. systems

containing the necessary converter or translator to help the user circumvent.

the need for understanding all the specific differences of databases, systems, 42 pomman4 languages, vocabularies and access protocols. PREVIEW, however, is

not uier oriented in this sense. Bather, it is aimed at the Information

Provider ind effects the restructuring and loading of existing databasesinto

PRESTEL. It is not interactive and nor, at this stage of itsdevelopment; is

it very sophisticated in terms of graphic display and technicalvariability

beyond IBM files.

(9).Opti3al scan input. With the rather primitive inputting facilities

available to information providers at the moment, there is aneed to be able

to optically scan materials as an input mode. This_might help operator produc-

tivity. Primitive forms of this enhancement are available.

(10) Connection to telex. This would give three key advantages to -A' the telex systemS: a) it would eliminate the need to reenter messages for

multiple recipients; b) it would provide a store and f-rwardcapability;

c) it would increase the number of telex and viewdataoutlets as well as

providing a new message mode, telex to viewdata or viewdata to telex.

(11) Downstream loading of.software. This is another capability

accruing to intelligent terminals. In this instance, not just frames of

information are transmitted to user terminals, but whole softwarepackages.

32 An immediate example is that of videoganes where, at'present, a cassette

has to be purchased. In the future, A software package could be "rented" , online for downstream loading onto the home terminal.

(12) Electronic "newspaper." The provision of this enhancement could be further refined using a saftware package which helps develop an information- need profile for each,user. The "pre-edited" newspaper (unique to that user) could then be held, say, in the message storage area ready for recall online at the usersconvenience.

(13) Electronic mail. Given the increasing cost of delivery of Mail, there is considerable scope,' in the long term, for electronic mail delivery.

Using a printer at the delivery terminal, the end result could look very much as it does now - a letter aelivered by a postal carrier.Yet, with increasing transmission ppeeds and visual definition being improved. the prospect for overnight delivery (when line use is low) is a very real one, and with potentially large savings.

(14) Word' and graphic processing. This is a software enhancement which is needed immediately to give Informatioa Providers more flexbility.

At the moment, there is no facility to insert new lines of text and shuffle succeeding lines, no automatic editing functions, no automatic curs= positioning, no scope for graphic manipulation in size oronscreenlposition. The input mode is primitive and changes are only possible through deletion and reentry or overstriking.

(15) Full alphanumeric capability in user keypads.For users without an editing terminal, the user keypad, at'the moment, is numeric only ontha output side. This allows the addreasing of particular numbered frames, and on the input side, the triggering of preset character stringsfor message

29 purposes or 'credit card purchases. A full alphanumeric keypad would give

greatly increased interactive power to the user, provided, of pourse, the

software was available for the full keypad to be exploited.,

(17) The ultimate enhancement, from the User's point of view, is

surely the ability to proliide a two-way audio channel and a moving picture

% instead of the present still frame. The viewdata literature does not oVer

any ideas on the viability of this idea. Viewdata is seen, at the moment, as

primarily a medium for text and not pictures. The fact that Lnformation

Providets ate even trying to build visuals on their frames is considered

somewhat revolutionary. A two-way audio channel implies the system has a

speech tecognition channel as a user input mode, as well.as a keypad. The

state-of speech recognition in information science is such that this notion

is probably sti.l verging on sdience fiction.

Some PRESTEL Costs (in U.S. dollars)

The following is a sampling of PRESTEL mists to give some indication

of the medium's expense. Since many of the costs are of a proprietary nature,

these figures have of neceisity been drawn from press reports.Although this

writer is confident that they approximate reality, the figures should be

treated with appropriate caution.

(1) The basic Mark I editing terminal can be tentedfi41Mthe Post

0 Office for $800 per .year.

(2) A more advanced Mark II or intelligent terminal can be purchased

from a manufacturer for $12,000 to $20,000.

(3) Offline multiple terminal intelligent editing systems cost from

$30,000 upward.

3 4 .(4) The bulk loading program PREVIEW is priced at $16,000 as a one- off establishment cost and $44000 per year subsequently.

(5) Decoder prices are volume sensitive. Early quotations are around $600, but mass production promises to bring the price down to under

$50 over the next few years. Texas Instruments are one of the leading decoder manufacturers up to March 31, 1979.

(6) Information Providers have paid $500 a year to the Post Office as an annual service charge, plus $2.00'a year per frame of their allotment as rental. These charges are increasing from April 1, 1979 to $8,000 service charge and $8.00 per fraMe rental. A plan by the PostOffice to 'impose charges for editing frames is presently being vigorously opposed by the Information

Providers.

(7) Up to now (March, 1979) user frame charges were quoted by Infor- tuition Providers on a per frame basis from .$0.01 upward, depending on the

Information Provider's estimate of what the market will bear (usually 2-5 cents for general information and up to 500 for proprietaryfinanCial infor- mationY. Included in this charge was a frame levy of$.01 charged by the

Post Ofkice. From April, 1979, a new.charge basis is being introduced,laraely

- at the instigation of the Association of Viewdata Information Providers. The charg,s,proposed are 3p. ($.06) per minute in peak times and$.02 a minute in of6eak times. The time.zones have not yet been clarified but presumably will coincide with telephone call time zones. This charge will be levied in 43 addition to the prices Information Providers charge for accessing their frames.

All charges are recorded by the computer and incorporated with the regular telephone accounts. With purposeful use of the printed directory, personal noting of favorite frames and automatic frathe retrieval facilitiesbuilt into

35 4

the receivers, .the new tariff is considered to be a cost saving advance for

users.

(8) A high volume electrical and TV/audio products chain has taken

up 400 frames (plus management services) in another Information Provider's

allotMent at a cost of $20,000 far a year. That works out at $50 it frame.

(9) The British Post Office estimates that by 1980, it will have

invested $70 million on PRESTEL, including an extra $46 million made available

early in 1978 for the provision of new computer'centers in London Birmingham,

Norwich, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Leeds and Manchester. The,service presently

operates with one computer in London. Expenditure is expected to increase

to $200 milli6n by 1985.

'A User Orientation

Throughout the literature cm PRESTEL and viewdata, one thing stands

out. The point's of view of prospective users are conspicuous by-their

absence. The Medium has been the play9round'of electronic technicians who,

with little or no help from social science, have been left to invoketheir

own concept of a user. For example:

"encycloiedic databases should be worth a few million calls a week"

"The general public is anxious to use the capabilities of.computers"

"How to communicate with someone who has only had a high school

education or less"

"You also have to configure hardware and software consistent with

customers who are not sophisticated and therefore do not expect ^ anything to break"

The designers of viewdata do not look down on the user as being

36 "naive," "unsophisticated" or slightly below par as regar4s to'

educational standards.

"'Viewdata will be an important force in the change to a society where

electronic retrieval is increasingly being considered normal and

cost effective."

An investment of some $40 million of public funds to date and projec-

tioni to $200 million by 1985, have been fuelled by the optimistic forecasting

of system designers and marketing executives who really have not proved that

the system is anything more than a laboratory indulgence. "You have a humber

of technicaia driven people out there who are trying to make a. business case .44 out of their own perceptions. This is a critical point. Not only because

public funds are t stake in England, but because this development in the

marketing of the computer from a specialist to a mass audience is a radical

innovation and if a dramatic slope on the diffusion curve is to be. achieved, 11 then surely the user profile should be a more important input in the process.

The alternative is the fate which befell AT&T's Picturephone and the signifi-

, cance of that lesson is the setback it apparently:gave to subsequent movements 45 to provide computer information services to the public.

Theodore Levitt's argument for a consumer orientation seems relevant 46 here. After examining organizational failures in several industries (but

not the information industry), Levittconcildedthat the reason the growth or organizations is threatened, slowed or stopped is not that people do not

need the products or services, but that managers have been product-orientd,

rather than consumer-oriented. He emphasizes that managers must probe deeply'

into the baSic human needs that an organization is trying to satisfy, rather

concentrate on the raw materials the organization works' with in ''order to

31 Vs deliver customer or client satisfaction. A plea has been made for study of

the information needs and information-seeking habits of the target population 47 to ensure that design goals are plausible. Although this study related to

the more specialized field of bibliographic search, the pointseems relevant

here too. 'The twa authors suggest thata general survey of anticipated

users may reveal predictors of behavior that would be overlooked in a narrower

focus on the user at a particular interface. .0n the otherIlan),.they'concede that it is very difficult to assess how people will feact to4 new technology

iter before they have experienced it. The prospective user often has an unclear picture of the proposed interactive facility. Therefo/-e his opinions may be of limited value in helpingthe researcher predict the impact of.the innovation.

The di;igners of PRESTEL are confrontet by this-problem. What is clear from all this is that the int'roduction of an effective.service will cause a change in 48 user habits. Thus, there is a need to continuously collect data to help make appropriate changes in the system. New users mUst continuously be sought and 49 aggregated. One list of suggested recommendations is:

(1) the application of consumer behavior models;

(2) the use of channel-of-distribution techniques (to gain insights into the efficiency with which g utility is transferred from production to consumption);

(3) the development, of organizational structures capable of coordi- nating the uSe of marketing tools in public and private organizations;

(4) the use of market segmentation to define and measure the needs of sUbgroups of ,users.

. Given thalt 'this type of information niay well exist, but because of its proprietaiy nature it is being withheld, this writer suspects that none

..... 041 of Kuehl's recommendations are being applied,to the marketing of viewdata.

Item 3 has been attempted insofar as the Post office has set up its PRESTEL

organization as a separate profit center to help in marketing the system.

This has not stilled criticism that the Post Office does not have the .

50 marketing, managerial and software skills to deliver the system.

Why a feedback gap between user and designer exists is difficult to

understand. It has been suggested that this may be because the user is the 51 one least under the designers' control. Two other ideas presented are

(1) that historically there has always been a feedback gap between researchers

and innovation developers and administrators, and (2) the functional specifi-

cations of the financial sources ofmany innovations do not see any justifi- . 52 cation-for investment in the feedback component. This point-seems valid

in the case of PRESTEL, where it appears that the Post Office has adopted jabs view that the "system will work so let's get on with its implementation."

PRESTEL is not alone in this area. In the U.S., the Educational

Resources Information Center (ERIC) have already experienced similar problems 53 in not having a user study component. In light of this, it is suggested

that PRESTEL, too,needs clearer empirical data on:

(1) the detinition and characteristics of potential users;

(2) Mae conimunication behaviors and information needs of these

potential users;

(3) the information diffusion and dissemination strategies for the

new system, and

(4) strategies to facilitate user feedback and consequent system

modification.

d. 35- this subject of There is a largeliterature Store extant on It has developed Gut , behavioral issues in the useof interactive systems.

area of thesearching of bibliographicdatabases - of the more specialized 54 full of questionsand insightsWhich by specialists. This literature is

do not always agreewith conventionalwisdom. PhESTEL have moved All this is not to saythat the initiatorsof that not fOrward without any userresearch at all. But it does suggest know more aboutattitudes enough has or is beingdclne. There is a need to

to-what kind of concern , to this newmedium and sto itsdifferent services, the text format andcolors is it:engenders in usets. The readability of of dayi searchstrategies including unknown, online timesin duration and time 4 attitudes to costs, those not available onthe system, privacy concerns, 4 and search success rateare.all system responsetime, system reliability existent. aspects on whichinformation is sparse or non research projects of. The Post Office hasbeen involved with two interviewing 500 privateresidents note. The first in 1977which involved somedirections for and .100 businesspeople. This study apparently gave interest in the medium.. Alarger, c' database content,plus, predictable under wayinl:rolving 1500 more scientificallydesigned study is currently what are randomly sampled subjects (750 residential,750 business), most of

will be selected as . from three metropolitanareas. Some business people This study is longitudinalin well to ensure a rangeof business types. data. Usage and nature and should presentuseful demographic/attitude the "housekeeping"software search data is stillless than satisfactory as able (at December1978) to report valid in the PRESTELcomputer is not yet

frame accessin% data.

36 40 A predictably optimistic report for the potential of viewdata

in the U.S. has recently appeared based on a "representative saigple"oi

52 people who were given demonstrations and then discussed the new medium

in "focus groupmeetings,55.' All this user research material appears to

be structured to aid in the planning of marketing programs for the medium

-ritther than as a tool to aid in thi': system's user orientation development.

There is surely need for both approaches.

