A description is given of a low-cost telephone-based information terminal that not only retains the characteristics of a telephone as a convenient vehicle for an individual's information but also can handle nontelephone media in a future local information system. It is essentially a hands-free telephone with a flat display panel and an overlaid electronic writing tablet, but no keyboard. Features that the telephone-based information terminal should have for a private residential user are discussed, and an experimental system is described to illustrate the concept of a local information system. >