Travel Technology - Say Adieu to the Minitel - Minitel Service Ended Today in France

If you wanted to check weather, a phone number, stocks, or make travel reservations online in 1982 - and happened to be in France - you could have. In fact, I remember when I was young using Minitel terminals to get all kinds of information.

Today, the Minitel system went dark. It was no match for the Internet. Systems in other countries - which did not really succeed (while France's did) - were shut off decades ago.

Adieu! France’s Minitel Goes Dark (http://www.frequentbusinesstraveler.com/2012/06/adieu-frances-minitel-goes-dark/)

France’s Minitel service ended its 34-year run today. Introduced in the pre-World Wide Web age, the Minitel presaged many services that eventually arrived via the Internet including online banking, travel reservations, and porn.
At its height in the 1990s, there were nine million terminals in use in France, serving roughly 25 million people (the population of France, at that time, was 60 million). As the service was shut down today, France …
Article continues here (http://www.frequentbusinesstraveler.com/2012/06/adieu-frances-minitel-goes-dark/)

http://www.frequentbusinesstraveler.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Minitel-2-300x183.jpg

If you wanted to check weather, a phone number, stocks, or make travel reservations online in 1982 - and happened to be in France - you could have. In fact, I remember when I was young using Minitel terminals to get all kinds of information.

Today, the Minitel system went dark. It was no match for the Internet. Systems in other countries - which did not really succeed (while France's did) - were shut off decades ago.

Adieu! France’s Minitel Goes Dark (http://www.frequentbusinesstraveler.com/2012/06/adieu-frances-minitel-goes-dark/)


Article continues here (http://www.frequentbusinesstraveler.com/2012/06/adieu-frances-minitel-goes-dark/)

http://www.frequentbusinesstraveler.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Minitel-2-300x183.jpg

I remember in the mid 80's pretty much all hotel rooms that I was in had these terminals.

I remember in the mid 80's pretty much all hotel rooms that I was in had these terminals.

I recall the same when travelling with family. I remember thinking it would be great to have this in the U.S. as it seemed more interesting than prodigy or aol at the time.

I have fond memories of connecting to Minitel via telnet from my local US-based BBS (dialup 9.6k baud, baby!). And to think now we carry the entire internet around in our pocket with smartphones.