[4] In 1980 he invented the Teleputer, a multi-purpose home infotainment centre that was a fusion of PC, TV and Telecom networking technologies.

In 1981 he developed the concept of interactive broadband local loop cable TV for mass market consumer telecommunications.

He went to school at Clapham College in London and, in 1959, he won a scholarship to the University of Hull to study history.

[5] Aldrich spent 15 years with Honeywell and Burroughs in the UK in various sales and marketing roles, where he became known as an innovator, before joining the Board of Redifon in 1977.

The intellectual basis for his system was his view that videotex, the modified domestic TV technology with a very simple menu-driven human–computer interface, was a 'new, universally applicable, participative communication medium-the first since the invention of the telephone.'

From hereon consumers, customers, agents, distributors, suppliers and service companies would be connected on-line to the corporate systems and business would be transacted electronically in real-time.

[8] During the 1980s[9] he designed, manufactured, sold, installed, maintained and supported many online shopping systems, using videotex technology.

[10] These systems which also provided voice response and handprint processing pre-date the Internet and the World Wide Web, the IBM PC, and Microsoft MS-DOS, and were installed mainly in the UK by large corporations.

[12] Although the Teleputer had been conceived for mass market home use, it was put into production for business use with the TV tuner removed.

[16] The world's first recorded online home shopper was Mrs Jane Snowball, 72,[17] of Gateshead, England in May 1984.

[22] Aldrich's systems directly changed the holiday, retail, auto, finance and credit ratings industries.

[23] Aldrich's original intention had been to develop a consumer electronics market for IT systems linked to a concept for broadband interactive information processing and cable TV distribution.

[26] Thomson Holidays reverse-engineered his system (the sincerest form of homage in the computer business)[27] and in the peer-reviewed 1988 report used his language while virtually air-brushing his contribution.

That was the giant conceptual leap from the world of EDP to modern IT, emancipating computing from corporate information centres, and a precursor to the development of the Apple Mac and Microsoft Windows approaches to universal human/computer interface design for PCs and the Apple iPhone 3G.

[citation needed] The three areas of his work in consumer electronics — online shopping /remote working / online banking, Home Information Centres and broadband cable TV—and his book, papers and UK Government reports represent a significant contribution to the development of contemporary IT mass communications, consumer information and transaction systems, electronic commerce and e-business.

[29] He was also an innovator in other areas of computer and information technology including large-scale data capture, mixed media scanning, minicomputer networking, voice response and handprint processing.

[5] In the 20 years from 1978 to 1998, Michael Aldrich and his team undertook many high-profile projects which in many ways created the company's reputation.

The first project for which evidence survives was to provide a system to automatically read handprinted timesheets for the nationalised railway, British Rail with over 100,000 employees, to complete the weekly payroll (1978).

In 2002 he was awarded an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters by the University of Brighton for services to Information Technology.

It reported to Prime Minister Mrs Margaret Thatcher and was located in the Cabinet Office adjacent to 10 Downing Street in London, England.

[36] The panel then wrote a report, published it and the government subsequently changed the law to legalise such systems.

[38] The second report concerned the emerging software and information business and, among other issues, identified the potential power of providers who might control both content and electronic delivery.

Michael Aldrich became a member of the Council of the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations (TIHR) in 1988 and was elected chairman in 1989, a post he held for a decade.

The 1989-99 period was characterised by the physical relocation of the TIHR from the Tavistock Clinic in Hampstead to its own building in London's City financial district; the stabilisation of the institute's finances;the 50th Anniversary (1997) celebration that saluted the past achievements while embracing future challenges; the publication of the Tavistock Anthology[41] which served to draw an elegant line under the TIHR's previous achievements; and the development of new lines of research by a talented younger team.

Michael Aldrich first became involved with the then Brighton Polytechnic in 1977 when he was sponsoring student employees for degrees in electronic engineering and computer science.

In 1995 Michael and wife Sandy began the Aldrich Collection of Contemporary Art which, by 2009, had grown to more than 300 works dating back over 100 years.

[42] The works have been created mainly by former students and artist professors at the university's highly rated Faculty of Art.

[46] In November 2010 the University of Brighton Business School announced that it would be using the Aldrich Archive for teaching and research.

A Michael Aldrich Prize would be awarded to the outstanding e-commerce student on merit each year.

[49] Michael Aldrich was a prolific writer of magazine articles, conference papers and speeches.