mwang_pay (07/28/82)
DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO SEMINAR ACTIVITIES INFORMATION SYSTEMS SEMINAR - Tuesday, August 3, 1982. Brian Botten of Extel Computing Ltd., London, UK, will speak on "Videotex - Looking for a Business Home." TIME: 3:30 PM ROOM: M&C 5158 ABSTRACT Videotex systems, including Prestel and Telidon, were originally touted for home use, but recently there has been a shift in emphasis towards uses in business. Banking and electronic directories have been two of the more promising applications, whereas education and home entertainment still have not pro- ven themselves. The real success of videotex, howev- er, is still a large question mark: after ten years there is still little by way of real money earning, yet now more and more businesses (including mainframe manufactures such as IBM and DEC) are entering the arena. The discussion will concern itself with a brief review of business videotex developments. Aspects of videotex will be rated with respect to their utility in business: in particular, transactional facilities rank high and graphics plays a very limited role. The recent introduction of videotex/videodisk links may prove to be a particularly useful development. July 28, 1982