Source : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

videotex
     
        An obsolete electronic service offering people the privilege
        of paying to read the weather on their television screens
        instead of having somebody read it to them for free while they
        brush their teeth.  The idea bombed everywhere it wasn't
        government-subsidised, because by the time videotex was
        practical the installed base of personal computers could hook
        up to {time-sharing} services and do the things for which
        videotex might have been worthwhile better and cheaper.
        Videotex planners badly overestimated both the appeal of
        getting information from a computer and the cost of local
        intelligence at the user's end.  Like the {gorilla arm}
        effect, this has been a cautionary tale to hackers ever since.
        See also {vannevar}.
     
        [{Jargon File}]