Some Problems in the Development Triad

(1) The Post Office:

The problems of standards in the quality of information being

entered in the database is a subject which has not really been attacked,

and under the present structure, is one not easily attacked. That is, of

course, if it should be attacked at all. There are factions amongst the

Information Providers who fear that controls might lead to debilitating

regulation.

There are two types of quality problems: whether, from a user's

point of view, the material he is accessing is current, or whether information

accessed is consistent with existing advertising standards (Or whether it

should be?).

Both problems are potentially serious ones, mainly because of tde

facility available in the design of PRESTEL for direct'purchase off the

screen. This can be affected, for example, by the inputting of a credit

card number. The Post Office has shown little concern with the problem so

far.' This is consistent with its approach of having no editorial control

over the medium. There have been "discussions" held at the instigation of

31 the British Standards Authority(ASA) about how material on viewdata "should

uphold the standards of honesty,decency and integrity observ_d by more

traditionailmedia."56 The ASA's concern is that viewdata could become "a

haven for all sorts of crooks and misleading advertisezs'who could notfind

a bbme in the existing media," and sinceinformation providers can input'

their inforination directly from their own terminals, there is no way that

advertising material submitted to the system cab be scrutinized in advance."

The ASA has suggested that existing COdes of practice be extended toPRESTEL..

The Post Office's position is that criminal and civil law provides anadequate ,

The Post Office contract with Information Providers has a clause standard. r protecting the Post Office against civil liability with regard to inputted

information. But the Post-Office has no protection against criminal liabi-

'lit*. The organ,ization of Informatibn Providers already in the system,

the AsSociation of Viewdata Information Providers (AVIP), is known to be

concerned about the problem of advertising standards if only-because there

is the potential for the loss of goodwill towards the medium. The AVIP is

trying to draw up a "Code of Conduct," but since the Association is a

voluntary'organization which does not have all Information Providers as

members(approximately 30% are members), it is not clear how effective this

move will be. No formulas have yet been offered which might resolve the

problem.

(2) The TV Manufacturers:

The set manufacturers have had a lot of trouble in their corner

of the triad. They have seen the Post Office shift its position several times

on critical technical matters. The Post Office has modified its ban on

foreign attachments to the telephone network to try and encourage decoder

38 _

development in the prtvate sector. But the Post Office has also imposed

vigorous standards on those attachments. It took some time for the Post

Office to announce the standards and it is taking the set manufacturers some

time to obtain Approval within those standards.

The Post Office, after promoting PRESTEL as an information medium

for the home, realized that its databases would not be large enough, and

the price of sets and decoders (up to $2000) would be too large to rely on

46the residential market to launch the system. So, in 1977, the Post Office

switched its aspirations to the business community, presumSbly a less price

sensitive sector, to launch the-public trials of PRESTEL in 1979. Thus the

set manufacturers were then encouraged to produce a smaller monochrome set -wa ' for business use. Frustration at the rate of production of these sets

apparently provoked the Post Olfice into announcing it might market business

57 terminals itself. Anticipating a demand of no more than a few thousand

sets, in the,first year or two, the set manufacturers were treadingwailly.

The fact that teletext and PRESTEL are two or three years apart in

development; with teletext in operation now (trade union problems, notwith-

standing), has made the set manufacturers the subject of a rumor among

Information Providers that the manufacturers might try and exploit the

situation by developing a teletext-only decoder for marketing immediately and

hold the combined teletext/PRESTEL decoder for a later generation of TV sets.

This would enhance the marketing cycle of TV sets, an ol5tion perhaps

attractive to an industry facihg a more or less saturated market. There has

been no indication if there was any truth to the rumor. But Information

Providers, with heavy investments in PRESTEL frame content, are sensitive to

suggestions that there will be no TV sets capable of accessing their frames

4 3 in the marketplace in the near future.

(3) The Information Provider:

The Information Provider is in a vulnerable position, between the

Post Office and the TV set manufacturers. Frequently small operations,

they have signed on to a system without an established market, an idea

looking for a home. Since PRESTEL cannot accommodate existing computer.

files, the Information Providers have had to generate new frames manually.

Limitations in the supply of editing terminals had slowed their ability to

generate their databases. This delay, plus managerial confusion in the

Post Office has meant several missed start-up dates in public trials.And

this, in turn, has jeopardized the viability of some Information Providers

'who\needtheir frames to.be on display to generate revenues. To add even

further to the confusion, there has been some question about the ability

of the Post Office's "housekeeping" system to account for and pass on the

revenues, and generate the frame access data needed for assessmentof the

efficacy of an Information Provider's database.

Information Ptoviders live found:

(1) limitations in software developmentlgivinq them bulk transfer

problems;

(2) an inflexibility on the part of the Post Office to handle

system modifications;

(3) unannounced computer downtime;

(4) difficulties in gaining acceSs to the computer for editing

during peak hours;

(5) too rigid frame pricing arrangements which did not allow the

Information Providers to price individual frames as they saw fit.

4 4 (6) 'restricted facilities for the updating of frame information

throughout the proposed computer network. one amusing instance was disclo-

-sure of the plan to update other computers in the network by the overnight

transfer of tapes using road. transports

As of December, 1978 there were 151 Information Providers on the

system and 85,500 frames had been inputted out of 4,tatikof 190,000 frames

allocated.. TV set delivery delays were causing serious problems in

launching the large scale research trial and raising questions again about

the ability of the industry to deliver sufficient sets to meet the hoped

for user demand when the system yent public some time this year.

The Prospects.for PRESTEL'in the U.S.

A small preliminary market trial of the PRESTEL system of viewdata

in the U.S. suggested "the likelihood of viewdata taking on in a big way in -8 the U.S This optimism is countered by the reality of the situation in

the U.S. where a different regulatory system ha's shaped a different tele-

communications stru ture. The British Post Office can oifer a complete

PRESTEL service in B itain. It can operate the computer centers, rent

storage space to Information Providers and provide the communications

network. In contrast, U.S. policies have sought to separate communi-

cations from data processing functions. As a result, it appears at the moment that no single entity in the U.S. can assume.the strong entre- preneurial role of the British POst Office in introducing a service such

as PRESTEL in the

Grundfest and Baer go on to point out that regulation may core .1 from more than just the FCC, but also from state public utility commis-

, sions, a regulator of intrasUtte common carrier service.They note that

41 5 the general information service would probably classified as data processing and be left relatively free of regulation. But services like PRESTEL's message forwarding facility arguably make PRESTEL a hybrid telecommunications service.and thus would be subject to FCC regulation.

