&gt; assumed that something like the WWW was going to come in the early 1980s<p>It actually did: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Minitel" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Minitel</a>