Julien Mailland Video Now Available
We're so excited to share this thought-provoking Commons Conversations lecture from Julien Mailland, "On the Fringe of Minitel: Alternative Uses of a State-Sponsored Communication A Participatory Masterclass."
Julien Mailland recently released his first book, Minitel: Welcome to the Internet, with co-author Kevin Driscoll. There, he explores how the world’s first mass-scale online system was sustained for more than thirty years. As we look toward our modern-day digital ecosystem, Julien finds that Minitel is a perfect case study in understanding how we should inform our thinking about Internet policy, today and into the future.
In "On the Fringe of Minitel," Julien discusses how Minitel Technologies was a hybrid, open-closed, public-private system. In Silicon Valley, the Minitel network was seen as "backwards" and "censored." However, it was also a crucial meeting place for organizers and activists to discuss "fringe topics" such as the AIDS crisis. During his talk, Julien even invites his audience to immerse themselves in this rich history by finding and joining Minitel-inspired chat rooms.
View the video, as well as many other BCNM Lectures, below!