I remember using a Dial-Up connection and the WebTv. It is amazing on how the Old Technology can take you back to the good old day's. Not many younger kids even know and or understand what we went through in the 70,80 & 90's. Some kids don't appreciate what they have today. I think it would be nice to show them what it was like using the technology we used yesterday? I remember AOL and when you signed in and when it would cut you off and it would say Good-By. Remember the good old day's. I remember when Cassette tapes where the big thing & going to Block Buster & Hollywood Video and picking up the tape and getting home and you had to rewind the tape.
@BMT My local Montgomery Wards before they closed had working WebTV demo units with the information super highway connect screen, and I can still hear that tone in my head like it was yesterday 🎶👍
WebTVs was my Grandpa’s jam. It worked great for him. All he ever really did was read + send chain mail. Remember those? lol. It was like spam mixed with old people social media posts. I actually didn’t mind it when I stayed over. Its not a PC but it gets the job done. You said there’s people recreating the WebTV servers to allow access for webtv. I’d buy one at .99cents to get on there. It had an interesting aesthetic and I have nostalgia for it. Great vid
My grandmother actually used this system. Her eyesight and problems with her back made it difficult for her to use a regular computer, so the WebTV setup suited her perfectly: she connected it to a TV in a spare bedroom and did everything she'd normally do on a computer on the bed.
The smart card slot was to make purchases with the device. The idea was the card would be encrypted and allow for easy at home shopping. It never worked out. That model you have is a standard WebTV. It cannot be connected to a television service. WebTV + was the one that included a programming guide and "interactive tv." The Ultimate TV was WebTV+ for DirectTV. The predecessor wasn't mentioned in your original video. It was Echostar's DishPlayer for Dish Network. Here's a manual for a Sony standard WebTV that matches closely to the Phillips Magnavox model that you have: docs.sony.com/release/INTW200.pdf It loads very slowly so patience is a must, but it is there. Page 39 discuses smart cards. The ultimate TV and DishPlayer also had the smart card slots for financial transactions that were never actually utilized. These slots were separate from the television encryption smart cards.
correct the smart card slot in the front was either for purchases or to access special websites when a manufacturer or someone gave you a smart card for a commercial purpose. I remember receiving a promotional smart card plugging it into my web TV and it would take me immediately to that advertiser or promotional persons website
WebTV didn't let you specify which access numbers would be used. Rather, WebTV dialed into a central, toll-free access number (which, of course, is disconnected these days, so even if your landline worked it wouldn't connect) to have it determine which access number(s) to use based on your current phone number. I believe it still did the toll-free number even after setting the option to use your own ISP because the box still needed to get other parameters based on your phone number as well, such as the date and time adjusted for your timezone.
Those devices came out a year or so before computers really started to become cheap enough for consumers to purchase en mass. I remember our family getting one when I was in the 7th grade for $150 or so, I think, and by the time I was in the 8th grade, we were able to get a computer system for under $1000, maybe even around $700 or $800, and the next year after than, I feel like the prices continued to plummet for computers.
The card slot was for a theoretical expansion card. It's not a decoder card. We had 3 (through the years) at our ISP for supporting the darn things; none of them had a pass through that I remember. (They were all of the dial up variety). I hated those horrible things. The early ones had an ok modem, but the later boxes had cheaper chipsets and got lousy connections.
many Web TV units didn't have a coaxial output in fact the coaxial output with mainly used for web TV plus which used on-screen interactive guides and picture-in-picture television watching. I had to Sony web TVs and I never connected through coaxial cable always through AV cables or s-video.
We didn't have WebTV in the UK and I couldn't use WebTV for Windows also for this reason. At least OnDigital (later ITV Digital, now defunct) had their own internet TV service.
Yay dial up.. the access number section would be if you would have been connecting to a local ISP rather than MSN.. We used to do that with our WebTV box way back when.. the local MSN access number was a long distance call. Think of it as accessing AOL today via broadband.
I have satellite TV right now with a box that's roughly three years old, and it requires a smart card too. I put it in a laptop with a smart card reader and got some interesting text in notepad.
Great episode! This is getting me all nostalgic. I remember using WebTV back in 96-99 and having the traveling road dialing screen with the music playing. I wasn't as computer savvy back then - okay, let's face it, I'm still a technology caveman. haha It's a shame you didn't get far with the demo, but that's to be expected. Thanks for the trek down memory lane!
