View source for Micronet 800

{{Short description|1980s online magazine on Prestel}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2013}}

{{Infobox online service
|name=Micronet 800
|title=Micronet 800
|logo=Micronet800-logo.png
|logo_size=250px
|logo_alt=Logo of Micronet 800
|logo caption=Micronet 800 logo
|developer={{ubl |Telemap |Prism Microproducts |ECC Publications}}
|key_people={{ubl |Richard Hease |Bob Denton |David Babsky}}
|type=Information and services provider on [[Prestel]] [[videotex]] service
|launched={{Start date and age|1983|03|df=yes}} 
|discontinued={{End date and age|1991|10|df=yes}}
|pricing=Subscription (quarterly) and usage (time spent on system, some [[telesoftware]], some messaging service actions)
|status=Discontinued
|members={{circa|lk=no}} 25,000 at peak{{refn|group=lower-alpha|The figure reported when Micronet was relaunched in mid-1988.<ref name=25kSubs-1 />}}
|availability=Closed user group
}}

'''Micronet 800''' was a provider of information and communication services hosted on [[Prestel]], a British [[videotex]] service, from 1983 to 1991. It targeted the UK [[home computer]] market and operated as an online, [[subscription_business_model|subscription-based]] magazine and database. Subscribers also received ''Log On'', a print [[magazine|quarterly]].<ref name=LogOnArchive>
{{
cite web
|url=http://www.viewdata.org.uk/index.php?cat=15_Prestel&page=40_Ephemera
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120422002356/http://www.viewdata.org.uk/index.php?cat=15_Prestel&page=40_Ephemera |archive-date=22 April 2012
|title=Log On{{snd}}The Magazine for Micronet Members
|access-date=27 February 2025
}} Scroll down to ''Log On'' section and pdfs of issues 1 (July 1987), 2, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 14 (Winter 1990).</ref> 

Micronet 800 offered computer-related news, reviews of [[computer hardware|hardware]], software, and [[video game|videogames]], access to [[play-by-mail game|turn-based]] and [[multi-user dungeon|real-time multiplayer]] games (MUDs), downloadable [[telesoftware]], [[chat room|chatrooms]] and [[bulletin board system|bulletin boards]], business and [[personal finance]] advice, and [[email]], [[telex]], and other forms of messaging.<ref name=ViewdataRevArchived>
{{
cite web 
|title=Micronet 800
|url=https://www.viewdata.org.uk/index.php?cat=15_Prestel&page=12_Micronet-nbsp~800
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230512084738/https://www.viewdata.org.uk/index.php?cat=15_Prestel&page=12_Micronet-nbsp~800
|archive-date=12 May 2023
|access-date=5 March 2025
|website=Celebrating the Viewdata Revolution
}}</ref> In addition, a group, club, or individual could rent space on the database.<ref name=LogOn7 />

A subscriber connected to Micronet 800 via the [[Prestel#Network|Prestel network]] using an ordinary [[telephone line|phoneline]] (typically at [[local call]] rates){{refn|group=lower-alpha|62% of phone subscribers could access Prestel at local call rates when Micronet 800 launched in March 1983.<ref name=Broadhead>
{{
cite journal
|journal=[[The Post Office Electrical Engineers' Journal|Post Office Electrical Engineers' Journal]]
|title=Prestel: The First Year of Public Service
|first=W. R.
|last=Broadhead
|volume=74
|issue=2
|pages=129{{ndash}}133
|date=July 1981
|url=https://archive.org/details/poeej198107/page/n63/mode/1up
|access-date=15 March 2025
|via=[[Internet Archive]]
}}</ref>{{rp|129}} This rose to 94% in April 1984,<ref name=PrestelBriefingIssue-1>
{{
cite document
|title=Prestel Briefing
|date=April 1984
|at=Issue 1
|type=brochure
|publisher=Public Relations Department, Prestel
|location=London
}}</ref>{{rp|3}} and to 98% in February 1986.<ref name=PrestelBriefingIssue-4>
{{
cite document
|title=Prestel Briefing
|date=February 1986
|at=Issue 4
|type=brochure
|publisher=Public Relations Department, Prestel
|location=London
}}</ref>{{rp|4}}}} and a [[microcomputer]] equipped with a [[modem]].{{refn|group=lower-alpha|A dedicated terminal or an adapted TV set with a keypad or keyboard could also be used to [[Prestel#Terminals|connect to Prestel]].}} If their microcomputer had not been set up to access Micronet's [[Prestel#Page  rental|home page]] automatically, they entered *800# to do so.

==History==

===Origin===

Micronet 800 stemmed from the development by Bob Denton, in 1980 and 1981, of ''Electronic Insight'', a features and price-comparison site on [[Prestel]] listing computers, [[calculator]]s and other electronic and IT products. Its entry-point was page 800.<ref name=ElecInsightPCW>
{{
cite magazine
|magazine=[[Personal Computer World]]
|title=ACC News
|first=Rupert
|last=Steele
|volume=5
|issue=12
|date=December 1982
|pages=180{{ndash}}181
|url=https://archive.org/details/PersonalComputerWorld1982-12/page/180/mode/2up/
|access-date=2 March 2025
|quote=Also at the PCW Show was the Electronic Insight Micronet stand. This was the launch of their new Prestel subscription service, which will be a closed user group, membership of which includes a very simple Prestel adaptor. [...] Watch this space (and Electronics Insight, *800#) for more details.
|via=Internet Archive
}}</ref>

In 1982, ''Electronic Insight'' was acquired by Telemap, the videotex arm of [[Ascential|EMAP]] (East Midland Allied Press), on the recommendation of Richard Hease, the owner of ECC Publications: EMAP had just bought several computer magazines from him.<ref name=E-DreamsMicronet-1>
{{cite book
|first=Tom
|last=Lean
|title=Electronic dreams: how 1980s Britain learned to love the computer
|date=2016
|publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing|Bloomsbury Sigma]]
|location=London
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RNaHCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA154
|isbn=978-1-47291-833-8
|oclc=944121056
|access-date=3 March 2025
|via=Google Books
}}</ref>{{rp|154}}

