Cable television has come a long way in the last 25 years. Today's modern digital cable systems boast hundreds of channels, on-screen guides, extensive pay-per-view features and now, instant on-demand programming. But one long-discussed feature has yet to fully materialize on our TV screens: interactive programming.

But did you know that interactive television programming first appeared 25 years ago, right here in Columbus? The Qube interactive television cable system made it's debut in Columbus on December 1, 1977. Qube was initially operated out of a renovated appliance store on Olentangy River Road (now home to Lyon Video) and rolled out to test market subscribers in the suburb of Upper Arlington. Qube offered 30 channels to Warner Cable subscribers, including 10 channels of interactive programming (a lot of channels in the days when 12 to 24 channels was the norm).

The subscriber interacted with the television through the use of a bulky remote control wired to the cable box. Five black buttons were used for responses to on-screen questions, and poll responses could be quickly tallied and displayed on the screen. The schedule was packed with locally-produced interactive content, including instant polls, talk shows, political meetings, games, home shopping, talent shows, radio channels, music videos, children's programming, sporting events, community education and more.

Qube established many cable firsts: Children's programming channel Pinwheel eventually became Nickelodeon; Sight on Sound, a music video channel, became the basis for MTV; and the first pay-per-view and adult channels were available to Qube subscribers. Qube viewers could critique a Todd Rundgren concert, call sports plays for minor-league football games, influence the outcome of an interactive drama, compete in game shows for cash and prizes, vote contestants off-stage in 'Talent Search', and participate in consumer test-marketing. Qube even offered fire and burglar alarm services that were monitored over the cable connection.

About half of Columbus cable subscribers paid $10 a month for the service. Qube was soon rolled out to an additional 250,000 subscribers in Houston, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and Dallas; with these cities receiving up to 60 channels. But Qube proved to be short-lived, as exorbitant costs and declining demand brought it to an end by the mid-eighties.

Although the service was popular with subscribers, the cost of building and maintaining an interactive cable system was enormous. An influx of cash from American Express allowed Warner (then called Warner-Amex) to continue expanding Qube, but $30 million in losses and the withdrawal of funding by American Express forced Warner to end Qube by 1984. A number of Qube cable boxes remained in homes as late as 1994.

The level of participation by Qube subscribers was not as high as initially expected. It was estimated that only a quarter of subscribers actually used the interactive services. Theft of pay-per-view service was also a problem; rigging the cable box with a simple paper clip allowed viewers to watch free movies. The amateur production values of Qube programs in contrast with slicker network programming may have contributed to Qube's decline in popularity.

The deployment of digital cable systems today makes interactive television more affordable for cable companies. Time-Warner's new iControl system, for example, allows viewers to order on demand movies and cable programming and features VCR-like functions to pause or rewind the program.

Qube was years ahead of it's time, and it remains a example of the possibilities of interactive television. The Internet has somewhat diminished the novelty of interacting with our televisions, and the demand for interactive features are still questionable. But with the technology for interactive television becoming cheaper and more standardized, it's only a matter of time before interactive features becomes commonplace on our television screens.