Teleguide – Swedish Minitel

1991-1993

The Swedish state telecom company’s TeleGuide could be described as a pre-internet computer network. With the French Minitel as a model, this major investment was expected to be a huge success. A variety of information services were offered along with a simple form of email. The most popular services were the searchable phone catalog and the betting services. The terminals were free of charge with a paid subscription, and about 10,000 were distributed to Swedish homes. Televerket’s contract with IBM and Esselte, however, was an economic disaster and the computer giants refused to renegotiate. After six months, the project was terminated. It had cost more than $200 million.

Additional info:
Wikipedia – sorry only in Swedish

And a strangely silent video demonstrating the Teleguide: