Micronet 800

Micronet 800 was an information provider (IP) on Prestel, aimed at the 1980s personal computer market. It was an online magazine that gave subscribers computer related news, reviews, general subject articles and downloadable telesoftware.

Users would log onto the Prestel network (which was usually a local call) and then access the Micronet 800 home page by entering *800# (hence the name). Most Micronet 800 members would have their default main index page set to page 800 automatically.

History

Telemap Group, the company behind Micronet 800, was formed by British Telecom (BT), East Midland Allied Press (EMAP) and Prism Micro Products. Bell Canada Enterprises (BCE) joined the venture in 1987.

The editorial staff were first based at 8 Herbal Hill, Clerkenwell, London, and the technical staff in an EMAP building in Peterborough. In 1986 the technical staff were moved down to the London building.

BT became the majority shareholder in 1987, initially managing the company as part of BT Spectrum, its Value Added Services Group, before passing the group to BT Prestel. In 1988 the company passed a milestone by becoming the only Value Added Data service to become profitable. In 1989 BT finally acquired the entire company, moved it into a BT building (Dialcom House) in Apsley, just outside Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire and folded the business into first the Dialcom Group along with the rest of the BT Prestel companies and Telecom Gold and subsequently BT Managed Network Services.

Although Prism were developing modems specifically for Telemap, prospective subscribers would be sent a list of several other modem suppliers also. Prism models included the VTX5000, the only modem custom designed for the popular Sinclair ZX Spectrum, and the more general purpose Modem 1000 and Modem 2000. Following Prism's collapse in 1987, and the subsequent purchase of their stock by Telemap, and in a bid to increase take-up, Micronet 800 encouraged users by giving away a free modem to users subscribing for a year. Micronet was very successful in growing the userbase to in excess of 20,000 users in 1989 making it by far the largest Closed User Group (CUG) on Prestel which had a total user base of 90,000 including Micronet. Even as early on as 1985, Micronet experienced over 1.1 million page views a week. However, in a move that saw the demise of Micronet, Prestel priced the home user out of the service with a new pricing structure, adding time charges on top of the phone charges for the evening access which effectively killed off home usage even though the network was under utilized during the 6pm to 8am time-slot. Today this remains the peak usage time of the Internet. Many of the lessons learned with respect to on-line publishing and interactive services were pioneered by Micronet 800 and became every bit as important with the growth of the Internet.

At the time modems were slow (1200 baud download, 75 upload), and often prone to line noise and frequent dropouts, especially when someone else in the household picked up the phone. Enthusiasts went on to set up BBS services, until the Internet finally took hold. In 1991 along with all its on-line services, BT closed the service deciding to focus on providing network services and transferred the subscriber base to Compuserve which subsequently became AOL in the UK.

The Micronet service closed 31st October 1991. It had 10,000 members at closure and was "easily the largest online service in the UK specialising in microcomputing". Despite this apparent success, this was less than 10% of the number of users they were predicting having shortly after launch.

Micronet editors:

• David Babsky, editor
• Simon D'Arcy,Editor then Publisher
• Sid Smith (author of "Something Like A House", Whitbread award winning novel), news editor, then editor.
• Francis Jago (Now CEO of Fingal, a creative communications agency in London)
• Paul Needs, Amstrad & PC staff writer, then editor then managing editor computer and leisure service. Paul is now a professional entertainer and recording artist.[1]
• Ian Burley, Micronet's final editor (Now CEO of The Write Technology Ltd, an Internet online publishing business behind Digital Photography Now)
• Barbara Conway (d. 1991), part-time media editor in the early years of Micronet 800

Other editorial staff

• Chris Bourne - Sunday Xtra editor
• Paul Vigay - Acorn Editor
• Chris Lewis - Sinclair Editor
• Ian Burley Acorn, then News Editor, then as above.

Production team:

• Mike Brown - Technical Director
• Roger Cracknell
• Gary Richard Smith
• Denise Schemuel
• Robert O'Donnell
• Patrick Reilly
• Daemonn Brody
• Anna Smith - graphic designer then Super-sub editor

• Peter Probert - PR Manager.

Quotes:

"There is no future for online services aimed at domestic computer users" - Michael Collins, the department head of Prestel/Telecom Gold Business Services, stated in a meeting with Paul Needs.

"Micronet is to communication in the 80s what that Bible was to the Middle Ages" - David Babsky, Micronet Editor, 1984.

Services Provided

Micronet 800 page c. 1985, transcribed at the time onto Micronet 800 headed paper. This was a competition entry in Micronet's popular science fiction pages

Micronet 800 pioneered many public online services long before the Internet was in widespread use.

• Chatlines: Users could post messages that other users could see and respond to.
• Downloadable software: Micronet 800 implemented the CET specification that allowed 8 bit files to be transmitted over a 7 bit medium, with some basic error detection and error correction.
• Online games: The longest-running game on the system was StarNet, a Play-by-mail game, where the players would send in moves that would be executed once a day (a sort of very slow game of chess, where the aim was to become the emperor of the galaxy). Micronet 800 also hosted Shades, one of the first MUDs (multi user dungeons) - a realtime highly competitive hack-and-slash MUD that is still running today.
• E-mail: Each Prestel user had a unique number (usually the last nine digits of the subscriber's telephone number), and this could be used to send messages. Micronet users were reported to be particularly enthusiastic about the medium, sending twice as many 'mailbox' messages as regular Prestel users.
• Gallery: An area where users could post their own pages about anything they wished.
• News and reviews: Micronet was frequently the first organisation worldwide to report on happenings in the UK computer industry.

External links

• The Micronet Story
• PrismVTX 5000 modem for Micronet 800
• Shades the Game
• Celebrating the Viewdata Revolution
• The issue of "LogOn" that caused a stir due to the 'offensive' renewal advert...