Yep. Here in Chile, If my memory serves me right, some of the cable boxes used by VTR also used the card system for authentication purposes; at least the HD-capable ones. Regular SD-ones did not use cards
+Westley “Wizard” West well I have a friend that used to hack Dreamcast so it may have been only Japan but it was definitely able to be used in the US lol
+Westley “Wizard” West my memory on it is vague but I do remember the WebTV browser being available on Dreamcast but again it must have been some kind of modded trick. I'm currently looking for a dedicated "Set Top Box" with a built in full featured web browser for the TV. believe it or not I spent the past hour looking for it. All the current and new streaming media players don't have web browser built into them. Some of the Smart TVs have web browsers but they're slow I know Google TV and Apple TV have been but I'm looking for a current modern day version on WebTV. you wouldn't think it'd be so hard to find in 2015
I remember when I was a kid, I snagged one of these at toys r us. My location had old stock that wouldn't sell. I managed to get internet for a while since I had dial-up at the time. Flash was really slow, but I mainly used it to look up dragonball z sites, and pictures. Viva PlanetNamek.com!
I'm a little baffled at the no video in/pass through. The cards in the satellite world act as an access/gateway depending on version but you still had a coax cable running from dish to satellite receiver for signal. Not sure what a stand alone card in a Web TV would accomplish. No shared menu or recording if they're not linked.
This is just a device. It's like a game console or media streamer. There are actually no traditional "TV access." WebTV made other devices that included traditional television.
Keith Saint He made it seem like it communicated with satellite via the cards which wouldn't be possible without a video pass through to my knowledge. What's the card for? Yes, I was referring to the boxes with added TV function such as menus & DVR. "Digital cable" was pricey back then. Cool web TV added similar functions + Internet access
Heh, you're kinda like me as far as the stuff you buy is concerned. Me, I'm always on the lookout for stuff I can review on my blog, _The Millennium Museum_. Weirdly, I've only ever had to use EBay _once_ for that purpose, when I bought the Sydney 2000 Olympics guidebook. I've been lucky to need only flea markets, book sales, garage sales, and toy-shows.
I could run a channel for decades on what I've bought from eBay. In fact watching Ben's channel gives me an idea of show'n'telling my weird Soviet book collection, including a Lithuanian version of Tess of the D'urbevilles with a semi-pornographic cover.
The keyboard looks just like the Logitech USB keyboard that I got from a flea market. Maybe It must've been done by the same designer? When I got it, the seller asked me if I had a PlayStation 2, which I don't have. I do use it, but it's not the best for typing stuff. I would prefer a full sized Compaq USB keyboard (got that in another flea market) as well the one on my Dell Inspiron.
Hi a beloved Webtv user here this service is no longer in use thanks to Microsoft they could not stand anyone not using a Microsoft product they bought the Webtv company and destroyed the service then cancled the service
Wow, just nothing! Geez, It is after all a tiny computer. Since it was Microsoft they shoulda thrown in GW--Basic or Notepad at least, for testing purposes, LOL. Out of the box, a 1977 TRS-80 is more useful!
CeeStyleDj People STILL want internet content from a couch with just a normal (non smart) TV. Concast (yes, that's how I spell it!😀) just added UA-cam, the already had Netflix,Pandora and Watchable. All they need is a wireless KB to work with the Concast box, and a Comcastic browser and, you'd have WEB TV 3.0!
I remember using a Dial-Up connection and the WebTv. It is amazing on how the Old Technology can take you back to the good old day's. Not many younger kids even know and or understand what we went through in the 70,80 & 90's. Some kids don't appreciate what they have today. I think it would be nice to show them what it was like using the technology we used yesterday? I remember AOL and when you signed in and when it would cut you off and it would say Good-By. Remember the good old day's. I remember when Cassette tapes where the big thing & going to Block Buster & Hollywood Video and picking up the tape and getting home and you had to rewind the tape.
The connecting music is kind of nice. :p Reminds me of something from a SNES game.
@BMT My local Montgomery Wards before they closed had working WebTV demo units with the information super highway connect screen, and I can still hear that tone in my head like it was yesterday 🎶👍
Man! I had that exact model, box and all. Found it at a used electronics store in 2001.
WebTVs was my Grandpa’s jam. It worked great for him. All he ever really did was read + send chain mail. Remember those? lol.
It was like spam mixed with old people social media posts.
I actually didn’t mind it when I stayed over. Its not a PC but it gets the job done.
You said there’s people recreating the WebTV servers to allow access for webtv. I’d buy one at .99cents to get on there. It had an interesting aesthetic and I have nostalgia for it. Great vid
My grandmother actually used this system. Her eyesight and problems with her back made it difficult for her to use a regular computer, so the WebTV setup suited her perfectly: she connected it to a TV in a spare bedroom and did everything she'd normally do on a computer on the bed.
That's pretty cool! My dad used this for one of his bands, and he made a website about himself (he's a former wrestler).
Nice.
The smart card slot was to make purchases with the device. The idea was the card would be encrypted and allow for easy at home shopping. It never worked out. That model you have is a standard WebTV. It cannot be connected to a television service. WebTV + was the one that included a programming guide and "interactive tv."