Telemap, formed in 1981, was at that time an information provider on Prestel.<ref name=PCWkly-19821020>
{{
cite magazine
|magazine=[[Popular Computing Weekly]]
|title=New Year sees in Prestel-linked Micronet 800 database
|first=David
|last=Kelly
|date=20 October 1982
|volume=1
|issue=28
|page=11
|url=https://archive.org/details/NH2021_Popular_Computing_Weekly_Issue821028.pdf/page/n10/mode/1up
|quote= Telemap gets 60,000 accesses to its pages each month from the 18,000 Prestel users which puts it into the top 20 information providers оп Prestel.
|via=[[Internet Archive]]
|access-date=10 March 2025
}}</ref> EMAP asked Hease to look into the future viability of Telemap's Prestel presence. In Hease's words, "I thought the only way Prestel was going to work was to make it possible to link micros into it and develop a database micro users would want."<ref name=PCW-1983-07 />{{rp|185}} In autumn 1982, Hease and Denton negotiated a deal with [[BT Group|British Telecom]] that provided substantial investment and positioned Micronet 800 as a key part of a new plan by Prestel for attracting residential users.<ref name=Times-Sept82>
{{
cite newspaper The Times
|title=Prestel plans another offensive
|first=Bill
|last=Johnstone
|department=Computers and Technology
|date=6 September 1982
|page=13
|issue=61330
|column=2
|url=https://www.thetimes.com/tto/archive/article/1982-09-06/13/7.html
|url-access=subscription
|quote=The total Micronet 800 project is a joint venture between three private companies and British Telecom. ... £500,000 has been ear-marked by Telecom ... The chairman of all three companies is Mr Richard Hease, who approached Telecom with the scheme.
}}</ref> The [[Department of Trade and Industry (United_Kingdom)|Department of Trade and Industry]] provided additional financial backing.<ref name=PCW-1983-07 />{{rp|185}} The arrangement included the free installation for subscribers of a [[British telephone socket#Sockets|phone jack-socket]] in which to plug a modem.<ref name=SpectrumLetter-1983>
{{
cite web
|url=https://www.viewdata.org.uk/download.php?cat=15_Prestel&file=MicronetSpectrumLetterc1983.pdf
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181115001920/https://www.viewdata.org.uk/download.php?cat=15_Prestel&file=MicronetSpectrumLetterc1983.pdf
|archive-date=15 November 2018
|title=Dear Spectrum User 
|first=Beverley
|last=Dellow
|date=c. 1983
|type=Letter from Micronet 800 to Sinclair Spectrum users
|quote=As part of this offer, we will also supply you with a FREE jack socket installation worth £25 should you need one (see enclosed jack socket form). 
|quote-page=1
|access-date=11 March 2025
|via=[[Internet Archive]]
}}</ref><ref name=JackSocketForm-1983>
{{
cite web
|url=https://www.viewdata.org.uk/download.php?cat=15_Prestel&file=MicronetJackSocketc1983.pdf
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220204203338/https://www.viewdata.org.uk/download.php?cat=15_Prestel&file=MicronetJackSocketc1983.pdf
|archive-date=4 February 2022
|title=Important: Do You Need A Jack Socket?
|date=c. 1983
|type=Form accompanying offer from Micronet 800 to potential subscribers
|quote= [T]he cost of installation [of a] jack socket will be included in the adaptor package price ... if you apply through Micronet 800.
|quote-page=2
|access-date=11 March 2025 
|via=[[Internet Archive]]
}}</ref>

===Development===

Telemap was responsible for Micronet 800 and the editorial development of the site. 

Prism Microproducts{{refn|group=lower-alpha|The distributor of [[Sinclair Research|Sinclair Computers]] in the UK.}} developed the modems needed to make Micronet 800 pages accessible by a variety of [[microcomputer|home computer]]s. These included the [[Apple II]], [[ZX81]], [[BBC Micro]], [[Dragon 32/64]], [[IBM Personal Computer|IBM PC]], [[Commodore PET|PET]], [[ZX Spectrum]], [[Sinclair QL]], [[Camputers Lynx|Lynx]], [[VIC-20]], and [[Commodore 64]].<ref name="vtu">
{{
cite magazine
|magazine=Viewdata & TV User
|title=Netting personal computer users through Prestel
|volume=5
|issue=1
|date=January 1983
|page=8
|quote=Special adaptors which allow the computers to link to Prestel are being made for the popular computers like Sinclair, Apple, BBC and Commodore. 
|issn=0260-6984
|url=https://www.viewdata.org.uk/download.php?cat=15_Prestel&file=vatu-v6i1-p8.pdf
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220311093231/https://www.viewdata.org.uk/download.php?cat=15_Prestel&file=vatu-v6i1-p8.pdf
|archive-date=11 March 2022
|access-date=3 March 2025
|via=Internet Archive
}}</ref> Prism's modems ranged from a simple [[acoustic coupler]] to integrated [[network interface controller]]s, and included the VTX&nbsp;5000, custom-designed for the [[ZX Spectrum]].<ref name=SincUser-1983-11 />

From 1985, prospective Micronet subscribers were sent a list of other modem suppliers.<ref name=ModemSupply>
{{
cite web
|url=http://www.viewdata.org.uk/download.php?cat=15_Prestel&file=Cover%20letter%20and%20modem%20suppliers.pdf
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221013104759/http://www.viewdata.org.uk/download.php?cat=15_Prestel&file=Cover%20letter%20and%20modem%20suppliers.pdf
|archive-date=13 October 2022
|title=Dear Micro User
|date=c. 1985
|first=Melanie
|last=Ruse
|type=Letter accompanying brochure sent to prospective Micronet 800 subscribers
|access-date=5 March 2025
|via=Internet Archive
}}</ref> That same year, Prism went into [[receivership]] and Telemap purchased their modem stock. In 1986, in a bid to increase take-up, Micronet 800 offered a free modem to new users subscribing for a year.<ref name=FreeModem>
{{
cite newspaper 
|newspaper=The Sunday Times
|title=Prestel offer boxes clever
|first=Jane
|last=Bird
|department=News
|date=29 June 1986
|page=63
|issue=8447
|id={{Gale|FP1801731116}}
|quote=Peter Probert ... has bought 10,000 modems, ... and is giving them away free to anyone who takes out a year's subscription to Micronet ... 'It's crazy,' says Probert, marketing manager of Micronet. 'We're not in the business of selling hardware. We just sell an information service. But we can't wait forever for Prestel to be innovative.'
}}</ref>

===Growth===

In March 1983, at the launch of the service, the first subscriber  was Jeremy Dredge, an [[estate agent]]. There were over 2000 subscriptions during the first two months of Micronet 800,<ref name=PCW-1983-07>
{{
cite magazine
|magazine=[[Personal Computer World]]
|title=Micronet 800: an electronic magazine?
|first=Maggie
|last=Burton
|volume=6
|issue=7
|date=July 1983
|at=pp. 184{{ndash}}185, 187
|url=https://archive.org/details/pcw-1983-07-s-ocr/page/184/mode/2up
|quote=The target for subscriptions is 12,000 by the end of the year. ... Over 2000 subscriptions in two months and a 50 per cent reply rate on promotional mailings could hardly be called a failure.
|quote-page=187
|access-date=13 March 2025
|via=[[Internet Archive]]
}}</ref>{{rp|187}} rising to over 4000 by October.<ref name=PCW-1984-01>
{{
cite magazine
|magazine=[[Personal Computer World]]
|title=Micronet adaptors
|first=Peter
|last=Tootill
|at=p. 260 col 3
|volume=7
|issue=8
|date=January 1984
|url=https://archive.org/details/PersonalComputerWorld1984-01/page/260/mode/1up
|access-date=13 March 2025
|quote=I hear that, at the time of writing (October [1983]), Micronet subscriptions number over 4000. While this may not be anything like as high as Micronet was forecasting 12 months ago, it is a fairly respectable number, more than many people expected[.]
|via=[[Internet Archive]]
}}</ref>

Just over a year later, in November 1984, the figure had grown to more than 9000, with subscribers to Micronet accounting for nearly 60% of Prestel's residential users.<ref name=PCW-1984-11>
{{
cite magazine
|magazine=[[Personal Computer World]]
|title=Networks
|first=Peter
|last=Tootill
|at=p. 206 col 2 and fig. 1.
|volume=7
|issue=11
|date=November 1984
|url=https://archive.org/details/PersonalComputerWorld1984-11/page/206/mode/1up
|access-date=13 March 2025
|via=[[Internet Archive]]
}}</ref> [[Franchising|Franchises]] to run Micronet were given to the [[Hong Kong Telecom|Hong Kong Telephone Company]] and the Swedish [[postal, telegraph and telephone service|PTT]].<ref name=franchise>
{{
cite magazine
|magazine=[[Popular Computing Weekly]]
|title=The Net spreads
|page=5
|volume=3
|issue=9
|date=6{{ndash}}12 December 1984
|url=https://archive.org/details/NH2021_Popular_Computing_Weekly_Issue841206.pdf/page/n4/mode/1up
|access-date=24 March 2025
|quote=The Swedish franchise will make Micronet available to users in Sweden, Norway and Denmark.
}}</ref> The Micronet news editor stated that in December that year, 1.1 million accesses per week were made to the Micronet database.<ref name=SincUser-37 /> 

