WorldGate wanted people to read their email with a TV remote and a wireless keyboard. In 1999 most American homes had a television and a cable box, but far fewer had a personal computer. WorldGate's service ran through existing cable set-top boxes. It also let a TV show or ad link straight to a related website. WorldGate went public in April 1999, with cable operators as partners.

The Television Comes First

The bet was that the television, ahead of the PC, would be most people's door to the internet. WorldGate's system did the heavy work on servers at the cable company. That let it run on boxes already in living rooms. Cable operators saw a way to sell a new service without new hardware in every home. It was an early try at the connected television that companies would attempt again in later decades.

Then Came Video Phones

WorldGate priced its offering at $21 a share in April 1999, at the high point of enthusiasm for interactive TV. Interactive TV proved a hard sell. Cheap PCs and broadband pulled people toward computers instead. In the 2000s WorldGate shifted its focus to video phones. It stayed small and struggled financially. Watching and browsing on one screen returned years later, carried by smart TVs and streaming boxes.

Cover: Gateway, Segovia, from Castilian Days, Joseph Pennell. Art Institute of Chicago, public domain. Chosen for a city gate (the world's gateway).