The Ultimate TV was WebTV+ for DirectTV. The predecessor wasn't mentioned in your original video. It was Echostar's DishPlayer for Dish Network.
Here's a manual for a Sony standard WebTV that matches closely to the Phillips Magnavox model that you have: docs.sony.com/release/INTW200.pdf
It loads very slowly so patience is a must, but it is there. Page 39 discuses smart cards.
The ultimate TV and DishPlayer also had the smart card slots for financial transactions that were never actually utilized. These slots were separate from the television encryption smart cards.
correct the smart card slot in the front was either for purchases or to access special websites when a manufacturer or someone gave you a smart card for a commercial purpose. I remember receiving a promotional smart card plugging it into my web TV and it would take me immediately to that advertiser or promotional persons website
The INT-W200 was an Old Plus model, not a Classic model. You’d be looking for the “non-Plus” INT-W100 manuals.
WebTV didn't let you specify which access numbers would be used. Rather, WebTV dialed into a central, toll-free access number (which, of course, is disconnected these days, so even if your landline worked it wouldn't connect) to have it determine which access number(s) to use based on your current phone number. I believe it still did the toll-free number even after setting the option to use your own ISP because the box still needed to get other parameters based on your phone number as well, such as the date and time adjusted for your timezone.
Do a video for hacks for webtv.
Those devices came out a year or so before computers really started to become cheap enough for consumers to purchase en mass. I remember our family getting one when I was in the 7th grade for $150 or so, I think, and by the time I was in the 8th grade, we were able to get a computer system for under $1000, maybe even around $700 or $800, and the next year after than, I feel like the prices continued to plummet for computers.
"Yes, I still use a landline."
Of course you do, Ben. Are we supposed to be surprised? :P 😂
The card slot was for a theoretical expansion card. It's not a decoder card.
We had 3 (through the years) at our ISP for supporting the darn things; none of them had a pass through that I remember. (They were all of the dial up variety).
I hated those horrible things. The early ones had an ok modem, but the later boxes had cheaper chipsets and got lousy connections.
many Web TV units didn't have a coaxial output in fact the coaxial output with mainly used for web TV plus which used on-screen interactive guides and picture-in-picture television watching. I had to Sony web TVs and I never connected through coaxial cable always through AV cables or s-video.
We didn't have WebTV in the UK and I couldn't use WebTV for Windows also for this reason. At least OnDigital (later ITV Digital, now defunct) had their own internet TV service.
Sorry about this but could you record some Doraemon episodes for me i want to know how it sounds like
Its dubbed by Animax
Could you help me record it?
Webtv never had a card, a slot yes but never a card to go in it. They always said it was for "future expansion" but it never was.
True I remember that slot and they always said it was for "future expansion" but it was NEVER implemented.
Yay dial up.. the access number section would be if you would have been connecting to a local ISP rather than MSN.. We used to do that with our WebTV box way back when.. the local MSN access number was a long distance call. Think of it as accessing AOL today via broadband.
i had this for years.. loved it. tho this collected cookies and you needed to clear them out when it ran slow..loved it.. but that damn dial up
I used to have a Web TV box as well. Sadly, I don't have it anymore.
I have satellite TV right now with a box that's roughly three years old, and it requires a smart card too. I put it in a laptop with a smart card reader and got some interesting text in notepad.
What did it say?
DenMon 2019 nothing really legible; just a lot of junk. It was probably encrypted, knowing how strangely high-security satellite TV is
*****
This is creepypasta material dude
***** Interesting fact. Foxtel uses them too!
Great episode! This is getting me all nostalgic. I remember using WebTV back in 96-99 and having the traveling road dialing screen with the music playing. I wasn't as computer savvy back then - okay, let's face it, I'm still a technology caveman. haha It's a shame you didn't get far with the demo, but that's to be expected. Thanks for the trek down memory lane!
i remember our old cable box had a card. but it was actually cable not satellite
Yep. Here in Chile, If my memory serves me right, some of the cable boxes used by VTR also used the card system for authentication purposes; at least the HD-capable ones. Regular SD-ones did not use cards
Holy crap! listening to that MSN noise at 6:00 I absolutely hated it! Good on you to shut that crap off.
Fun Fact: WebTV also had Dreamcast versions for use in Japan. I also happen to have Higher Quality Versions of the Soundtrack WebTV used.
I forgot about that! But I seen people in the US have WebTV for dreamcast.
CeeStyleDj that's strange. i thought it was only in japan.
+Westley “Wizard” West well I have a friend that used to hack Dreamcast so it may have been only Japan but it was definitely able to be used in the US lol
CeeStyleDj ok that makes sense because i have done that to imported games.