By January 1986, there were 18,000 subscribers,<ref name=SincUser-42>
{{
cite magazine
|magazine=[[Sinclair User]]
|title=Going On-line
|issue=42
|pages=126{{ndash}}127, 132
|first=Chris
|last=Bourne
|date=January 1986
|issn=0262-5458
|url=https://archive.org/details/sinclair-user-magazine-046/page/n125/mode/2up
|access-date=13 March 2025
|via=[[Internet Archive]]
}}</ref>{{rp|132}} with 20,000 declared in an advertisement by Micronet published in July that same year.<ref name=SincUser-52>
{{
cite magazine
|magazine=[[Sinclair User]]
|title=How does 20p a day turn your micro into a mainframe?
|author=((Micronet 800))
|issue=52
|at=p. 78 col 1
|type=full-page advert
|date=July 1986
|issn=0262-5458
|url=https://archive.org/details/sinclair-user-magazine-052/page/n77/mode/1up
|access-date=14 March 2025
|via=[[Internet Archive]]
}}</ref> 25,000 subscribers and a database of 35,000 pages were reported<ref name=25kSubs-1>
{{
cite magazine
|magazine=[[Your Commodore]]
|title=Widening the Net
|page=7
|date=June 1988
|issue=45
|url=https://archive.org/details/YourCommodoreIssue45Jun88/page/n6/mode/1up
|access-date=23 March 2025
|via=[[Internet Archive]]
}}</ref><ref name=NewLook /> when Micronet was relaunched under new management in mid-1988.<ref name=Relaunch-1>
{{
cite magazine
|magazine=[[Acorn User]]
|title=The Comms Column
|page=13
|issue=71
|date=June 1988
|url=https://archive.org/details/AcornUser1988Magazine/AcornUser8806/page/n14/mode/1up
|access-date=23 March 2025
|quote=Micronet 800 has undergone a re-launch with a new managing director, John Tomany; a managing editor, Francis Jago: and a new advertising campaign. The main alterations are a general tidying up of the news and machine-specific areas, which over the past few years have grown in a rather uneven fashion.
}}</ref>

Looking back some decades later, David Babsky, Micronet 800's  founding editor, observed that:<ref name=E-DreamsMicronet-1 />{{rp|157}}{{blockquote|What we found was that there was a high [[Churn rate#Customer base churn|churn rate]] ... So we kept getting lots of new people, but at the same time about a third of the people we had disappeared.}}

===Incorporation in ''Prestel Microcomputing''===

In May 1984, as one of several [[Prestel#Specialised services|specialised services]] launched on Prestel at the time, British Telecom set up ''Prestel Microcomputing''.<ref name=PrestelMicro84>
{{
cite web
|url=http://www.viewdata.org.uk/download.php?cat=15_Prestel&file=PrestelMicrocomputingLaunchLetterMay1984.pdf
|title="Prestel Microcomputing will add a new dimension to your home computing" 
|author=[[BT Group plc |British Telecom]]
|type=Letter to Prestel subscribers
|date=May 1984
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120422001653/http://www.viewdata.org.uk/download.php?cat=15_Prestel&file=PrestelMicrocomputingLaunchLetterMay1984.pdf
|archive-date=22 April 2012
|access-date=10 March 2025
|via=[[Internet Archive]]
}}</ref> This incorporated services from Micronet 800 and the information providers Viewfax 258 (a magazine similar in scope to Micronet 800)<ref name=PCW-1984-02>
{{
cite magazine
|magazine=[[Personal Computer World]]
|title=Viewfax 258
|first=Peter
|last=Tootill
|page=261
|volume=7
|issue=8
|date=February 1984
|url=https://archive.org/details/PersonalComputerWorld1984-02/1984-02/page/261/mode/1up
|access-date=10 March 2025
|quote= Viewfax 258 [comprises] news and gossip from the micro world, and telesoftware. Much of it is for the BBC Micro, but other systems are supported[.]
|via=[[Internet Archive]]
}}</ref> and Clubspot 810 (run by ACC, the Association of Amateur Computer Clubs).<ref name=PCW-1984-08>
{{
cite magazine
|magazine=[[Personal Computer World]]
|title=ACC News
|first=Rupert
|last=Steele
|page=211
|volume=7
|issue=8
|date=August 1984
|url=https://archive.org/details/PersonalComputerWorld1984-08/page/211/mode/1up
|access-date=10 March 2025
|quote=Microcomputing activities on Prestel are now ... in a single ... structure starting on page 456[.] Most of this material will be within a single Prestel Microcomputing CUG (Closed User Group — you'll have to subscribe before you can access the pages). Micronet and Viewfax will be two of the other participants, and ClubSpot[.]
|via=[[Internet Archive]]
}}</ref>

=== Acquisition by British Telecom===

In 1985, [[Bell Canada]] bought a 20% share in Telemap, and [[BT Group|British Telecom]] acquired a 25% stake.<ref name=BellCanada>
{{
cite news
|newspaper=[[The Globe and Mail|Globe & Mail]]
|title=Data bases Bell unit's stake
|date=21 June 1985
|page=B14
|id={{Gale|A165611044}}
|quote=Tele-Direct Canada Inc., a unit of Bell Canada ... has bought a 20 per cent share in Telemap, a British company that runs a data base for home computers. British Telecommunications PLC has also acquired a 25 per cent stake.
}}</ref> [[BT Group|British Telecom]] became the majority shareholder in 1987, initially managing the company as part of BT Spectrum, its Value Added Services Group, before transferring it to BT Prestel. In 1989, [[BT Group|British Telecom]] acquired the entire company.<ref name=LogOn9>{{cite magazine |magazine=Log On{{snd}}The magazine for Micronet members |title=Net future secure in BT buyout |issue=9 |page=3 |date=Autumn 1989 |publisher=Telemap |location=London |url=https://www.viewdata.org.uk/download.php?cat=15_Prestel&file=LogOn9Autumn1989.pdf#page=3 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181115002846/https://www.viewdata.org.uk/download.php?cat=15_Prestel&file=LogOn9Autumn1989.pdf#page=3 |archive-date=15 November 2018
|via=[[Internet Archive]]
|access-date=24 February 2025
}}</ref> It moved it to Dialcom House in [[Apsley, Hertfordshire|Apsley]], near [[Hemel Hempstead]], and folded the business first into the [[Dialcom]] Group (along with BT Prestel and [[Telecom Gold]]), and then into BT Managed Network Services.

