Enthusiasts of “technological objects” have created a box to connect old Minitels to the Internet.
The Minitel, a cult object of the 1980s and early 1990s, is making a comeback. Like a great whiff of nostalgia for the forties and fifties who watched their baccalaureate results on this small screen, with the screeching of the modem in the background. Ah, the hours spent waiting for a potential screen refresh to see a pixelated image or barely legible text appear…
A trio of enthusiasts of technological objects, Olivier Mével, founder of Multiplié, alongside Cécile Adam and Pascale Moise decided to give this device a new life. To do this, they have developed MiniMit, a box allowing you to connect your old Minitel via WiFi to your Internet box. An improbable marriage between two technologies that should never have met.
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Weather, astro and 3615 ULLA
Determined not to stop there, this trio has also redeveloped a series of period services, starting with the famous 3615 ULLA. For the latter, the 2020s oblige, it is an artificial intelligence that makes the discussion with the user.
The daily weather forecast, with the inimitable Minitel graphics, is also accessible, as is the horoscope. In short, everything that made the glorious hours of the little brown box is within reach of the keyboard… Provided you have one!
Indeed, if Multiplié markets the MiniMit (75 euros all the same, nostalgia has a price), it does not sell Minitel. To do this, you have to look in your cellar, or hunt around online. On the other hand, no question of premium rate calls, as in the good old days.
The company is not at its first attempt. She also reused old dial telephones, another object from another century, for “sound chronicles” to be listened to at the Nancy Media Library.