+Westley “Wizard” West my memory on it is vague but I do remember the WebTV browser being available on Dreamcast but again it must have been some kind of modded trick. I'm currently looking for a dedicated "Set Top Box" with a built in full featured web browser for the TV. believe it or not I spent the past hour looking for it. All the current and new streaming media players don't have web browser built into them. Some of the Smart TVs have web browsers but they're slow I know Google TV and Apple TV have been but I'm looking for a current modern day version on WebTV. you wouldn't think it'd be so hard to find in 2015
I remember when I was a kid, I snagged one of these at toys r us. My location had old stock that wouldn't sell. I managed to get internet for a while since I had dial-up at the time. Flash was really slow, but I mainly used it to look up dragonball z sites, and pictures. Viva PlanetNamek.com!
I'm a little baffled at the no video in/pass through. The cards in the satellite world act as an access/gateway depending on version but you still had a coax cable running from dish to satellite receiver for signal. Not sure what a stand alone card in a Web TV would accomplish. No shared menu or recording if they're not linked.
This is just a device. It's like a game console or media streamer. There are actually no traditional "TV access." WebTV made other devices that included traditional television.
Keith Saint He made it seem like it communicated with satellite via the cards which wouldn't be possible without a video pass through to my knowledge. What's the card for? Yes, I was referring to the boxes with added TV function such as menus & DVR. "Digital cable" was pricey back then. Cool web TV added similar functions + Internet access
I never realized the potential dirtiness of the name until you pointed it out. Now cannot unsee. Yay.
For some strange reason this brings Sega Channel to mind.
Looks like the ISP Settings page allows you to use your own dialup internet provider. See if you can signup with one and see what it loads!
I think I remember the infomercial for this!
ever have a Tandy/RadioShack trs80 color computer?
to setup a PPP dialin via a V90-host, or at leat V34: no problem! you can do that locally with an old PC and a Modem. Or google for "dial up internet"
Any way to plug one into cat 5 or get WiFi working on it or anything? I just bought one from a Goodwill but I have no phone line.
Sorry if I’m a bit late but there are phone line to Ethernet adapters, however I highly doubt that it would work
Web Tv wasn’t working because in 2013 they closed their service.
Heh, you're kinda like me as far as the stuff you buy is concerned. Me, I'm always on the lookout for stuff I can review on my blog, _The Millennium Museum_. Weirdly, I've only ever had to use EBay _once_ for that purpose, when I bought the Sydney 2000 Olympics guidebook. I've been lucky to need only flea markets, book sales, garage sales, and toy-shows.
I could run a channel for decades on what I've bought from eBay. In fact watching Ben's channel gives me an idea of show'n'telling my weird Soviet book collection, including a Lithuanian version of Tess of the D'urbevilles with a semi-pornographic cover.
msnTV is just stealing your money.
I remember seeing this at hotels for business uses.
The construction across the street isn't very noticeable at all; actually, I wouldn't have even known about it if you hadn't mentioned it.
how did you clean the corrosion?
The keyboard looks just like the Logitech USB keyboard that I got from a flea market. Maybe It must've been done by the same designer? When I got it, the seller asked me if I had a PlayStation 2, which I don't have. I do use it, but it's not the best for typing stuff. I would prefer a full sized Compaq USB keyboard (got that in another flea market) as well the one on my Dell Inspiron.
Hi a beloved Webtv user here this service is no longer in use thanks to Microsoft they could not stand anyone not using a Microsoft product they bought the Webtv company and destroyed the service then cancled the service
Microsoft did one good thing they gave us broadband connection before they ended the service isn't that great!
lol that tab button is so damn small
How it looked like back then...
Wheres the Intro?
+OddityArchive theres this web usb tv thingy called rabbit TV. it is at the dollor tree. I got mine in missori.
i have a webtv made by sony
I actually rather like the loading music, wouldn't mind hearing the whole thing tbh.
MSNTV (WebTV) service was discontinued in September 2013 so even if you had those access numbers you wouldn't be able to connect to a server.
Wow, just nothing! Geez, It is after all a tiny computer. Since it was Microsoft they shoulda thrown in GW--Basic or Notepad at least, for testing purposes, LOL. Out of the box, a 1977 TRS-80 is more useful!
I loved the video I just wish it was a webtv and not Msn
i was on webtv for many year i met lot of woman on it to to day they could make a webtv smart stick
bucket
775
Must be targeted for old people with no experience for pc's
or people that actually wanted to enjoy their web content on the comfort on their couch or bed on a large screen tv :)
CeeStyleDj People STILL want internet content from a couch with just a normal (non smart) TV. Concast (yes, that's how I spell it!😀) just added UA-cam, the already had Netflix,Pandora and Watchable. All they need is a wireless KB to work with the Concast box, and a Comcastic browser and, you'd have WEB TV 3.0!
Microsoft shut down the service almost 2 years before this video was made.
thats why you had problems
he knows that
junk