Grundfest and Baer also see serious problems with collection of frame charges as this might revire access to telephone carrier's billing systems. This raises complex issues analagous to the cable TV pole attach- . ment controversy where the telephone companies tried to deny access to cable operators.

The,question of the idapact of costs on the user is a difficult one to assess before reliable information comes available. Assuming there is a demand for this type of information retrieval in the U.S., it would seem safe to also assume that the system might succeed even at ahigher cost level in the U.S. than _in England. Per capita income and disposible income.is higher in the U.S. The U.S. seems to have a large market-for electronic gadgetry--witness the CB rad4D and videogame boom. There is. some evidence too, that automated informationchannels provided by many 6° cable TV operators do enjoy approval and frequent use. The advantage cited for automated information channels is theiravailability,24 hours a day. That is one of the key claims of PRESTEL.

The larger population in the U.S. also suggests that (a) specialist information markets with their inelastic demand curves might be viable as well as or instead of a mass market; and (b) the volume/price sensitive decoder can more easily achieve economies of scale in production with the possibility of a conseql:Int dramatic drop in prices. It.has been noted that a fragmentary and system-incompatible development process wouldbe 61 detrimental to the evolution of the medium in the U.S. This may be

4 6 r, true, but surely a fragmentaiy system is more consistent withAmerican aspirations for a dispersed/diverse press. If the analogy holds, then there is merit in diverse databases. And the advent of tr-Insparency systems to provide compatability between dgferent databasescoad help solve problems of fragmentation-.62

It is the opinion of this writer that any delay in the intro- ; dUction of the PRESTEL version of viewdata caused by institutional barriers should be seen as an advantage. It gives the British Post

Office a chance to prove that it can shake its system out of its present managerial and technical doldrums and deliver useful market- . ing data and workable systems. The delay will also cut the load time the British system has over its competitors, thFs allowing U.S.

interests to select a tehenology from a range of offerings. These would include the Canadian, French and German systems as well., The

British system is very much a prototype. Its delivery system and display format is primitive and restricted in scope. There is a need for more evaluation and development of PRESTEL and of competing systems as these come online. References

'KennethEdwards, "Electronic news delivery needs only FCC encouragement for Invasion of USA" (paper presented tothe Newspaper Division, Association for Education in Joyxnalimm, Seattle,Washingtoh, Ap5ust, 1978). 2 S. Fedida,. "Viewdata, The Post Office'stextual information and. communications system: 1 .-,background and introduction," Wireless World 33:1494 (February 1977), 32-36.

3"BBC Ceefax." Mimeo. -C Engineering Information. Sheet 4008(5). October, 1975. BBC Engineering Information Department, London. 4 Alvin Toffler, Future Shock (London: Pan Books, 1971), p. 226.

s Paul Baran, "Potential market demind fortwo-iir54information services to the home, 1970-1990," Report No IFF-R-71-26,Institute for the Futuxe, Menlo Park, California, December, 1971, p. 1. 6 Rdb2rt E. Lynch and John R. Rice, v2,e_ntirimast±_tICcmters:Tlndse (New York: Holt, Rinehart, Winston, 1977), p. 421.

7"Viewdata--a Review and bibliography," Online Review 2:3 (1978), 217-224. s S. Fedida, "Viewdata, The post Office's textualinformation and communications system...," p. 32. 9 "The state of the fifth estate: perils and prospects over the electronic horizon," Broadcasting 96:1 (January 1, 1979), p.42. .

1 ()LouisVagianos, "Today is tomorrow: a look at therfuture information arena," Library Journal 101:1 (January 1, 1976), p.163.

11S. Fedida, "Viewdata, The Post Office's textualinformation and oommunications.system...," p. 33.

12 Ibid.

13P.S. Warwick and G.W. Phipps, "The Picturephone system, Computer access," Bell System Technical Journal 50:2 (February, 1971),600A3-700.

14 E. Bryan Carne, "Telecommunications: .Its.impact onbusiness," Harvard Business Review 50:4 (July-August, 1972), 127.

44 48 15 Wa1ter S. Blier, "Interactive-Television prosgects for two-way servi4eson cable," Rs....rt R-888-RM, (Santa Monica, Cllifornia: Rand Corporation, November, 1971) p. 77. 16 Lynn Hopewell, "Computer Communications: an introduction and overview," in Computer. and Communicationi: Proceedings of the,Federal Communications Comiesion Planning Conference, November 8-9, 1976, (Montvale, New Jersey: APIPS Press, n.d.),,-p. 15. 17 New York Times, December 29, 1973, p. 31, cited by Walter S. Baer, "Intelli5ent Terminals for new communication services," Hand Paper P5460, (Santa Mbnioa, California: Rand Corporation, August, 1975), p. 13. 18 Lynn Hopewell, "Computer Communications:an introduction and overview," p. 15. 19 Ibid. 20 William Kowinskif "Talk Back to Television," Penthouse 10:7 (March, 1979) 125-128+1 David Lachenbruch, "Will it Play in Columbus?" TV Guide a0:52 (December 24, 1977), 2-5; Harry F. Waters, "TV of Tomorrow," Newsweek, July 3, 19780 pp. 62-73. 21 "Tvo-way cable poised for major test in Columbus," Broadcasting (November 21, 1977) 42-43.

"William Kowinski,"Talk Back' to Television," p. 128.

23 "When a .computer bank teams up with a TV set," Business Week, Junat 19, 1978, P- 40M-

. 24. Optical fiber network to link Japanese homes," Canadian Datasystems 9:4 (April, 1977), 55-57. 25 "Three firms agree on data system for TV viewers." Wall Street Journal, August 18, 1978; "Pilot demonstration is paanned of information systemfor home," Globe and Mail, August 18, 1978/ "Videotex - the homegrown 'Canadian viewdata system," Communications InternatiOnal, 5:11 (November, 1978), 6; "Viewdata Systems" Supplement, Financial Times, May 9, 1979. 6,9. 26 "Systems rivalry for international viewdata and teletext: the Antiope system," Wireless World, (Auguet, 1978), 40-41; John Lloyd,4Post Office viewdata system leaas world," Financial Times, Noirember 9, 1978, p. 9.

