Exploring the Internet
Minitel is much more than just directory assistance. The usual bulletin board services—pornography, dating services, IQ tests, and sports results—were all present, but with a few additional surprises.
For example, Nynex had the New York Yellow Pages up on Minitel. Prohibited from offering electronic yellow pages services in the U.S. by Judge Greene's restraining order, Nynex had no such restraint in France and was evidently testing their U.S. system for future deployment. Gerard and I looked up the names of all Bangladeshi cafes in Manhattan and jotted down their locations for reference on subsequent trips to the Big Apple.
Most access to Minitel was based on the French X.25 network, Transpac. With over 300 X.25 switches connected at speeds of up to 2.048 (El), Transpac and Minitel have a symbiotic relationship. A service like Minitel does no good if there is no access path to it. Likewise, an X.25 network is a road to nowhere without useful services on it.
Minitel was a case study in providing useful information services. By the beginning of 1990, Minitel had over 12,000 service providers. Even intra-company transactions, incuding banking, insurance, and order processing, occurred on the network. The directory service alone received well over 10 million calls per day and train reservations received over 1.5 million calls per day.
Leaving Gerard Poirot, I went to catch my plane back to the U.S. Through some fast talking, I managed to get my no-refund, no-change, economy ticket upgraded to a first class seat. It's amazing what you can get, if you just ask.
I sat munching my Beluga caviar and drinking my Dom Perignon champagne and decided that travel wasn't so bad if you just get the right seat. By the time the single malt scotch, the vintage port, and the freshly-peeled kiwi fruits had come and gone, I even became optimistic about the weeks ahead converting ITU data. Drink can certainly cloud your judgment.
20
