"The Minitel is a Videotex online service accessible through the telephone lines, and is considered one of the world's most successful pre-World Wide Web online services. It was launched in France in 1982 by the PTT (Poste, Téléphone et Télécommunications; divided since 1991 between France Télécom and La Poste). From its early days, users could make online purchases, make train reservations, check stock prices, search the telephone directory, have a mail box, and chat in a similar way to that now made possible by the Internet.
In February 2009, France Telecom indicates the Minitel network still has 10 million monthly connections, among which 1 million on the 3611 (directory). France Telecom is mulling an end of the service in September 2011[1]."
There was also Prestel and Teletext in England. Time, Inc. invested a ton of money here in a teletext startup. I don't know why they abandoned it but "who owned the VBI" (vertical blanking interval, which would carry teletext) was an issue back then too. AT&T also had NAPLPS in the works. Times Mirror and at least one other company I can't recall (in Florida) had NAPLPS systems up and going. Time Warner had Qube on cable in Ohio (Columbus?). None of them had the life or vibrancy or innovation of the BBS subculture.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bildschirmtext
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minitel
"The Minitel is a Videotex online service accessible through the telephone lines, and is considered one of the world's most successful pre-World Wide Web online services. It was launched in France in 1982 by the PTT (Poste, Téléphone et Télécommunications; divided since 1991 between France Télécom and La Poste). From its early days, users could make online purchases, make train reservations, check stock prices, search the telephone directory, have a mail box, and chat in a similar way to that now made possible by the Internet. In February 2009, France Telecom indicates the Minitel network still has 10 million monthly connections, among which 1 million on the 3611 (directory). France Telecom is mulling an end of the service in September 2011[1]."