7 2John Lloyd, Ibid. 28 "When a computer bank teams up with a TV set."; "Viewdata Systems," Supplement, Financial Times, May 9, 1979.

29"PO is pressedon Prestel," Conutin Eurcye, July 20, 1978.

45 49 I.

3 0G.D.Rosch, "Technical side of viewdata," Telephony, 195 (July 10, 1978), 140+. 31 S. Fedida, "The viewdata computer: How information is retrieved at the command of the subscriber," Wireless World, 84:1508 (April, 1978), 44. 32 Rex Malik, "The TV as a terminal: viewdata would enable British 'ICIV viewers to dial up databases," Datamation24:3 (March, 1978), 213-214. 33 S. Fedida "Viewdata 4 - The viewdata terminal in more detail," Wireless World 83:1497 (May, 1977), 56. 34 S. Fedida, "Viewdata, The Post Office's textual information and communications system," p. 36. 35 David A. Thompson, °Interface deiign for an interactive information retrieval *17 gem: a literature survey and a research system description," Journal of the American Society for Information Science (ASIS Journal), 22:6 (November/December, 1971), 361.

36David A. Thompson, Lawrence A. Bennigson and David Whitmanx "A proposed structure for disp1ajedw4mformati6n to minimize search time through a database," American Documentation, 19:1(January, 1968), 81. 37 40 Martha E. Williams, "Online retrieval - today and tomorrow," Online Review, 2:4 (December, 1978), 359.

A.V. Xorda, Personal interview. GEOPrivate Viewdata Systems Commercial %tanager. Wembley, England, December 18, 1978.

39"GEC Editing system and remote data entry station for viewdata information providers," Sales brochure, The General Electric Company of England, Hirst Research Centre, Wembley, Eqgland, May, 1978. 40 A.A.L. Reid, "Competition for viewdata welcomed," Correspondence from.Viewdata Project Manager, Post apace Telecommunications Headquarters, Wireless WOrld, 84:1507 (March, 1978), 55.

.111, 41 "PREVIEW user manual," Langton Information Systems, London, no date (1978?).

42MarthaE. Williams, "Online retrieval," p. 361. 43 "PO switch to time charges soon," Viewdata and TV User, 1:2 (January, 1979), 9. 44 "When a computer bank teams up with a TV set," p. 40M.

45E. Bryan Carne, "Telecommunications," p. 127; S. Fedida, "Viewdata, The Post Office's textual information and communications system," p. 36.

46 46 Theodore Levitt, "Marketing myopia," Harvard Business Review, 53:5 E (September/Otobsr, 1975) 26+. 47 Thomas H. Martin and Edwin B. Parker, "Designing for user acceptance of an interactive bibliographic search facility," in Donald E. Walker (ed.), Interactive Bibliographic Search: The User-Computer,Interface (Montvale, New Jersey: AFIPS Press, 1971) pp. 45-52. 48 John L. Bennett,"The 'user interface in interactive systems," in Carlos A. Cuadra, AnnualReview of Information Science and Technology, Volume 7 (Washington, D.C.: ASIS, 1972), pp. 159-196. 49 Philip G. Kuehl, "Marketing perspectives for 'ERIC-liAe' information systems," Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 23:6 (November/December, 1972), 359-364..

5°"Viewdataneeds endouragement," Editorial, Wireless World, 84:1506 (Februery, 1978), 25.

51 John L. Bennett, "The user interface," pp. 159-196.

52 Nan Lin and William D. Garvey, "Information needs and uses," in Carlos A. Cuadra .(ed.) Annual Review of Information Science and Technology Volume 7 (Washington, D.C.: ASIS, 1972) pp. 5-37.

53 Ibid.

54 Lance A. Miller and John C. Thomas, Jr., "Behavioural issues in the use of interactive systems," International Journal of Man-Machine Studies, 9:5 (September, 1977), 509-536; Thomas H. Martin, "The user interface in interactive systems," in Carlos A. Cuadra (ed.) Annual Review of Information Science and Technology Volume 8 (Washington, D.C.: ASIS, 1973), pp. 203-219; John L. Bennett, "The user interface," pp. 159-196. 55 "Enthusiasm for viewdata in the U.S.," Viewdata and TV User, 1:2 (January, 1979), 13. 56. viewdata morality under discussion,". Computing, March 30, 1978.

57 John Lloyd, "PO may market Prestel business terminalsr" Financial Times, December 8, 1978.,

58. Enthusiasm for viewdata in the U.S.," p. 13.

59 Joseph Grundfest and Walter Baer, "Regulatory barriers to home information services," Rand Corporation Paper P6106 (Santa Monica, California: Rand Corporation, June, 1978). 60 Stuart J. Kaplan, "The impact of cable television services on the use Of competing media," Journal of Broadcasting, 22:2 (Spring, 1978), 155-165

