Alex was an interactive

videotex Videotex (or interactive videotex) was one of the earliest implementations of an end-user information system. From the late 1970s to early 2010s, it was used to deliver information (usually pages of text) to a user in computer-like format, typi ...

information service offered by

Bell Canada Bell Canada (commonly referred to as Bell) is a Canadian telecommunications company headquartered at 1 Carrefour Alexander-Graham-Bell in the borough of Verdun, Quebec, in Canada. It is an ILEC (incumbent local exchange carrier) in the province ...

market research Market research is an organized effort to gather information about target markets and customers. It involves understanding who they are and what they need. It is an important component of business strategy and a major factor in maintaining com ...

from 1988 to 1990 and thence to the general public until 1994. The ''Alextel'' terminal was based on the French

Minitel The Minitel, officially known as TELETEL, was an interactive videotex online service accessible through telephone lines. It was the world's first and most successful mass-market online service prior to the World Wide Web. It was developed in Ces ...

terminals, built by

Northern Telecom Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...

and leased to customers for $7.95/month. It consisted of a

CRT display A cathode-ray tube (CRT) is a vacuum tube containing one or more electron guns, which emit electron beams that are manipulated to display images on a phosphorescent screen. The images may represent electrical waveforms on an oscilloscope, ...

, attached

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Mus ...

, and a 1200

bit/s In telecommunications and computing, bit rate (bitrate or as a variable ''R'') is the number of bits that are conveyed or processed per unit of time. The bit rate is expressed in the unit bit per second (symbol: bit/s), often in conjunction w ...

modem The Democratic Movement (, ; MoDem ) is a centre to centre-right political party in France, whose main ideological trends are liberalism and Christian democracy, and that is characterised by a strong pro-Europeanist stance. MoDem was establis ...

for use on regular phone lines. In 1991

proprietary software Proprietary software is computer software, software that grants its creator, publisher, or other rightsholder or rightsholder partner a legal monopoly by modern copyright and intellectual property law to exclude the recipient from freely sharing t ...

was released for

IBM PCs The IBM Personal Computer (model 5150, commonly known as the IBM PC) is the first microcomputer released in the IBM PC model line and the basis for the IBM PC compatible ''de facto'' standard. Released on August 12, 1981, it was created by a ...

that allowed computer users to access the network. Communications on the Alex network was via DATAPAC X.25 protocol. The system operated in the same fashion as Minitel, whereby users connected to various content providers over the X.25 network and thus access was normally through a local telephone number. The most popular (and most expensive) sites were chat rooms. Using the service could cost as much as per minute. Also offered was an electronic white pages and yellow pages directory. Many users terminated their subscription upon receiving their first invoice. One subscriber racked up a monthly fee of over C$2,000 spending most of his online time in chat.

History

The motivation to develop the Alex terminal and online service came from competitive pressure from France's Minitel, which had expanded into the Quebec market in April 1988. Bell Canada quickly organized their own version and received approval from the CRTC to offer the online service as of November 1988. Both services were expensive. A Minitel terminal cost $25 per month to rent or a one-time payment of $600, and $15 per hour of usage on top. An Alextel terminal was $7.95 a month to rent, but services cost up to $40 an hour. The advent of the

World Wide Web The World Wide Web (WWW or simply the Web) is an information system that enables Content (media), content sharing over the Internet through user-friendly ways meant to appeal to users beyond Information technology, IT specialists and hobbyis ...

contributed to making this service obsolete. On April 29, 1994, Bell Canada sent a letter to its customers announcing that the service would be terminated on June 3, 1994. In that letter, Mr. T.E. Graham, then Director of Business Planning for Bell Advanced Communications, stated that "Quite simply, the ALEX network is not the right vehicle, nor the appropriate technology, at this time to deliver the information goods needed in our fast-paced society." The Alextel terminal is also usable as a

dumb terminal A computer terminal is an electronic or electromechanical hardware device that can be used for entering data into, and transcribing data from, a computer or a computing system. Most early computers only had a front panel to input or display ...

for

VT100 The VT100 is a video terminal, introduced in August 1978 by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). It was one of the first terminals to support ANSI escape codes for cursor control and other tasks, and added a number of extended codes for special ...

emulation.

References

External links

Alextel
". ''Personal Computer Museum''. Retrieved March 20, 2020 {{Videotex Computer-related introductions in 1988 1988 establishments in Canada 1994 disestablishments in Canada Videotex Pre–World Wide Web online services Legacy systems Bell Canada Telecommunications in Canada History of telecommunications in Canada Information technology in Canada

History

Further reading

See also

References

External links