|
|
Qube
The
earliest large attempt to bring iTV
as we know it, to American homes (but it wasn't the first iTV type
show.
See Winky Dink.) It was developed by Warner Communications
for cable
customers in the later 1970s and first offered in Columbus, Ohio in
December
of 1977. (It was stopped in 1984.) The Qube system consisted
of a
Set-top Box with a computer chip and some memory (unheard of at the
time.
Remember this is several years before anyone ever even heard of Apple
Computers.)
It offered more channels than the standard 20, kept tabs on customer's
preferences, offered polls to vote on concerning programs, offered Pay
Per View movies and more. Remember that in 1977, few consumers had VCRs
but unfortunately for Qube, VCRs, video movies and video stores were
about
to become popular and Qube wasn't as an impressive service as compared
to the iTV of today.
If a Web page doesn't come up, you may wish to try The Way Back Machine
|
SEARCHITV