61 Kenneth Edwards, "Electronic news delivery." 62 Martha E. Williams, "Online retrieval," p. 361.

47 re,

APPINDIX I- A Directory of Information Providers and Subject Material on PRZSTEL

04,61141.1 Advartiewoollie 222 ilmisa fen --- _ ..... _-- 306 A /MC OW*, Isosi #0;.******1 atom ageette 144 erosoilie Woo et 243 48091 Aosta Clain Car* ...... --..- ___---- 134 11/00ohAlossese 313 .4111**014 loolversieo thshoosied 143 100411 1423 Smog sod Penego CarreoCy _____ tHI oustUwe ORPLOS 41segaundades weld le/ 266 131 IONA kamosage Aseeseasiest 1361 CAM Casectiog. v .esstoomeogiol Woo44411011*1 &gide Moo 10 C***2M, 1218 WA III deem Mesehuiess 337 101 Wo SAM Chorgeo 310100 11ohleh SAO 221 COMM0411;;;Otif;*fraftSt AAds 114 C****06111 AWN* 17/2 *Nab Adam 13 113 Cawood* Pease 4140001,101101101101 , ISO Cameos Mallet degudageos 1.4 Aimee Tip Drigell Tow* Aetna* 474 Ilsehlar Woe 162 liVe limo* t03 101114 Cassossemoss* Aspieelsers *wow U. 40014401W0 *Moo Imitmeiv 128 1411 1 C15.menwas101 Wow T4a0 llosioess Jobeseilso 1711 &Wow Libledso 117 Comouguestione - t 3 Comemosiordiews Isudess' end MINMPOINNI Phmusieg 333 MOM 61*******1 1343 4 I MI 0iliMIO NIP** 11 Csusgeees 4,02.19 $11 &go Week, 300 Moloossileo4ese 143 101000 103 flusioese Vora 4041160410. Moho ell* 117 CemiftensS IPT 1432 127 &egg s Car Compolor Anatmaaaal Melo& Ilst 1/11 ...... 303 121111 04104416 I MOM *Mews 411' Caimpagiarg Somme Aseogesioo 110 AP Daw Sense 447 feign Adooso 132 dostoosuso 1712 Comm 112 C Cakideesto ANisameasta West 112 Cootoderoese ef IrI loskosot dad COSA* 114 t01.4 13 gamma cesseogoss hologre Aria 1403 10106 AMA 344 CPW01109 COMININNIM !SI' 1311 Comm llosserok Csag40/1 SAW CO*60110, Aavita Algale Camoassar Asaalisalan 11314 Affissisai Peetega 1211 does010 12111 GaAs 0sMos ram Com 1**886**Pc 13 elnifteir 04.W.4011 114 10103 1283 114 Codas Thom* rim c. leueasies MOO 61.11011110110 t622 Car 40esessees 103 Ceowestes001 Mega Mogen $111 1432 MOP Co* liumme Golds CeoWeeh Askew Coshes t114 Aosemolelee 143 Car home WI Car Memo Ca1a. %NW .--- $4 Coo Camelot! Warmityan CANNIPO ConoMmlime Tam (.1* WO. 10103 tog OM 111 ind Oslo Coe L Come Cameo MaildeiviTnittal Some Peesseow 11232. anbane 10162 Merdsog sod IWO log Capon mod Oougadeost ilesehros Gnus Seshe. 270 COMO MAW* 446 Ilem0Ope1se...... _ 4126 Cameos Guilsnee 182 Caw. for taimmia.ITerionelegr 211 *WS Goolgoolog lerideso.. 300 Carom t 74 Copserf Kota' 1344 Cagle -r 1343 Cessonee of dis Wood , 144 411111 tin 114W egg limaisat 1133 Caw,' ftelibilie0, eigh 41410 1104$1* P M sal NOM, 174 Cassese Ciedit 117 Cove*Sels Woodhouse Coos Cams llooseio 1213 161 Cameo PIANO** ------Crk:1444 Mem logaspe . Cow* 1100 Mew Cent. Stole** 10112 0Meg al lolosessileo Crow Pubileegege 3113 loomsN ebo. Ueda, km. et- -- Come/ ltesseges1010se 171 14,13 14001geddee Como Ngsele 311, Cnelese 10essalg 129 Currsecy 1111111 Chomosene Sgerese 393 Ms* 1119 III 91101014014 P000dodels 411 Ciaaoøisr Advica PR/000100WOO WORNISPON t2111 40611 Coals, Iui let 6 Chime* forosent 172 Sem,Ze4 1411 0 Chocing 133 IONE aeid. Marlow -- 193 Choose Naha 388 Chinese* 1004 Dods Totogregh Vega -.a 191 OW* ealtilIWYCI*Ort4 I 722 010110411111**Orif 10192 0114.11.11*** NION*1109011i 031 240 014001VO 0.1411 100 t 42 isseughe. Wades tgd Mgessisof 130 30 Maw* Sloiee 1629 Oesdser t 21 alemse 1311 Clealnaaa 1Pesiee 479 D***11110.4...... llosselog wham, . Clelgeor ?ram Viewdata and TV User 1:2:52-55 (January,1979). 52 New a

i 5 Deleaniserne 205 Forecasts 1Aeether Industrial Exchange 4. Mere 2001 Degree Coursie 1652 Foreign tountries. 144 lriiciustrist Production 1923 Department ot eh. Etwwarwtreint 331 Foreign Currenky 1869 tndustriat Relations Achirca 197 Foreign News 111 trKfuethet SitIhtv 162 Deeartmont a4 Eduction Foreign Visitors !nformation AS trChatetStSisteit,CS 923 nd Science 213 DeportmentofPitt.** la44COMPAIMNPe Forklift Trucks 10123 inftariory Rare 1923 Proration 204 FreertIKS 154 !Molex Services 371 Development Lend T8. 10/63 Freight 10153 Information Ourtau. 169 Doting 1822 FunPogo 139 inoculation t 622 curniture4nhoue 1268 14231 ng Out 137 :.iecrories 1914 Fuithei Education 1651 164SAC 442 Dilabthty information 1625 1815PEC 234 0,scotnedueti 133 0GAF 0.5. 315 Institute for Scientific Information 555 Dishwashers 154 Gale Warnings Ii 5 Institute of Terreatnat Ecology 274 Garritehng Insurance Aiipce end erOkenI 10168 Divorce 163 Games 13d Dogs 127 Gardening 178 Insurance Linked IkliCregegilri 1714 Dontetto Amintie 127 Imtereet Rates 1923 Dming 143 Gardens 1341 lnterrIettortal thforikkatrOrt 4 Gas Appliances 154 International Nth', 111 Iterming. Statistics .. 1923 GEC Computers 339 Internetional Publishing Corporation 456 East* 408 Geogrechics1 Fects 144 (eaten.; Counties Informetion 1023 1751 Interhettional TalICOmt 144 . Eihnia 152 Irkternationlit TredaStatietice 1923 Emote Out 137 Giving to Charity 169 leirerriatronai Travel IA GKN Osfributors ...... 2404 intvvrewtrv Serviette 198 Ecoiogy ...... 104 Glasses (Spectsoleal 162 triverm*nt 1661 1923 Economic Statistics Glidg. . 1219

