The Viability of Viewdata as a Mass Medium: A Case Study of Prestel, the Prototype for Computerized Information Systems, the Internet

Great Britain’s videotext Prestel was the first viewdata system in the world and is considered a prototype to the Internet. It was a planned, technological wonder for online information and communication that other countries adopted. After a whirlwind of demonstrations and promotions, it failed to achieve a mass market in its own country and its creators’ dreams of a networked world. This article analyses why and how Prestel was developed and marketed, and its public reception, using the framework of platform studies and adding systems theory.