In German speaking areas, RDT is used in the special sense of the considerably more narrowly defined Electronic Data Interchange (EDI).
In the beginning, electronic remote data transmission was also accomplished through special adapters on special data or telex lines, teleprinter, serial ports, and analog telephone] or over simple radio connections.
Acoustic couplers that could be attached to a normal telephone handset, and later modems, were used.
RDT achieved great significance for private users at the end of the 1980s with the arrival of local and global bulletin board systems like FidoNet and CompuServe.
Communication between PCs through the internet is also a form of remote data transmission.