===Closure===

British Telecom closed Micronet 800 on 31 October 1991.<ref name=AcornUser-1991-12>
{{
cite magazine
|magazine=[[Acorn User]]
|title=Major network closes
|page=15
|issue=113
|date=December 1991
|url=https://archive.org/details/AcornUser113-Dec91/page/n3/mode/1up
|access-date=10 March 2025
|via=[[Internet Archive]]
}}</ref> A letter to members stated that "With over 10,000 members, Micronet is easily the largest online service in the UK specialising in microcomputing. However, it is still not large enough to enable us to maintain a cost-effective service and provide the extra facilities requested by our customers."<ref name=MicronetClosure1991>
{{
cite web
|url=https://www.viewdata.org.uk/download.php?cat=15_Prestel&file=micronetrip.pdf
|title=Micronet to close from 31st October 1991
|date=27 September 1991
|first1=Sue
|last1=Gilbody
|type=letter
|publisher=[[Tymnet#BT Tymnet, BT_North America, BTNA|BT Tymnet]]
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120506132636/http://www.viewdata.org.uk/download.php?cat=15_Prestel&file=micronetrip.pdf
|archive-date=6 May 2012
}}</ref> The figure of 10,000 was less than 10% of what was predicted shortly after launch.<ref name="vtu"/> The letter included a free introductory membership to [[CompuServe]], suggested as "[An] excellent alternative to the many products and services provided by Micronet."

Membership had decreased from a peak of around 25,000.<ref name=25kSubs-1 /> ''[[The Guardian]]'' attributed the decline to the  introduction in mid-1988 of an off-peak Prestel time-charge discouraging the use of the "[[#Services provided|Chatlines]]" service.<ref name=BrownMicronet1991>
{{
cite news
|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]
|date=31 October 1991
|title=Reaching the end of the line
|first=Mike
|last=Brown
|at=p. 33, col 8
|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/187285975 
|id={{ProQuest|187285975}}
}}</ref> ''[[The Times]]'' agreed, and also pointed to a steep rise in subscription charges, opining that "BT's failure to provide even this committed group with an economic ... service means that Prestel is destined ... for businesses."<ref name=MayMicronet1991>
{{
cite newspaper The Times
|title=Hey Prestel! A disappearing act
|first=Matthew
|last=May
|department=Science and Technology
|date=3 October 1991
|page=30
|issue=64141
|column=1
}}</ref>

==Services provided==

[[File:Micronet800page.jpg|thumb|right|Printed on Micronet 800 headed paper, this page from the [[science fiction]] section of the database shows an entry to a story competition, {{circa|lk=no}} 1985]]

===Directories and guides===
Micronet 800 had an A{{ndash}}Z online index, published a directory in its ''Log On'' print magazine,<ref name=Directory-eg>
For example, see: 
{{
cite magazine
|magazine=Log On
|date=Spring 1989
|issue=7
|title=Micronet Directory
|page=20
|url=https://www.viewdata.org.uk/download.php?cat=15_Prestel&file=logon07.pdf#page=20
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181115002855/https://www.viewdata.org.uk/download.php?cat=15_Prestel&file=logon07.pdf#page=20
|archive-date=15 November 2018
|access-date=16 March 2025
|via=[[Internet Archive]]
}}</ref> and distributed a guide for users containing a [[Tube map|London Tube-style ]] map of the database.<ref name=MicronetTubeMap>
{{
cite web
|url=https://archive.org/details/your-guide-to-micronet-1986/mode/2up
|title=Your Guide to Micronet
|date=1986
|publisher=Telemap
|location=London
|access-date=18 March 2025
|via=[[Internet Archive]]
}}</ref> 

===Chatlines===
A form of [[chat room|chatroom]], Chatlines began in late 1984 as a single [[online chat]] service where users could post messages that other users could read and respond to. It was described in the vocabulary of the time as a "[[Citizens band radio|Citizens' Band (CB)]] [[emulator]]".<ref name=SincUser-36>
{{
cite magazine
|magazine=[[Sinclair User]]
|title=Microsoft matters
|issue=36
|page=7
|first=Sid
|last=Smith
|date=March 1985
|quote=Only two months after Chatline's opening, over 15,000 messages were posted on the system during December 1984.
|issn=0262-5458
|url=https://archive.org/details/sinclair-user-magazine-046/page/n125/mode/2up
|access-date=18 March 2025
|via=[[Internet Archive]]
}}</ref> A year later, Chatlines was divided into six special-interest sections and moved to a mainframe computer.<ref name=ChatElectroComp>
{{
cite magazine
|magazine=Electronics & Computing Monthly
|title=Net News
|page=57
|date=June 1985
|quote=Chatline is already a success{{snd}}registering either first or second most accessed area in the monthly Prestel survey, and publishing around 400 messages per evening. 
|url=https://archive.org/details/Electronics_And_Computing_Monthly_1985_06.pdf/page/n35/mode/1up
|access-date=18 March 2025
|via=[[Internet Archive]]
}}
</ref> 

By 1986, eight Chatlines were available: two so-called "Daisychats", each composed of a continuous loop of linked videotex frames where, once full, the newest posting overwrote the oldest; and six [[Internet forum|online forums]], where postings were archived. The forums, known as "lines", included ones for politics and religion (the latter was monitored), "Gay Chatline", and a weekly "Celebrity Chatline" (launched in 1985),<ref name=ChatLaunch>
{{
cite magazine
|magazine=[[The Micro User|Micro User]]
|title=Micronet launches a new Chatline
|page=24
|volume=3
|issue=3
|date=May 1985
|url=https://archive.org/details/eu_The_Micro_User_1985-05_OCR/page/n23/mode/1up
|access-date=19 March 2025
|via=[[Internet Archive]]
}}
</ref> which operated like a [[phone-in]]{{snd}}users posted questions to a [[celebrity]],{{refn|group=lower-alpha|Those interviewed included [[Clive Sinclair]], [[Cynthia Payne]], [[Douglas Adams]], [[Fatima Whitbread]], [[Feargal Sharkey]], [[David Brudenell-Bruce, 9th Marquess of Ailesbury|Lord Cardigan]], and [[Terry Pratchett]].}} who would answer them during an interview by a Micronet editor.<ref name=SincUser-42 />{{rp|127}}

In June 1990, British Telecom suspended Chatlines.<ref name=ChatSusp-1>
{{
cite magazine
|magazine=[[Acorn User]]
|title=Chatlines suspended
|first=David
|last=Janda
|issue=99
|page=17
|date=October 1990
|url=https://archive.org/details/AcornUser099-Oct90/page/n18/mode/1up
|quote=[S]ince June all chatlines have been suspended ... owing to a few people abusing them. ... [British Telecom] states that it is currently reviewing ways of monitoring the chatlines in a more efficient and effective manner. Previously, chatlines were monitored on an ''ad hoc'' basis.
|access-date=22 March 2025
|via=[[Internet Archive]]
}}</ref> Micronet stated that sporadic monitoring had not prevented abuse of the service, and that it would investigate how to operate Chatlines in a "fully monitored" way in future, though without committing to a reinstatement.<ref name=ChatSusp-2>
{{
cite magazine
|magazine=Log On
|title=Chatlines and Log On
|issue=12
|page=4
|date=Summer 1990
|url=https://www.viewdata.org.uk/download.php?cat=15_Prestel&file=logon12.pdf#page=4
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181115002842/https://www.viewdata.org.uk/download.php?cat=15_Prestel&file=logon12.pdf#page=4
|archive-date=15 November 2018
|access-date=22 March 2025
|via=[[Internet Archive]]
}}</ref> In the event, Chatlines did not return. A year later, Micronet introduced a moderated "Line Noise" forum.<ref name=ChatSusp-3>
{{
cite magazine
|magazine=[[Amiga Computing]]
|title=Noise on the Net
|first=Eddie
|last=McKendrick
|date=June 1991
|issue=37
|page=135
|url=https://archive.org/details/amiga-computing-issue-37-june-1991-optimized/page/135/mode/1up
|access-date=22 March 2025
|via=[[Internet Archive]] 
}}</ref>

