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Today we explore, with Francesco Sblendorio of RetroCampus, the timeless charm of Minitels and Videotels. Let's find out how these aesthetically fascinating objects were used to connect to services, book trips, and much more, anticipating some functions that we perform today on the internet.
Francesco reveals the behind-the-scenes of the creation of his BBS and the adaptation to the Teletel protocol, used by Videotel and Minitel terminals.
I conducted this interview during Varese Retrocomputing 2023, which was held in Tradate on 17/09/2023.
Time travel with Minitel
Francesco Sblenderio allowed us to take a journey through time until the golden age of information technology: the 80s and 90s. The mines, those small fascinating and cute objects, populated the French desks of the time since the beginning of the 80s. In the two photos that follow, I show you a Alcatel Minitel belonging to my collection.
The Minitel's keypad can be folded by rotating it on the monitor.
The mines support the Teletel protocol. In France they were widespread, starting from the beginning of the 80s until even 2012. The reason is very simple: the mines were provided free of charge to families and the cost for consultation consisted of a normal phone call.
Francesco reveals how these terminals were used to connect to services, book trips, anticipating functions that we take for granted on the internet today.
Videotel in Italy
In Italy things went a little differently. The diffusion of the videols was quite limited, because not only was an annual fee foreseen, but there was also a cost per page, which varied from service to service.
They were introduced in Italy in the mid -1980s, but already in the 90s they had fallen into disuse.
Videotels support both Teletel and Prestel protocols.
BBS: the RetroCampus experience also on Minitel and Videotel
The heart of this experience is the BBS of Rethorn, created by Francesco himself. Through it, we can relive the authentic atmosphere of those years, accessing services, chats and games. A dip in the nostalgia of the past.
The BBS can be accessed from many different types of computers, both vintage and modern. In particular, in the video, we can admire a Commodore 64, Minitel, Videotel and even a Philips Telematics.
If, previously, the BBS was accessible only using a computer, now, with the implementation of the Teletel protocol, the BBS can also be used by the video and mintel terminals.
The addition of ChatGPT to the BBS
Another fascinating element of this back adventure is the incorporation of chatgpt in the BBS of Rethorn. The use of chatgpt is reserved only for BBS users who are subscribed to Francesco Sblenderio's Patreon.
True dial-up connection, no internet
But the adventure doesn't stop there! Now it is possible to connect to the BBS of Retrocampus also through modem and telephone call to +39 0522750051. With devices such as the Commodore 64 and the Commodore 6499 modem, or even an electronic Philips, we can relive the authentic experience of a dial-up connection.
Are you interested in these topics?
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