Domestic Viewdata Services in Britain: Past Experience, Present Status, and Future Potential

Interactive telecommunication services for household use—including shopping, booking and banking facilities—are made available through viewdata systems, which also provide access to virtually limitless amounts of information. The initial experiences in Britain of the public viewdata service (Prestel) in the domestic market were not encouraging, but recent changes in the product and in marketing strategy are proving more successful and providing useful pointers for the continuing development of these services. However, the problem of predicting their potential rate of adoption and usage is difficult, and complicated by the likelihood of further technical refinements which will substantially increase their capabilities. Fundamental studies of information-seeking and transactional behaviour may provide a productive avenue for further research, which will help in assessing the potential for domestic viewdata, and identifying those services and market segments where success may be easiest to achieve.