The (coder941 .. . 393 Global ef London . 20.'3 1PCViitwdeto 454 Education 145 EducationS4 Aide 1652 Gott 1215 .1 J0011 le t 8 I Gaod 110isit Guide.... 4342 JobCentres Etticolcal Engineering.. 104 Gond 16* John England 20107 Electrical Goods ...... 154 Good Food Guido 3341 John rioltte 20105 Electricity Abroad 144 Government 58 Jokes 138 Electri,:rtv lii tne Home 175 Electronics 10155 Graduate Careers 18 Journeys 41 ; Grand Metropolitan 292 K Kaye of Worceates 20101 4543 Grind Metropolitan Hotel* 29292 Electronics Suyer 464 KetTtee 1}4 EMI Audio Viaual Serowe. Greets.. London Council Greet Universal Mail Order. . 20100 Kirby Lanier 414 Erl/Olovenent .. Krtche ,cre11 1521 I 150 E employment .4ger*C411 Greet Universal Stores 201 KItchen Eoutpment 154 Employment Law . 187 Green Cat-de . , 10185 I. , 19 t Guest Houses 1423 1. Labour Market Encyclopaedia 15 LIDette Staltstres 1923 222 Guidance inellah Tourist load Guides (Tourist) 195 C,wass /413 Entertainment 13 SI. 1054 Lameac Environment 321 Land for Saie 1713 Einem Agents 171 Gukwtaaa Supetiatteee Gymnastics ...... 1219 10163 5140 LIMO Tax Estates Time* .. 1.engton informationSystems Eliffita IMulocal) /32 IDa 154 Exchange& Maui 2000 If IndicapoedIrfOrrinarlOrt '625 121 1669 LawnTennis Exchange Kats krelicret Shoos 1556 Learned Informetion 322 I EicorticiA8 /42 tillyerkirkitPublishing 272 Hellen 162 15 184 1e981 Advice Ebecutive Jobs Health and 8afetv Executwe Sm Lagisist.on 10187 Entrees klerwepepers 364 /3 330 Leisure tape** end Star Health Educauon Council 544 Leevie Contras 12 633 1525 Extol Sports Hearing 4.01 111er POit 1751 Eye Care 142 Hearing i 73 154 Lorries Ik11 Wigluir EducatiOn 165 Lie Akeuter,ce 10'68 1824 P Firmer Seen Link House 200 Facia and Figures 192 Hitton Unrvereal Ctessification 600 03 1343 L yltstrxk Farhiry Health 1522 tristoric itoutiee Liverpool Cotton laierevicee 449 Fornity Living 550 Probates '26 Farniiy Meguinet 130 Hobby Shoos '555 Holiday Accommodelion 1423 Liven:toot Pi:thew:1mo 649 Loons .6 Farmer-S.Werith, 4662 firming 103 Holidity Which? 3335 Loans Bureau C1PFA Services 231 166/ Fore Air 1411 Holidays 142 Lcs. Authority Inveitmilinte Fergue Devideen Amoctatee 376 ovey ?neurones 101 od4 ...ocatlhFerrinetrah 3 Farrier, 1415 Hollis Prow. 205 Horn Office 547 L iiitiormetiOh fitntmtnrhrlim t 02: 1021 FiniICimemat 1311 iritcgrriat.oh LOrI030 Norfat FirierrCe 1013 Horizon Midlands 319 Local 1rIrorrnatrort and hiroi-wicr, 102 3 firtarVII0Advice 188 Horoscooe '39 1 12 Frnanc:al Statretits /923 Hong. Racing 1212 ocCINOW! Financiet Times Inds. 53 Notes 14231 London Boroughs Deal"... troi..-ietow, 04CrunIklow. London 90r0u3h Of 246 Sutton. Waltham Fore^t 246 Fintel via coin. Ho.ad Buying 1111 London Events 1021 53 First-Aid 1422 Housericuct Furnishing, 17.1 sClOrI Stock Merkt LcaiigI.nsg. NitathOr 115 it 'piing 1219 I-touting 17 Lord Chooco4tori Office 5003 Flare 1712 HoofingLeen* . 1714 243 Fhihtik 4411 I ICIPulsates Division 424 PAMacdonald Educational Soca* Floorreig Meterleit 174 152 Mecioren Publisher, 449 152 225 Magerimes FoOO . Muetrated London News 1525 192 Mad Order 5 FOO4PrrCia Imperial Messures 1211 53 10163 Mat Soinices 1751 Ftlotbell . IncomeTall REMEMBER. TOGET TO THE PAGE YOUWANT. PRESS *PAGE NUMEIRT:Z ai 13 164 014,(a f naureit,.. Recreation M..tnaueral Jobs Recruitment 1H6 1343 OfttrnO,c Garr's 1:6 Mansions 258 Rest/end 284 Pros:044,KM 1913 Open Uneverstrv Menuiacturtng 162 Reference Books 197 1Iftrts 11'0.0,01 146 Orinthetrinrc InfOrmetion 2002 ef,getetOti 154 kleteriaie M4c'jlrEouttkftent 10113 ODGNITLIntttei 232 11Vaterrtity Benefit% 167 Optical Informahort Cc:tuned 477 19/1 Maciirtee Mins ly PR 344 Onet Computer Serwcee ReiponatSla11.1,ca 189 1526 McCorguodalt (looks 434 Overseas Appointments Resi,rants T97 RV., Food Prreee 161 M Calvet C Nei soots . 142.1 Rt. 1.3,1 Prwe IndiCet 1923 Mike* Illookmakers 207 P PacRige Tours Pigedeta 279 Retirement Savings Ceitifiaaief 1662 Medi Cat Advice 161 PA International Menegement 235 1143 Medical Selo Oa 1651 Conics/lento Rutant 10157 193 Medieval Banquets 1523 PfRet Produc ts RorvIiprs jndCritkoues 17517 1415 Menus ' 511 Parcel Service R 11'81110O1 M.t.c.*êoqc.I Office 209 Rays(Automobile Club 24432 Partiament WOO Royalirundution of Chartered 399 Metric Eauikalents 192 Parnarnentary Nowa Survarots 12P NItcroweve Ovens 154 Past,mes 101 b 3 Midlands Irdomnation 1022 PAYE Royal Neuf:fetal Mowing for 599 355 MiddlesexPo4y 226 Peet. Marwtek & Mitchell the Deer Rugby 121 Mins SE Afton . . . 