===Teleconferencing===
DialTalk (briefly "TeleTalk"), a [[teleconference|teleconferencing]] service, opened in 1988. A user could hold live conferences or discussions with up to sixty-three other users in one of 30 "rooms", and convene breakaway or private meetings in other vacant rooms.<ref name=NewLook />{{rp|29 col 2}}

===Downloadable software===
In return for a fee or [[royalty payment|royalties]], Micronet 800 encouraged individuals, amateur computer groups and software companies to supply programs that could be stored on Micronet's 800 [[telesoftware]] database and downloaded by subscribers.<ref name=SincUser-43>
{{
cite magazine
|magazine=[[Sinclair User]]
|title=Written any good programs lately?
|issue=43
|page=10
|first=Phil
|last=Godsell
|date=October 1985
|type=advert
|issn=0262-5458
|url=https://archive.org/details/sinclair-user-magazine-043/page/n9/mode/1up
|access-date=12 March 2025
|quote=Micronet 800 are currently looking for good quality Spectrum programs to load onto our mainframes and offer direct to our thousands of members. [Y]ou'll earn a substantial fee, or top royalties[.] We'll distribute your programs as 'telesoftware' ... delivered via the phone lines to Micronet subscribers nationwide. Just send us your cassette[.]
|via=[[Internet Archive]]
}}</ref> 

Originally, about half of the programs were free, with the rest available at discounts of around 15% or more.<ref name=NewLook>
{{
cite magazine
|magazine=[[Commodore Computing International]]
|title=Micronet{{snd}}a new look 
|pages=28{{ndash}}29, 111
|date=July 1988
|volume=6
|issue=12
|url=https://archive.org/details/Commodore_Computing_International_Vol_06_No_12_1988-07_Croftward_GB/page/n28/mode/1up
|access-date=21 March 2025
|via=[[Internet Archive]]
}}</ref>{{rp|29}} In early 1989, however, Micronet abandoned paid-for telesoftware and began supplying programs free of charge via a Prestel [[Prestel#Prestel Gateway|gateway]].<ref name=TsoftGateway-1>
{{
cite magazine
|magazine=ST World
|title=Telesoftware
|first=David
|last=Jones
|page=98
|issue=37
|date=March 1989
|url=https://archive.org/details/ST_World_Magazine_Issue_37/page/n99/mode/1up
|access-date=21 March 2025
|via=[[Internet Archive]]
}}</ref> Microcomputers for which programs were made available included the [[Amiga]], [[Amstrad CPC]], [[BBC Micro]], [[IBM Personal Computer|IBM PC]], and [[ZX Spectrum|Spectrum]].<ref name=TsoftGatewat-2>
{{
cite magazine
|magazine=Log On
|date=Spring 1989
|issue=7
|title=Telesoftware Gateway{{snd}}Top 5's
|pages=18{{ndash}}19
|url=https://www.viewdata.org.uk/download.php?cat=15_Prestel&file=logon07.pdf#page=19
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181115002855/https://www.viewdata.org.uk/download.php?cat=15_Prestel&file=logon07.pdf#page=19
|archive-date=15 November 2018
|access-date=21 March 2025
|via=[[Internet Archive]]
}}</ref>

When Micronet 800 launched in 1983, providers of programs on Prestel were using a protocol drawn up by the UK's [[Council for Educational Technology]] (CET)<ref name=TelesoftCET-Sept1981>
{{
cite web
|url=https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED279288
|title=Telesoftware: CET Information Sheet No. 3
|type=Abstract
|author=[[Council for Educational Technology]]
|date=September 1981
|id={{ERIC|ED279288}}
|access-date=11 March 2025
}}</ref><ref name=CETformatFeb1982>
{{
cite document
|title=Format Recommendations for Prestel Telesoftware
|type=booklet
|publisher=[[Council for Educational Technology]]
|date=February 1982
|location=London
}} Note: this document was superseded by 
{{
cite web
|title=Format Recommendations for Prestel Telesoftware
|type=booklet
|publisher=[[Council for Educational Technology]]
|date=June 1986
|location=London
|url=https://ia800107.us.archive.org/0/items/prestel-telesoftware-protocol-CET-1986/Prestel_Telesoft_Protocol_Low_Res.pdf
|access-date=11 March 2025
|via=[[Internet Archive]]
}}</ref> after consulting British Telecom, microcomputer manufacturers, users, and educational software agencies.<ref name=PractComp-1981-10>
{{
cite magazine
|magazine=[[Practical Computing]]
|title=Prestel initiative will remove the barriers
|first=Mike
|last=Brown
|date=October 1981
|volume=4
|issue=10
|pages=53{{ndash}}54
|url=https://ia800600.us.archive.org/31/items/practical-computing/PracticalComputing-1981-10.pdf#page=53
|access-date=11 March 2025
|via=[[Internet Archive]]
}}</ref>{{refn|group=lower-alpha|Several formats for [[telesoftware]] downloadable from Prestel and Prestel-compatible videotex systems were trialled in the early 1980s.<ref name=PractComp-1981-08>
{{
cite magazine
|magazine=[[Practical Computing]]
|title=Views on telesoftware display standards
|first=Peter
|last=Blower
|date=August 1981
|volume=4
|issue=8
|pages=100{{ndash}}102
|url=https://ia800600.us.archive.org/31/items/practical-computing/PracticalComputing-1981-08.pdf#page=100
|access-date=11 March 2025
|via=[[Internet Archive]]
}}</ref>}} In early 1991, Micronet issued FCET, a revised version of the CET format, that much decreased download times.<ref name=AcornUser-1991-08>
{{
cite magazine
|magazine=[[Acorn User]]
|title=It's faster with Fred
|first=Paul
|last=Vigay
|page=17
|issue=113
|date=February 1991
|url=https://archive.org/details/AcornUser1991Magazine/AcornUser9102/page/n18/mode/1up
|access-date=14 March 2025
|via=[[Internet Archive]]
}}</ref> 

Micro Arts, creators of computer art in text and graphic form,<ref name=MicroArts>
{{
cite web
|title=1984 Computer digital art and music
|url=https://microartsgroup.com/1984-computer-digital-art-and-music/
|first=Geoff
|last=Davis
|publisher=Story Software
|website=Micro Arts Group
|date=15 November 2020
|quote=The art programs were [first] distributed on data cassettes [for the] Sinclair Spectrum and Acorn BBC Micro.
|access-date=17 March 2025
}}</ref> published articles and downloadable programs on Micronet 800 from 1985 onwards.<ref name=MicroArtsPCW>
{{
cite magazine
|magazine=[[Personal Computer World]]
|title=Micro who? What a carry-on!
|first=Guy
|last=Kewney
|date=October 1985
|at=p. 110 col 4
|volume=8
|issue=10
|url=https://archive.org/details/PersonalComputerWorld1985-10/page/102/mode/1up
|access-date=17 March 2025
|quote=The Micro Arts database and some software is now available on Micronet (Prestel Microcomputing)[.]
|via=[[Internet Archive]]
}}</ref>

