US WEST has ended its experiment into interactive television shopping because it cost too much and the technology was out of reach.
Last week's decision adds to a string of similar moves by large telephone companies recently, two years after they started many ventures to add video to telephone service. None of the major companies had started making the necessary improvement to phone lines on a broad basis, however.US WEST began developing a service called "U S Avenue" in 1993 with several major retailers, including Nordstrom, J.C. Penney Co., Ford Motor Co., Hallmark and Virgin Records.
The partners wanted to design a shopping mall that could be accessed through TV. Customers would have been able to enter stores, view merchandise, ask questions and place orders.
John O'Farrell, president of US WEST Interactive Services Group, said the technology to create two-way TV and sophisticated production capabilities for shows are years away and more expensive than originally thought.