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Internet Online Shopping
Inventor's Story
Online Shopping in the 1980s
Videotex
E-commerce, E-Business and Online
Shopping
What is Videotex?
Videotex New Generation Terminals
Videotex Chips
"Videotex: Key to the Wired City"
USA Book Review
"Videotex: Key to the Wired City"
German Book Review
I Hate Shopping
Software Anecdotes
Emerging Digital and Social Markets
Digital People Power
Changes the World
Online Shopping FAQ's
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History of Online Shopping
Online shopping was invented, implemented and
successful very quickly – less than a week between idea and rough
experimental model, less than 6 months to productionise hardware and
software and less than 12 months from product release to the first
operational system, the world’s first direct Business to Business (B2B)
online shopping system in 1981[Thomson Holidays]. In online shopping the
buyer is connected interactively with the seller’s computer system. No
third parties are involved. When a third party is involved that is usually
called e-commerce. The Rediffusion computer system used for online
shopping was open, using standard communications hardware and a standard
human interface. Any terminal could talk to any suitably equipped
computer. Any number of applications could be available. The systems were
very simple and easy-to-use .
B2B was commercially viable from the beginning. Business to Consumer (B2C)
online shopping did not become commercially viable until the 1990s. The
first B2Cs in the 1980s were basically proof of concept pilots paid for
largely by social security funding and used to investigate the potential
for IT to reduce social disadvantage by offering in- the- home services to
vulnerable and physically challenged citizens. Valuable lessons for the
retail industry were also learned from these pilots not least that order
processing, order fulfilment {by manual item selection} and delivery
should be based at the local store not at some automated warehouse.
Aldrich realised from the beginning of his work on online shopping that
the traditional TV as a computer interface device had real limitations. He
also saw the need for high capacity telecommunications links to the home.
This is what we call broadband today.
He then went on to invent and pioneer new solutions to these problems and
he then campaigned to change the law to permit his new broadband systems.
For more details please see the ‘Teleputers and Cable Systems’ section of
the Archive.
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