Micronet800 was an information provider (IP) on Prestel , aimed at the 1980s personal computer market. It was an online magazine that gave it subscribers computer related news, reviews, articles and downloadable telesoftware.
Users would log onto the Prestel network (which was usually a local call) and then access the Micronet800 home page by entering *800# (hence the name).
Telemap Group, the company behind Micronet800 was formed by British Telecom (BT), Bell Canada, and East Midlands Allied Press (EMAP).
Originally the editorial staff where based in 8 Herbal Hill, Clerkenwell, London, and the technical staff in an EMAP building in Peterborough but in 1986 the technical staff where moved down to the London building.
Many of the things that we see on the Internet today, were on Micronet800 long before the Internet was in widespread use.
- Chatlines users could post messages that other users could see and respond to.
- Downloadable software Micronet800 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 being StarNet, 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).
- email each Prestel user had a unique number (usually the last nine digits of the subscribers telephone number), and this could be used to send messages.
- Gallery an area where users could post their own pages about anything they wished (within reason).
Micronet800 encouraged users by giving away a free modem to users subscribing for a year. Many VTX5000 (for ZX Spectrum users) and Modem 1000 were given away.
In 1989 BT brought the company out entirely, and moved into a BT building in Apsley, just outside Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire.
There where a number of Editors in its lifetime
David Babsky
Sid Smith
Simon? Jago
Paul Needs
Ian Burley
In 1991(?) BT closed the service
