WebTV: The Internet In Your Living Room

It's the mid-90s. Your aging parents are expressing interest in checking out the Internet and e-mail, but aren't savvy enough to handle the complexities of a personal computer. What do you do? Get them one of these.

Sources:
"Tuning In to the Web," PC Magazine, February 18, 1997.
"Microsoft to Buy WebTV, Blending PC's, TV's and the Internet," The New York Times, April 7, 1997.
"The Dish That Does More," PC Magazine, February 22, 2000.
"Finds For Your Home," Log Home Living, December 2001.

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[brad]

MichaelMJD did an excellent video on WebTV, including a way to use it with special custom servers. Glad to see it get more attention.I only knew one family that had a WebTV and they had it right when it had just come out.

[ivanvas]

WebTV brings me so many great memories. My dad bought us the device and I used it for school, entertainment and to chat with my now wife. It served its purpose and did it very well despite the obvious disadvantages over a computer.

I just wished still had the box, never knew what happened to it.

[ImpiantoFacile]

Perfect timing with Michael MJD's videos

[EsotericDesi]

I remembter when my mom and dad bought me the WebTV box... for that time period, it was really fun to use...

[LonnieBruton]

I was a webtv teen as well. I had it for about a year before our family got a PC. Even after we had the PC it was still the only way to get online in my bedroom. I was able to stay up and chat with friends and people all around the world on my TV! it was like living in the future in 97.

[angryshoebox]

I remember WebTV, a coworker had one. This was back around 1999 or 2000. The guy was in his late-20's, but he wasn't really into computers; I remember one day at work he asked me, hey, why does it take so long to download stuff? I didn't know the service lasted all the way to 2013, talk about a good run for what it was.

[CCTH-]

I remember my mother buying a WebTV from Caldor's back in late August 1998 just months before that Co-Op City branch closed its doors. I was with her when she bought it for around $200. The box we had was from Philips Magnavox and it's a WebTV Classic. We used it from 1998 to September 2000 when mom decided to switch to Windows PCs. Not gonna lie, WebTV was ahead of its time. As primitive as it was, it foretold the DVR cable boxes that are out right now. I still have those fond memories of using it, even though I'm now 37 years old and using a CyberPower PC (with Windows 11).

[Trance]

Growing up in the 90's, my parents weren't tech savvy at all. We had a TV, a basic VCR, a stereo that played records and cassettes, and an NES. A real computer was always out of the question. We could never afford one, and even more so, mom and dad didn't know how use one. In the fall of 1997, my parents saw an infomercial for the WebTV and after they saw how easy it was to setup, use, and the low sub-$400 price, they were all in on getting one. When I was in high school, the need for a home PC was becoming a burden as I had to type papers for homework and the school library was only open so late. I tried typing my papers using a WebTV friendly, online word processor website. It worked, but it didn't quite produce the font or formatting required for my assignments and it was very finicky. That was when my mom gave in, and we got an E-machines in the fall of 2004. We kept the Webtv up and running for another 6-8 months after finally cancelling our WebTV service in the summer of 2005.

[TravisStamper]

I worked for WebTV in its infancy before it was bought out by Microsoft. This brings back some nostalgia from those days. Their is a project to resurrect it using dream pi. And yes, it plays Doom. Thanks for the video Colin

[robsquared]

We kind of need webtv still, so that my dad can't get ransomware installed on it.

Oh, as an aside, after you watch this watch Matt KC's video about the dreamcast version that was mentioned here. There's actually a service to provide some level of functionality even today.

[housesrent]

I loved my Web TV. Living in Connecticut in the late 90s, cable TV and WiFi weren't available. Thank God for my WebTV.

[roomoc]

Going back to 1997. I was so happy when I got my WebTV. I used it for almost a year. Until I got my first PC. RIP WebTV. ❤

[lovelykema]

Oh wow! This is bringing me down memory lane 😢

[BlueMoonX]

Ahhh the nostalgia!
I remember my mom buying the WebTV service for a good number of years! It was slow and watching videos or anything that required plugins like Shockwave or Flash were a no-go, but it had its charm and having my own email address for early high school was a godsend lol

[rjpg]

I was in the military in 1998 and bought one. I was AMAZED as I never had much personal access to the internet. The TV that was provided in the military dorms wasn't that sharp, thus the text was really blurry. I blessing in disguise as I returned it as a result. I bought a 233mhz PC (I think 6 Gb hard drive) for $1776 (easy number to remember), which was alot more than the $300 I spent for the WebTV. I realized a PC was much more robust and never looked back.

[williamharris]

This video triggered a deep memory for me: In about 1997, I had an interview with a Canadian company looking to enter the Internet Appliance market. I applied to a marketing rather than a technology position. Sadly, I have long since forgotten the name of the firm (and any details about the product), so I have no idea how successful they were.

[bryans]

I started building low powered SFF computers in the early 2000s, and one of them became the TV "set top" box in our living room --- I ran Windows Media Center on it. Now we use my XBox One as our media center (our WebTV if you will) to stream our entertainment media ever since we cut the cord. Oh, and I occasionally play games on it 🙂.

[daveshmups]

I’m surprised that WebTV lasted as long as it did. Great video as always!

[greypatch]

Man, my childhood friends family had a webtv setup. I loved it. Lots of time in the chat rooms

[theshadowman]

So sad that computer chronicles is no longer being made.