===Games===
The longest-running [[online game]] on Micronet 800 was ''Starnet'', a [[play-by-mail game|turn-based]] game, with players sending in moves{{refn|group=lower-alpha|Using a "response frame", a [[Prestel#Response frames|preformatted Prestel message page]].}} that would be executed once a day.<ref name=Starnet>
{{
cite magazine
|magazine=Log On
|title=Starnet
|first=Chris
|last=Bourne
|issue=7
|page=8
|date=Spring 1989
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181115002855/https://www.viewdata.org.uk/download.php?cat=15_Prestel&file=logon07.pdf#page=8
|archive-date=15 November 2018
|url=https://www.viewdata.org.uk/download.php?cat=15_Prestel&file=logon07.pdf#page=8
|quote=There are normally three moves a week, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, sent in by response frame. This leaves plenty of time for plotting and organising your strategies, and to aid this Micronet provides a special chatline for Starnet players. 
|access-date=16 March 2025
|via=[[Internet Archive]]
}}</ref> Micronet 800 also hosted ''Shades'', one of the first [[multi-user dungeon|real-time multiplayer]] games.<ref name=Shades>
{{
cite magazine
|magazine=[[Commodore Computing International]]
|title=Micronet's Multi-user Game
|at=p. 16{{snd}}launch on Micronet
|volume=5
|issue=4
|date=November 1986
|url=https://archive.org/details/Commodore_Computing_International_Vol_05_No_04_1986-11_Croftward_GB/page/n15/mode/1up
}} {{
cite magazine
|magazine=[[Commodore Computing International]]
|title=Micronet Enhances Shades
|at=p. 5{{snd}}scrolling version announced
|volume=6
|issue=7
|date=February 1988
|url=https://archive.org/details/commodorecomputinginternational198802_202003/page/n5/mode/1up
}} Retrieved 16 March 2025{{snd}}via [[Internet Archive]].
</ref> Other multiplayer games offered included ''The Round Britain Yacht Race'',<ref name=YachtRace>
{{
cite magazine
|magazine=[[Sinclair User]]
|title=Voyage round my modem
|issue=43
|page=6
|date=October 1985
|issn=0262-5458
|url=https://archive.org/details/sinclair-user-magazine-043/page/n5/mode/1up
|access-date=23 March 2025
|via=[[Internet Archive]]
}}</ref> ''Trash'' ("The game puts you in the role of a pan-dimensional dustman"), and ''Casino'',  which featured simulations of [[slot machine|slot machines]] and games such as [[roulette]], [[blackjack]], [[keno]], [[baccarat]], and [[poker]].<ref name=TrashCasino>
Janda, David (June 1990). [https://archive.org/details/AcornUser1990Magazine/AcornUser9006/page/n18/mode/1up "A pile of trash"] and [https://archive.org/details/AcornUser1990Magazine/AcornUser9006/page/n18/mode/1up "Dynamic flutter"]. ''[[Acorn User]]''. No. 95. p. 17. Retrieved 23 March 2025{{snd}}via [[Internet Archive]].</ref>

===Email===
Each Prestel user had a unique [[Prestel#Mailbox|Mailbox]] number{{snd}}usually derived from the last nine digits of their phone number{{snd}}that was used to address and send messages to others on Prestel. Reportedly, Micronet 800 subscribers were particularly enthusiastic about the medium, sending twice as many Mailbox messages as regular Prestel users.<ref name=SincUser-37>
{{
cite magazine
|magazine=[[Sinclair User]]
|title=Micronet matters
|issue=37
|page=8
|first=Sid
|last=Smith
|date=April 1985
|issn=0262-5458
|url=https://archive.org/details/sinclair-user-magazine-037/page/n7/mode/1up
|quote=Net members proved a talkative lot ... sending twice as many mailbox messages as other Prestel users.
|via=Internet Archive
}}</ref>

In 1984, Mailbox was connected to the [[telex]] system via Prestel's [[Prestel#Telex Link|Telex Link]]: telexes could be sent and received like standard messages.<ref name=Handbook1987>
{{
cite book
|url=https://archive.org/details/prestel-customer-handbook-1987/
|title=Prestel Customer Handbook
|chapter=Message Services
|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/prestel-customer-handbook-1987/page/n5/mode/1up
|page=8
|quote=Telex Link enables you to send telexes worldwide, and receive them too.
|date=September 1987
|access-date=20 March 2025
|author=British Telecom
|author-link=BT Group
|via=Internet Archive
}}</ref> From mid-1987, Micronet's "Interlink" facility offered subscribers direct access to the [[Telecom Gold]] email, [[online chat|chat]], and information service.<ref name=Interlink-1>
{{
cite magazine
|magazine=[[Commodore Computing International]]
|title=Micronet goes for Gold
|date=October 1987
|issue=31
|page=32
|url=https://archive.org/details/commodore-computing-international-1987-10/page/n31/mode/1up
|access-date=24 March 2025
|via=[[Internet Archive]]
}}</ref><ref name=InterLink-2>
{{
cite magazine
|magazine=Log On
|title=Interlink: the golden gateway
|issue=2
|date=Autumn 1987
|page=7
|quote=But Interlink isn't just about email ... The Financial Times and Datasolve are just two of many companies who provide business information, and for the home user there's a 'Chat' feature and hundreds of programs you can run on Telecom Gold's mainframe. 
|url=https://www.viewdata.org.uk/download.php?cat=15_Prestel&file=LogonIss2.pdf#page=7
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181115002846/https://www.viewdata.org.uk/download.php?cat=15_Prestel&file=LogonIss2.pdf#page=7
|archive-date=15 November 2018
|access-date=20 March 2025
|via=[[Internet Archive]]
}}</ref>

===Magazines===
Micronet created separate online magazines{{snd}}"micromags"{{snd}} for owners of a range of popular home computers,{{refn|group=lower-alpha|In Spring 1989, Micronet listed these as [[ZX Spectrum|Spectrum]] (with a new edition issued each Monday), [[IBM Personal Computer|PC & Compatibles]] (Tuesday), [[Commodore 64]]/[[Commodore 128|128]] (Wednesday), [[Atari ST]] (Thursday), [[Amiga|Commodore Amiga]] (Thursday), [[Amstrad CPC]] (Friday), and [[BBC Micro]] (Friday).<ref name=MicromagsList>
{{
cite magazine
|magazine=Log On
|title=Micro Magazines
|issue=7
|date=
|at=See foot of p. 20
|url=https://www.viewdata.org.uk/download.php?cat=15_Prestel&file=logon07.pdf#page=20
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181115002855/https://www.viewdata.org.uk/download.php?cat=15_Prestel&file=logon07.pdf#page=20
|archive-date=15 November 2018
|access-date=21 March 2025
|via=[[Internet Archive]]
}}</ref>}} adapting its offering according to levels of ownership of particular models<ref name=STmag>For example, see:
{{
cite magazine
|magazine=Log On
|title=Inside the ST Micromag
|date=Christmas 1989
|issue=10
|page=14
|url=https://www.viewdata.org.uk/download.php?cat=15_Prestel&file=logon10.pdf#page=14
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181115002847/https://www.viewdata.org.uk/download.php?cat=15_Prestel&file=logon10.pdf#page=14
|archive-date=15 November 2018
|access-date=21 March 2025
|via=[[Internet Archive]]
}}</ref> and market developments.<ref name=NewLook />{{rp|28}}

