The BBC’s attempt to build a Netflix-style service was snuffed by regulation
British Telecom was trialing on-demand video deployments in the 80s.No internet, instead it used fibre optic cable to create a switched video network, which could be used to watch normal cable tv channels, or connect the user to a dedicated remote laserdisc player.While such systems never got wide-spread deployments, it's interesting to consider how the media landscape would have changed if we had gone that route.Source, A promotional/technical video from the time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1AiM1S8MGk