I don't know a lot about Minitel, but it sounds like it was impressively useful years before the web. In the US I'm sure many AOL users didn't think they neede

I don't know a lot about Minitel, but it sounds like it was impressively useful years before the web. In the US I'm sure many AOL users didn't think they needed the web. Apple even collaborated with AOL to create their own online service, eWorld, just as the web was taking off (they shut it down after a couple of years and migrated users to AOL.) There is an interesting effect where early technology adopters get left behind once a replacement technology takes off and goes mainstream. I'm sure many people who had Blackberry, Palm or i-mode devices didn't think they needed the iPhone.