''Bizznet'', the first non-[[microcomputer]] section in Micronet's database, launched in 1986 with guidance for small businesses on accounting, law, tax, insurance, and finance.<ref name=Bizznet-1>
{{
cite magazine
|magazine=[[Acorn User]]
|title=Bizznet new on Micronet
|date=January 1986
|issue=42
|page=129
|url=https://archive.org/details/AcornUser1986Magazine/AcornUser8601/page/n130/mode/1up
|access-date=21 March 2025
|via=[[Internet Archive]]
}}</ref> In 1988, it was renamed ''Money Xtra''<ref name=Bizznet-2>
{{
cite magazine
|magazine=[[8000 Plus]]
|title=Down to Business
|first=Andrew
|last=Bibby
|at=p. 30, "Comms çi, comms ça"
|issue=23
|date=August 1988
|url=https://archive.org/details/8000-plus-magazine-23/page/n29/mode/1up
|access-date=21 March 2025
|via=[[Internet Archive]]
}}</ref> and refocused on personal finance,<ref name=Bizznet-3>
{{
cite magazine
|magazine=[[Acorn User]]
|title=Micronet set for carve-up
|date=April 1988
|issue=69
|page=9
|quote=The Bizznet section, originally aimed at small businesses, is being renamed and revamped into a personal finance section.
|url=https://archive.org/details/AcornUser069-Apr88/page/n10/mode/1up
|access-date=21 March 2025
|via=[[Internet Archive]]
}}</ref> providing consumer, financial, and tax advice, together with a legal advisory service.<ref name=Bizznet-4>
{{
cite magazine
|magazine=Log On
|title=Online Law with Legal Eagle
|pages=5{{ndash}}6
|issue=9
|date=Autumn 1989
|url=http://www.viewdata.org.uk/download.php?cat=15_Prestel&file=LogOn9Autumn1989.pdf#page=5
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120227144353/http://www.viewdata.org.uk/download.php?cat=15_Prestel&file=LogOn9Autumn1989.pdf#page=5
|archive-date=27 February 2012
|access-date=21 March 2025
|via=[[Internet Archive]]
}}</ref>

''Xtra!'', described as a leisure magazine, also began in 1986, and contained music reviews, analysis of current affairs, restaurant and bar reviews, and letters from users.<ref name=Xtra>
{{
cite magazine
|magazine=Log On
|title=Xtra{{snd}}Read All About It
|first=Chris
|last=Bourne
|page=6
|volume=2
|issue=2
|date=Winter 1989
|url=https://www.viewdata.org.uk/download.php?cat=15_Prestel&file=logon202.pdf#page=6
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181115002916/https://www.viewdata.org.uk/download.php?cat=15_Prestel&file=logon202.pdf#page=6
|archive-date=15 November 2018
|access-date=21 March 2025
|via=[[Internet Archive]]
}}</ref> Separate sections covered TV and radio (''Waveguide''),<ref name=Waveguide>
{{
cite magazine
|magazine=Log On
|title=Four Years On the Box
|first=Chris
|last=Bourne
|page=9
|issue=12
|date=Summer 1990
|url=https://www.viewdata.org.uk/download.php?cat=15_Prestel&file=logon12.pdf#page=9
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181115002842/https://www.viewdata.org.uk/download.php?cat=15_Prestel&file=logon12.pdf#page=9
|archive-date=15 November 2018
|access-date=21 March 2025
|via=[[Internet Archive]]
}}</ref> and [[consumer electronics]] (''Voltage'').

Computers, music, and [[MIDI]]-music were the subject of ''MidiSpot'',<ref name=MidiSpot>
{{
cite magazine
|magazine=Log On
|title=MidiSpot moves to Micronet
|issue=11
|page=4
|date=Spring 1990
|url=https://www.viewdata.org.uk/download.php?cat=15_Prestel&file=logon11.pdf
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181115002920/https://www.viewdata.org.uk/download.php?cat=15_Prestel&file=logon11.pdf
|archive-date=15 November 2018
|access-date=21 March 2025
|via=[[Internet Archive]]
}}</ref> which incorporated Micronet's earlier ''Music City'' magazine, launched in 1988.<ref name=MusicCity>
{{
cite magazine
|magazine=[[Your Commodore]]
|title=The Net Gets Musical
|first=David
|last=Janda
|pages=13{{ndash}}14
|volume=4
|issue=5
|date=February 1988
|url=https://archive.org/details/YourCommodoreIssue41Feb88/page/n11/mode/1up
|access-date=21 March 2025
|via=[[Internet Archive]]
|quote=Micronet ... is inviting submissions from all subscribers, and if the tune is good enough you'll get paid for it as well.
|quote-page=14
}}</ref>

===Gallery===
This was an area of the database where, for a fee, users could rent pages and publish anything they wished, subject to monitoring by Micronet for instances of libel or obscenity.<ref name=LogOn7>
{{cite magazine 
|magazine=Log On
|title=Gallery
|first=Julian 
|last=Hayward 
|issue=7 
|pages=13{{ndash}}14 
|date=Spring 1989 
|url=https://www.viewdata.org.uk/download.php?cat=15_Prestel&file=logon07.pdf#page=13 
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181115002855/https://www.viewdata.org.uk/download.php?cat=15_Prestel&file=logon07.pdf#page=13 
|archive-date=15 November 2018
|via=[[Internet Archive]]
|access-date=24 February 2025
}}</ref>

==Personnel==

; Management : Richard Hease (co-founder 1982{{ndash}}1983)<ref name=Times-Sept82 />{{snd}}Bob Denton (co-founder 1982{{ndash}}1983)<ref name=Times-Sept82 />{{snd}}Tim Schoonmaker (managing director 1983{{ndash}}1986)<ref name=franchise />{{snd}}Tom Baird (managing director 1987)<ref name=Interlink-1 />{{snd}}John Tomany (managing director 1988{{ndash}}1990)<ref name=Relaunch-1 />{{snd}}Michael Weatherseed (general manager 1990{{ndash}}1991).{{fact|date=March 2025}}

; Editors : David Babsky (founding editor)<ref name=SincUser-32 />{{snd}}Simon D'Arcy (later, publisher)<ref name=mnet86>
{{
cite web
|url=https://www.viewdata.org.uk/download.php?cat=15_Prestel&file=PrestelOfflineMicronet800April1986.pdf#page=3
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221013104808/https://www.viewdata.org.uk/download.php?cat=15_Prestel&file=PrestelOfflineMicronet800April1986.pdf#page=3
|archive-date=13 October 2022
|type=Letter to Micronet 800 subscribers
|title=Dear Member
|first=Peter
|last=Probert
|date=April 1986
|access-date=5 March 2025
|via=Internet Archive 
}}</ref>{{snd}}Sid Smith<ref name=mnet86 />{{snd}}Francis Jago (managing editor)<ref name=Relaunch-1 />{{snd}}Paul Needs<ref name=Directory-eg />{{rp|3}}{{snd}}Ian Burley<ref name=Directory-eg />{{rp|3}}{{snd}}[[Barbara Conway (journalist)|Barbara Conway]].