440 Pensicns AvCe 166 Milton Keynes DC 455 PercOnntl Advice 187 St. Albens College 288 Mintotry of At/mulish*. Fisheries & Part 117 St. Jame... Press 686 t 268 Food 20J Phis/Hey Safety Advice 1824 Matra 00 278 Photogrobris 126 Sailing 126 549 Save tfse Children Fund . 46093 54011111 134 Money 166 P1nes 10V,stt Plane Travel 1,411 Saviings 166 Prints 176 1662 Money Which? 3334 Ssvings Bonds Plastic Products 52 Science 105 Morgert Crompton 514 1312 113 1714 Mays Sc4nceNews . . Mortgages . 105 14131 Scientific information Plessey Communicathre 318 k,otor accessories 1433 Politicll 1 1t Sea Cruises 1413 Population Statistic, 7921 Sea Freight 10153 Mcrae Baits 1415 aorttotio V alustron 1C163 Seennk 545 ktotor Core 143 1751 164 1218 Postal Charges and Service* . Ses ChtVIMW4IPOn MotOr Cycle Raers 53 Mctoted 1412 Shar.2 Postal Services 310 MotOt,eg 143 17' 10/53 Past Codes . Shipbuikring Posters 796 10153 Motonng etoticleys. 143 Shipprng PO Telecommunication* 343 Shipoing Forecasts 715 Motoring Witter'? 3333 432 10168 Stieftateite Weakly Report Motur Inturenee 15 Motor Rscing 1218 S15017040.2 MOvirte 1311 Shnopyrto Advice.. 761 PPESTEL 335 Shopping Illeeket . Movii,f4 *cute 171 Pis-sent/mg PRESTEL 100 Shopping by Post 157 Moron. Dolpnin & Kirby 443 Rev NW 193 1556 Shops . MuSaume 134 Furl Page /36 Shows 1 32 Multi{ 13 Perste! ServKes 101605 Music %Neck 742 1 34 1622 SriOtsawirro Preckumey 12 79 NNACA6 479 Premium Bonds 1661 Skateboarding Slimming 18228 NAVAC 254 Prints Association 555 Smedley-14.P. Foods 244 474 Prete Release and Distftbutton 44 Lk Smith. W. M. 4120 Ntionei Aseoctetion or Citisene SeiViCei 251 Advice lOuresua 479 ,Preyerttron of Acc.Oints 182 254 Piattonai AudroN144110 Aid Contra 1622 I Piices AdviiCe 161 Smoking Advice 1:719 Nationeit Pudding Agency 414 Ii'reCt Statistics 1923 Siwooker 1211 Notional Girobank 410 Piintirk; 10157 Soccer 1921 National Magesin* CO. 5$0 kPrintimg Industry Research Social Statistics 135 Notional Sayings 49% Asenctotion 515 Societies .. Natrona. Trutt 2229 Professional and Exocutrvb 299 Soficitors 164 , Recfuetrroont 5142 Network Osta (Property Services) 224 1 Sound* 162 484 Professional Jobs 1t34 Spectacles Now Hooks 154 New YOrh Cit.* 144/ Pit:Ars:4one Recruitment 184 Spin Dryers 1) 121 News , Prapa,ty Aoanfa tioorta Newt internationet 111 et0Oarly 1of Salt `71 141 12 Pubbc Transport Sports Centres 1 17 Sports Council 300 News LOcal 345 Newt Nations( 121 ' Sportadeta New OptportunicY Pies. 277 ei..ni.itter Sports News New York Times 250 Pilot 1526 Sports Resulte 133 i+borie Lde 1214 252 Sovash Clantis 1158 Norfolk County Council Otperas 1361 Stamp Cottecting 404 Standard Telephoner end Cablee 484 Norrcilk anti ,Noewch Local OuOtef 734:1 S Liffey 4orttee iriformairion 1556 NalvotchUnion lniltullbrICIS RAC 2402 Stationent t '1 NOughtt and Crosses Rico-a irnise '121 12 Statistics Numismatics . RaCtroti Mr,r, 14' 164 Storm Rowe...oft 4300011. 620 littTrevet 1412 StockEircnong. 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.76 154 Tiede Oitectorir, 1914 Vegetable Gonç 1'Tape Recorders 10168 283 Trade F,duttre 1921 Yihtre IhSweinici Tarsal Truat 101605 Ter 10153 Trefford 20109 V,ewcIati Safv,cts 1 412 Viihrtiol 202 202 Taxation... 10163 Trirms Toothed.; Informatton 155 Tramwev PAtilletim Society 2409 W Wales Tooriat Board 503 1652 Transooirt 141 Waltham Forest Borough 2464 Teaching Aids 154 513 Transport and Road It eiaerch Washing Machines tlitO Pewit Indexes 154 1752 Laboratory 56? Waichee TelsCOmmumcations 11S Terecommunrcattona Conou Hants 10164 Troy& Agintl 1414 Weatner Telefuisset 40840 Trivs4 Informs/non IA Witch! Check 1622 373 Travel Trsde Guano 5141 Westminster Press 444 Tifteirriaeltua 40849 TeleohOne Sconces 752 Trident Whet s on f nterternmeni 1) Irtpg 142 l'aierieut Property 242 Whir, s on in Sport, 12 154 Turner & Newell 292 Tleytiton Sets 15/4 Whech? 333 Tolima 121 TY0everitee Milt/ern Reed 446 U Um/beetle Company 301 Theatres 1 3 1 2 Wine-bars 152e) 441 linemotoyment 18 Tette Out Wome4% & Home 4667 Times Aletisiike*Pefe 363 United Ptrogclom Chemicat World Champtons 192 Timtsbles. Air I 411 Informant:in Senoreft 541 Torietab les Tram 1 4 1 2 Unsi 4dvils 1661 V+/tenting 1415 1ovir Pages 391 Toasters 154 tirtev.rSarit. 1651 126 Tbsirong by Cer /43 I./Meet/feat*, CINVOINF CouFICII 0+1 Yorkshrte Post Newspapers 595 TOtirtem it din1411.141411$ 262 Tounsm Stiteibes 1921 IJI111144 175 Tourist Guides end Maps 196

TOurlst fhfogrhrowt 145 V VOCOnOtt Tourtet Into/motion Century 1425 Vaccination Tours 142 Vacuum beerier, Track end Irts40 1716 ViluitiOn Trade Balance 1923 Vow* Aliaci.d Tam IVA II

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