[10721] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Re: Internet vs Minitel : a futuristic view of the network evolution ?
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Roger Bohn)
Mon Mar 7 00:42:10 1994
Date: Sun, 6 Mar 1994 17:06:16 -0800
To: fbaker@acc.com (Fred Baker), LEHOUX@vax.lse.ac.uk
From: Rbohn@ucsd.edu (Roger Bohn)
Cc: com-priv@psi.com
M. Lehoux, while clearly using a Minitel filter to evaluate Internet, did
have at least one way in which Minitel as a system has progressed farther
than Internet. That is billing for services. As was discussed here some
months ago, Internet needs some way that service providers can charge and
collect small sums of money from lots of occasional users. (For example, to
defray the costs of running good public domain servers, Stanford U. might
charge $.10 per megabyte downloaded.)
It sounds as if Minitel has made progress in that direction.
Credit card billing works fine worldwide for amounts over $10, but has
trouble with smaller amounts. The 900 number principle is another
approach. Other options were discussed on this list, but without
resolution.
It is easy to imagine other solutions, but they have the usual
problem of reaching a critical mass and becoming de facto or actual
standards.
At 9:50 AM 3/5/94 -0800, Fred Baker wrote:
>So, in comparing these, you have at least three issues:
> - do the networks provide the services that users desire of it?
> - do the networks have at least one user interface that people find useful?
> - are people effectively forced to use the network for some purpose?
>
>I would argue that the first two are apparently true of both; the third is
>true of Minitel, and (since the prospective customer is paying for minitel)
>is somewhat of an entry bar for the Internet.
>That being the case: I am a router vendor. Are you aware that some of the
>largest private and government internets that use my equipment are located
>in France, where your premise is that Minitel can and does reign supreme?
>People bypass like crazy!
>
>Maybe that's why Minitel is still at least two orders of magnitude smaller
>than the Internet, and why the technology supporting it hasn't been
>exported...
>
>=============================================================================
>Fred Baker (fbaker@acc.com)
>Advanced Computer Communications
