In France we had something called the Minitel, it was basically internet but the wrong way and centralized, you had to pay more or less depending on which website you would visit (you&#x27;d dial 36 14 for free content , 36 15 for paid one ... ), it failed because it was obviously the wrong model but it was quite lucrative for &quot;content providers&quot;. The phone company directly handled payement so there was no friction or paywall.<p>Here is how a terminal looked like :<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.element14.com&#x2F;community&#x2F;servlet&#x2F;JiveServlet&#x2F;showImage&#x2F;38-9977-113625&#x2F;minitel4.jpg" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.element14.com&#x2F;community&#x2F;servlet&#x2F;JiveServlet&#x2F;show...</a><p>I&#x27;m not suggesting to go back to that of course, it was dreadful, but it feels like current content providers always try to reinvent the Minitel somehow.