While systems of the type and quality shown were common in home/hobbyist uses, much more advanced, albeit not always faster, email and communication applications were found in academic and commercial environments. Even relatively low-cost public networks such as Compuserve and The Source were available before 1984 and were in many ways more advanced than Prestel (although some Prestel features such as online payments, goods and service ordering, and commercial page standards for business offerings were more sophisticated than the North American public networks mentioned, even there the French Minitel had greater market penetration and wider service offerings than BT systems and most low-cost commercial offerings).

The Hayes Smartmoden, introduced in 1981, brought a standard automated modem control protocol (often referred to as the “AT protocol” for the ATtention ASCII command sequence that preceded modem dialing and configuration commands). By 1984 modems such as shown in the video were less common in North America for a number of reasons not least of which was the 1982 Bell system breakup and earlier legal challenges allowing use of non-Bell-certified equipment on home and business phone lines. Of course, adoption was not uniform and older equipment persisted in dial-up use for decades. Even today there are a few areas in the Americas where 300/1200 baud, acoustic coupled, dialup is the only viable low-cost connection option. I live in Washington state in a mid-sized US city but there are parts of this state less than 100 miles away where, other than satellite links, such older connectivity is the only viable connectivity choice (no or erratic cell service, no DSL or cable, etc.). While amateur radio data links can bridge the gap for non-commercial communication that’s not a feasible approach for many due to licensing requirements and the technical challenges.

Bottom line: while the video is a realistic slice of history for the UK — and to some extent European — home/hobbyist systems there were better offerings available in parts of the world and many North American hobbyist/business users had already taken a slightly different, sometimes more sophisticated, approach to dialup and communications. Nonetheless, a good video and a realistic view of what many people were using.