; Other editorial staff : Ken Young (journalist){{snd}}Adam Denning (technical editor){{snd}}David Rosenbaum (news and music editor)<ref name=Bizznet-3 />{{snd}}Chris Bourne (Sunday Xtra editor){{snd}}[[Paul Vigay]] (Acorn editor)<ref name=Directory-eg />{{rp|3}}{{snd}}Chris Lewis (Sinclair editor){{snd}}[[Rupert Goodwins]] (editorial assistant){{snd}}[[Afshin Rattansi]] (music and arts journalist){{snd}}David Farmbrough (music journalist).{{fact|date=March 2025}}

; Production : Robin Wilkinson (software manager)<ref name=PCW-1983-07 />{{rp|315}}{{snd}}Val Burgess (telesoftware database manager){{snd}}Mike Brown (technical manager)<ref name=PCW-1983-07 />{{rp|187}}{{snd}}Richard Tyner (software sales and acquisition){{snd}}John Mason (software testing and pricing){{snd}}John Prout (technical helpdesk){{snd}}Denise Shemuel (editorial database manager){{snd}}Colin Morgan{{snd}}Roger Cracknell{{snd}}Gary Smith{{snd}}Robert O'Donnell{{snd}}Patrick Reilly{{snd}}Daemonn Brody<ref name=Directory-eg />{{rp|6}}{{snd}}Denise Slater (graphics designer, telesoftware pages){{snd}}Anna Smith (editorial graphics designer){{snd}}Sharon Giles.{{fact|date=March 2025}}

; Marketing : Ian Rock (marketing manager)<ref name=YachtRace />{{snd}}Peter Probert (public relations manager)<ref name=mnet86 /> {{snd}}Phil Godsell (product manager)<ref name=SincUser-43 />{{snd}}Lynne Thomas (promotions manager)<ref name=LT>
{{
cite magazine
|magazine=Log On
|title=A day in the life of ...
|page=6
|date=Autumn 1987
|issue=2
|url=https://www.viewdata.org.uk/download.php?cat=15_Prestel&file=LogonIss2.pdf#page=6
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181115002846/https://www.viewdata.org.uk/download.php?cat=15_Prestel&file=LogonIss2.pdf#page=6
|archive-date=15 November 2018
|access-date=23 March 2025
|via=[[Internet Archive]]
}}</ref>{{snd}}Claire Walker (advertising and public relations executive)<ref name=ChatLaunch />{{snd}}Lynne Bennett (marketing executive).{{fact|date=March 2025}}

; Other contributors : [[Steve Gold]]{{snd}}[[Robert Schifreen]]{{snd}}David Janda{{fact|date=March 2025}}{{snd}}Richard Poynder, Bizznet editor.<ref name=LogOn9 />

In the run-up to Micronet 800's launch in March 1983, staff worked out of EMAP's offices in [[Hatton Garden]] in London.<ref name=SincUser-1982-12>
{{
cite magazine
|magazine=[[Sinclair User]]
|issn=0262-5458
|title=More ideas than a think-tank. More programs than a software house. Less money than you'd expect.
|author=((Micronet 800))
|pages=16{{ndash}}17
|issue=9
|date=December 1982
|url=https://archive.org/details/sinclair-user-magazine-009/page/n15/mode/2up
|type=Double-page advert
|quote=Send to: Micronet 800, Petersham House, 57a Hatton Garden, London ECIB IDT
|quote-page=17
}} [coupon text]. Retrieved 14 March 2025 {{snd}}via [[Internet Archive]].</ref> Subsequently, editorial staff were based in London's [[Clerkenwell]].<ref name=SincUser-1983-11>
{{
cite magazine
|magazine=[[Sinclair User]]
|issn=0262-5458
|title=Adaptor opens up the Micronet world
|first=Stephen
|last=Adams
|pages=56{{ndash}}57
|issue=20
|date=November 1983
|url=https://archive.org/details/sinclair-user-magazine-020/page/n55/mode/2up
|quote=Micronet 800 is at Scriptor Court, 155 Farringdon Road, London EC1R 3AD.
|quote-page=57
}} Note: staff later moved to 8 Herbal Hill in the same area.</ref> Technical staff were first based in [[Peterborough]].<ref name=SincUser-1983-07>
{{
cite magazine
|magazine=[[Sinclair User]]
|issn=0262-5458
|title=Dock your games software into Britain's largest home-user database ... one cassette reaches thousands of enthusiasts.
|author=((Micronet 800))
|page=76
|type=Full-page advert
|issue=16
|date=July 1983
|url=https://archive.org/details/sinclair-user-magazine-016/page/n75/mode/1up
|quote=Send your disk or cassette, together with the coupon to Micronet 800 [at] Bushfield House, Orton Centre, Peterborough PE2 0UW
}}</ref>
===Quotes===

"The thing that inspired me most was looking at the [[Gutenberg Bible]], the first book to be printed using moveable type. Micronet is to communication in the 80s what that Bible was to the Middle Ages."{{snd}}David Babsky (1984), Micronet 800 founding editor.<ref name=SincUser-32>
{{
cite magazine
|magazine=[[Sinclair User]]
|title=The Micronet Story
|issue=32
|pages=65, 70
|first=Chris
|last=Bourne
|date=November 1984
|issn=0262-5458
|url=https://archive.org/details/sinclair-user-magazine-032/page/n64/mode/1up
|via=Internet Archive
}}</ref>{{rp|70}}

"Long term, I see being able to program your computer with various names of journalists you particularly like, various sports that you have a habit of looking at, and being able to program your computer at 4 o'clock or 5 o'clock in the morning to log on to Prestel Micronet and then download very rapidly information which will then be printed out. So instead of sitting on the train in the morning with your Times, Guardian, Telegraph, or whatever, you will have a printout with all your favourite journalists, your sports pages, cartoons ... you can make up your own newspaper."{{snd}}Simon D'Arcy (1986), Micronet 800 publisher.<ref name="D'ArcyQuote-1986">
{{
cite episode
|title=Micro Live 17th Feb 1986 part 3
|type=TV broadcast
|series=[[Micro Live]]
|network=[[BBC Two|BBC2]]
|first=Simon
|last=D'Arcy
|date=February 1986
|url=https://archive.org/details/vhsvault_Micro_Live_17th_Feb_1986_part_3
|time=07:02
|time-caption=Quote starts at
|access-date=4 March 2025
|via=Internet Archive
}} This is a segment from season 2, episode 15: "Long-Distance Information", first aired on 14 February 1986. The interviewer is [[Andrew Neil]].</ref>

==See also==
<!--Use {{Annotated link}} template-->
<!--List in alphabetical order of first word of each item-->
*{{annotated link|Email}}
*{{annotated link|Home computer}}
*{{annotated link|Online game}}
*{{annotated link|Prestel}}
*{{annotated link|Telesoftware}}
*{{annotated link|Viewdata}}

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=lower-alpha}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==

<!--Sort by date: most recent first -->
<!--Use citation templates -->
<!--Add one-sentence description -->

* {{cite book
|first=Tom
|last=Lean
|title=Electronic dreams: how 1980s Britain learned to love the computer
|date=2016
|publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing|Bloomsbury Sigma]]
|location=London
|chapter=Chapter 6: Two Information Revolutions That Weren't
|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RNaHCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA143
|pages=143{{ndash}}174
|isbn=978-1-47291-833-8
|oclc=944121056
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RNaHCgAAQBAJ
}} The section on Micronet 800 (pages 153{{ndash}}157) describes its history in the twin contexts of the 1980s boom in Britain of [[home computer|home computing]] and the genesis, growth and decline of the [[Prestel]] [[videotex]] service.

==External links==
*[https://bobdenton.com/electronic-insight/ The origin of Micronet 800] as told by Bob Denton, co-founder.
*[https://db.viewdata.org.uk/*/s/Micronet Micronet videotex frames] archived by [https://db.viewdata.org.uk/about The Viewdata Database], a sub-project of [http://www.viewdata.org.uk/ Celebrating the Viewdata Revolution]
*[https://nosher.net/archives/computers/?type=source&value=Micronet Micronet adverts] in [https://nosher.net/archives/computers/ A history of the microcomputer industry in 300 adverts] 

{{BT Group}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:BT Group]]
[[Category:Legacy systems]]
[[Category:Pre–World Wide Web online services]]
[[Category:Teletext]]